CHICAGO, February 27—Veteran public research expert Forrest Anderson, whose experience includes management positions at Golin/Harris International and Burson-Marsteller has launched Forrest Anderson & Associates, a public relations and communications research, strategy and evaluation consulting firm.
 
“PR practitioners want to defend their budgets and staffs, and using research to plan and evaluate public relations is the best way to do this,” says Anderson. “Research gives PR the same kind of credibility in the board room that HR, finance and marketing enjoy.”
 
Anderson’s firm will help PR practitioners determine whether research really is necessary, and, if so, what kind of research will best meet the practitioner’s needs. He will draw on his experience as senior vice president and director of research and account planning at Golin/Harris, as director of strategic insight at Burson-Marsteller, and as a member of the Institute for Public Relations Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation.
 
According to Anderson, “Most research firms don’t understand public relations and its research needs. Because of this, PR practitioners frequently are unable to use the research they commission.”