Anglian rides the waves

Anglian rides the waves

Custom Evaluation demonstrates Anglian Water's positive approach to a crisis

First published in Insight, Kantar Media Intelligence Client Newsletter, Autumn 2008

Kantar Media produces a monthly evaluation scorecard which identifies and quantifies the impact of media coverage of Anglian Water: its initiatives, issues, advocates and detractors.  In June and July 2008, Anglian Water faced a crisis when the media broke a story about contamination in their water supply. Through our Custom Evaluation team, we analysed the series of events and evolution of the story as Anglian Water worked hard to keep the public abreast of developments.

25 June: Anglian Water puts out a 'boil water' warning and attracts national coverage.

27 June: News Outlets report that the source of contamination has been traced to the Pitsford Reservoir.

Even though the story broke in the final days of June, the month as a whole then saw a significant increase in the volume of coverage generated by Anglian Water - a 49% rise on May. However, with a water quality issue, the proportion of positive coverage can drop considerably. Anglian Water offset this with a swift announcement that the source had been identified.

What did July bring? With Anglian Water putting the right spokespeople before the right media, we saw a strong uptake of the message that the company was working hard to isolate and fix the problem. Coverage of the contamination continued, but with the source of the contamination now isolated and a more positive tone appearing in items at the end of the month, it was possible to improve on June's low favourability rating.

Early July: discussion reaches the House of Commons, drawing comments from the Prime Minister. Secretary of State for the Environment, Hilary Benn MP, highlights Anglian Water's efforts.

15 July: the tabloids latch on to the fact that the contamination is finally traced to an animal carcass.

July's issues table shows that coverage became more balanced. The endorsement from informed third-parties highlights the positive progress Anglian Water made on the issue. Elsewhere, Anglian Water's community campaigns continued to generate a good press while the contamination issue rumbled on (see water conservation on the table).

The PR function is accountable. Using Kantar Media's monthly custom evaluation, the Anglian Water team was able to demonstrate to internal stakeholders the value of its efforts in the crisis - using simple, transparent metrics rather than anecdotal evidence.

Kantar Media was able to demonstrate that, despite the unavoidable criticism surrounding contaminated water, Anglian Water's ability to engage - looking at uptake of their spokespeople comments and tone of coverage by publication - with a realistic and reassuring message helped stem further bad press.