Daimler/Chrysler, Nissan, Volvo Top Motor Press Guild Media Relations Survey

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 -- The Motor Press Guild (MPG), today announced the results of the first independent national survey of automotive journalists ranking the public relations operations of major automobile manufacturers.

The journalists' highest marks for overall satisfaction with media relations activities went to Daimler/Chrysler, Nissan and Volvo, while Mazda, Suzuki, General Motors, and Mitsubishi were scored lowest.

"This annual benchmarking survey gets right to the point of who's doing what well and what can be improved in the manufacturers' communications programs," says MPG President John Rettie.

Conducted among MPG's more than 400 journalist members plus another 100 nationally recognized automotive writers who are not MPG members, the survey represents the largest and most comprehensive study of automotive public relations performed in the North America. It is the only such survey to be formulated by journalists with the real day-to-day needs of journalists in mind.

"The results were surprising," continued Rettie, "with three manufacturers in a statistical tie at the top, but even they have significant room for improvement according to our members."

Composed of 300 items covering nine general criteria and some 40 subcategories, the survey was distributed online to the writers and broadcasters with the results compiled by the Gronstedt Group, an independent Denver-based marketing communications company. Data collected covered all aspects of public relations, from response time to inquiries and frequency of press contact to the content of media materials and the structure of vehicle launch programs.

All results were reviewed by Dr. Clark Caywood, Director of the Graduate Program of Public Relations and past chair of the Department of Integrated Marketing Communications in the Medill Graduate School of Northwestern University. "It complies with the highest professional standards of research," states Dr. Caywood. "The MPG study provides an independent, systematic picture of journalist opinions, based on a large, high quality sample. It will enable media relations professionals to better understand how the media organizations they serve perceive them and the effectiveness of their press relations programs."

According to Rettie, the MPG media survey will be conducted annually, thereby giving manufacturers a valuable year-to-year progress report on their public relations operations. "The survey is designed to show the manufacturers how they perform in certain crucial communications areas, and then in subsequent years measure how much, if any, they improve their performance. The goal," Rettie says, "is to help the companies provide the support and information needed by journalists."

The survey results are available to all automobile manufacturers in an in-depth 130-page report through the Motor Press Guild. Each report is customized for individual manufacturers with specific data and anonymous verbatim comments from the responding journalists pertaining to that automaker.

MPG, a non-profit organization headquartered in Los Angeles, is the nation's largest professional association of automotive journalists and public relations practitioners. The group's objective is to further the professionalism of automotive journalism and promote education and information exchange among the motoring press.