[Editor’s Note: As part of our coronavirus interview series, we spoke with Cathy Del Colle, who recently was named president of Burrelles, the data analytics firm founded in 1888. Del Colle is the company’s first female president. A three-decade veteran of Burrelles on the sales side, Del Colle is admired inside and outside the company.
In a wide-ranging interview, we asked her about how measurement is reacting to the pandemic, the current and future demands on analytics vendors, and what ‘data beyond automation’ means. Her edited responses are below.]
PRNEWS: What do you see changing in communications measurement as a result of the pandemic?
President, Burrelles
Cathy Del Colle: Executives are looking to cut operating costs wherever they can. Layoffs are a reality. While you might think budgets for vendors are being cut, I’ve found many clients are leaning on us more than usual after layoffs. Client service has to be a top priority for providers.
In terms of communications measurement and how it’s being used, as a result of the pandemic, ROI is critical.
As I mentioned, layoffs always are a possibility, so teams need to make sure they are justifying their worth. Use the tools you have! If you aren’t using analytics, get to know your numbers and make sure you’re promoting your team’s worth and how PR is an essential part of the company.
Understand how analytics help the C-suite make smart business decisions. If you’re using a communications measurement platform, employ it to the fullest and be comfortable communicating how data informs business decisions.
PRNEWS: What can the PR industry do to improve the state of communications measurement?
Del Colle: Media intelligence and monitoring tools can help PR pros explain the value of communications to organizational leaders. The industry needs to ensure that communications measurement is understood and valued.
This is important so that we can continue to invest in advancing and elevating technology, driving ROI for communication teams and their companies.
PRNEWS: What services are clients asking you to provide?
Del Colle: Clients continue to ask for quality products with continued innovation. That will never change. What will change is the media they need analyzed. We recently expanded our services to monitor blogs, podcasts and logo recognition. In addition, we provide print monitoring because it still matters to clients.
PRNEWS: Are acquisitions part of your strategy for continuing to provide services in emerging areas?
Del Colle: We’ve brought on industry partners that can monitor appearances of logos, because image brand presence is an advancing element of how communications professionals compute the efficacy of their outreach effort.
We’ve also partnered with multiple social media monitoring companies, like Talkwalker and Awario, which enable scalability for clients to curate their budgets.
PRNEWS: Burrelles rebranded recently with a tagline of ‘data beyond automation.’ What does that mean?
Del Colle: Data is growing and so is the business of data. There is a need for simple, immediate and personalized connections to your media data. But when it comes to this key element of our brand, it speaks to the most important part of our mission: human curation of content.
We believe the power of human insight will always be essential to the application of data. This is because data deals with human consumption of human-created media.
Our new tagline reflects a digital approach to cultivating interaction between people and data, and how they work to make business better, while staying true to our core value of providing human insight into our content curation.
PRNEWS: A constant concern in PR is recruiting and retention. What did you admire about the presidents and the firm that kept you at Burrelles for more than three decades?
Del Colle: I’ve admired the way our leadership has secured a family environment. That’s a good way to keep, build and grow a team. We feel a communal responsibility to each other and our clients. I think that’s why we have so many people–like myself–who have spent many decades building here.
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