Measure What Matters

As the beginning of our next class reading comes upon us, the book, "Measure What Matters" by Katie Delahaye Paine has a different tone to it than others. It seems a little harder to comprehend and follow, but with the assistance of Dr. Agozzino and her power points, it is very much a refutable resource and has content that made me think this weekend.

In chapter 2 Paine states that there 10 questions that every communication professional needs to answer:

1. What are your objectives?
2. Who is the target audience?
3. What is important to your audience?
4. What motivates them to buy your products?
5. What are your key messages?
6. Who influences your audience?
7. How do you distribute your product or service?
8. What are you going to do with the info from the research?
9. What other departments or areas will be affected?
10. What other measurement programs are underway?

The more I analyzed these questions, the more I realized that it was true in the real-world. I understand that the author would't publish these ideas if they're weren't applicable in the real-world, but I found them very relatable to my experience this summer in Los Angeles working as an intern for FOX Sports. Question 6 is the question in particular that got me thinking, because what really motivates or influences us as an audience to a company like FOX Sports? In my opinion, what influences us to watch FOX is the whatever ESPN is not showing. FOX has had trouble trying to keep up with ESPN, but in it's efforts this year, it has made some significant triumphs over the bigger brother that is ESP. FOX hosted the women's World Cup for the summer and also just hosted the World Series. Those 2 monumental events are not being televised on ESPN, so that influences us to watch FOX sports more frequently. These questions are a great way to break down your job as a communicator or just to prepare for the future in the business world.