Post on 12-Sep-2020
Measuring communications at CERN: lessons learnt and challenges Arnaud Marsollier – Head of Press – arnaud.marsollier@cern.ch
LHC
CERN is all about extremes…
The fastest racetrack on the planet…
One of the emptiest places in the solar system…
One of the emptiest places in the solar system…
One of the coldest places in the universe…
One of the emptiest places in the solar system… he hottest spots in the galaxy…
The hottest spots in the galaxy…
One of the emptiest places in the solar system… he hottest spots in the galaxy…
The biggest most sophisticated detectors ever built…
One of the emptiest places in the solar system… he hottest spots in the galaxy…
The biggest most sophisticated detectors ever built…
The most global computer system in the world…
One of the emptiest places in the solar system… he hottest spots in the galaxy…
The biggest most sophisticated detectors ever built…
Why…?
Probing the mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy…
To understand mysteries such as “what is Dark Matter?”
To understand fascinating stuff such as antimatter…
"What has it got to do with me?"
Probing the mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy…
We develop technologies that people care about …
Probing the mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy…
We train scientists & engineers for tomorrow…
We bring nations together through Science.
Communications architectur
Media key messages: > Fundamental science satisfies the basic human instinct to explore > Fundamental science is a driving force for technical innovation > Fundamental science transcends barriers of age, religion, gender and nationality > CERN is a world leader in fundamental research
Audiences
Member States
High energy physics community
CERN Community
general public Alumni
The local community
Educational systems
Potential sponsors
Cultural and artistic communi Younger Children
Industry
Job seekers
VIPs
Media
Communications structure
. Audience engagement: Manages the relationship with selected target audiences . Content production: The creative team, developing communication material (video, photo, graphic design, texts…) . Press Office: Manages communications to the media
And also networks…
Let’s talk about media activities and their impact P
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Media visits, media visits, media visits!
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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Visits of journalists in total
LHC start
How Did the Higgs Boson Become a Rock Star?
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The year after the Higgs boson
Media coverage – keywords: “CERN & LHC”
1. Celebrating WWW’s 25th?
What is the best impact story in this year in your opinion?
2. Prizes?
3. Big Bang theory story?
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8.1.12 9.1.12 10.1.12 11.1.12 12.1.12 1.1.13 2.1.13 3.1.13 4.1.13 5.1.13 6.1.13 7.1.13 8.1.13
One year coverage – “CERN & LHC” keywords – Top 3 media coverage
Let’s see…
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Need to zoom in…
Key words: “CERN” & “LHC”- Fermilab
First!
A weekly media monitoring report
Tonality (June 2013)
• Proportional (%) tonality of CERN mentions - June 2013 (English language only)
Coverage by country (last month – CERN 60th – over 300 cuttings)
Media events = Big impact
“New NASA”? Well, for a couple of days at least
Web . WWW: 20th of free open web . CERN Open Day announcement
. About 400,000 visits/month
Social media
2007
2008-9
2011 2012
1.02M
338K
102K
42K
23K
Best posts…
…Hype sometimes unexpected!
Courtesy of Matthias Lufkens, Twiplomacy, November 2013
Numbers ok… What about quality? Let’s go back to our perception survey 2011
Opinion research – expert survey • 52 interviews / structured questionnaire
• 34 telephone interviews • 18 by mail
• Expert groups:
• 15 members of the Extended Directorate • 9 members of the Council Delegates • 9 international science journalists • 6 opinion leader / functionaries in CERN´s neighourhood • 13 member of the information networks
• Opinion trends • Perceptions – original quotes
Some lessons learnt
Visibility: . LHC triggered very high visibility = big opportunity . Communication recognized as a strategic activity – media coverage excelled . Many many many associations with CERN > need more focused comms and clear messages . What’s next? Worries about what will set the agenda in the future (LHC, Higgs, Nobel… What now?) Actions needed: . Continue/further increase visits . Improve visits for the general public (ongoing) . Improve website navigation (done) . Reorganize workflow / structures (ongoing) . Define target audiences and key messages and prioritize! (obvious isn’t it?) . Identify proof points & stories & storytellers
Engaging with new audiences is important
It is good to use opportunities from outside
…Hype sometimes hard to handle
To summarize… • Measuring is about identifying good stories • The web traffic and social media are a good way to measure
immediately • Stories are not necessarily science-related… • …and are not necessarily triggered by ourselves! • Prizes have very high impact, as well as discoveries • The web invented at CERN is a very strong story as well • Sharing live what we do is of very high value • Need qualitative evaluation (which is more difficult to do)