• by Emily Burg , May 3, 2007

PR Newswire has partnered with online community market intelligence specialist Umbria to provide clients with a blog measurement tool that tracks online conversations about companies, products and brands--helping them understand who is saying what, and the potential impact for them.

Using Umbria's proprietary technology to analyze blog research and consumer-generated media, the just-announced MediaSense Blog Measurement tool monitors blogosphere discussions and produces graphical assessments of each conversation's topic and tone, as well as a breakdown of the participants' demographics.

Umbria's data in turn helps customers determine which consumer segments are most engaged in a discussion about them, enabling them to better understand their target markets and tailor their communications strategies accordingly, Umbria told Marketing Daily.

"By working with PR Newswire, we can help clients understand if their press releases' clients are being heard and by whom, and if it's generating discussion," says Umbria founder/president Howard Kaushansky.

"Our service can help a company understand the efficacy of a release much better," he says.

Umbria and PR Newswire had been discussing a potential partnership for several months, Kaushansky says, on the basis of PR Newswire offering a number of services in addition to its press release business.

"This was a natural fit for both of us, because of our ability to keep a finger on the pulse of what people are talking about online and also because PR Newswire effectively creates a vehicle to give people something to talk about when press releases are issued," Kaushansky says.

As it's a brand new service, the companies haven't signed up any clients for MediaSense Blog Measurement yet, but Kaushansky says there are a number PR Newswire who are interested in the service.

The partnership between Umbria and PR Newswire follows the forging of PR Newswire's relationship with Technorati, announced in January, in which readers of press releases issued over PR Newswire have one-click access to blogs that are discussing and linking to a press release, directly from the press release itself.