Introduction Welcome by Ketchum CEO Ray Kotcher Overview The Barcelona Principles at a Glance Voices of Influence Representatives from the two organizations that developed the Barcelona Principles — the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication and the Institute for Public Relations — explain the Principles' origin, challenges and benefits Viewpoints Communications professionals from Royal Philips Electronics and FedEx discuss how the Principles line up with their companies' approach to measuring PR results Roundtable Five PR and measurement experts discuss why the Barcelona Principles are important, why they chose to support the Principles, what the Principles' benefits are, and how the Principles may change PR Next Steps The next set of activities to promote awareness and adoption of the Barcelona Principles About AMEC Profile of the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication

Contact Us Print Page / Issue E-mail Issue View Past Issues   The PR industry is a step closer to consistent, global standards for PR measurement – thanks to the Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles. The Principles have caused a stir in PR measurement circles since a group of industry leaders gathered in Spain in June and ratified them. Among the questions they've raised: How did they come about? How will they benefit clients? And where do we go from here? This issue of Perspectives provides answers to these questions directly from individuals who were key players in developing the Barcelona Principles and who are committed to further championing the effort – including leaders of public relations organizations such as the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication, the Institute for Public Relations, the Public Relations Society of America, the International Communications Consultancy Organization, and the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. Senior global communications executives from two Ketchum clients, Royal Philips Electronics and FedEx, also offer input on practical application of the Principles. Introduction Results matter. The measurement of success tied to actual business results is one of the most critical factors in how business leaders judge the relevance of — and allocate resources for — their various marketing activities. As competitive pressures and customer demands intensify the need for increased marketing effectiveness, the importance of tangible, transparent measurement criteria will only escalate. As an agency, Ketchum has long been an industry research and measurement leader, and we’ve sought to provide meaningful metrics to our clients. But from agency to agency and client to client, what counts as acceptable measurement has been inconsistent – making it difficult for the industry as a whole to pinpoint the value of communication programs. Now, real change on this topic is finally under way. Earlier this year, a group of global PR industry leaders came together to tackle the issues and create a solid foundation for transparent, consistent metrics that hopefully will soon be utilized by PR professionals on an international basis. The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), the London-based global trade body and professional institute for agencies and practitioners that provide media evaluation and communication research, initiated an effort to create and promote a more realistic, accurate and consistent approach to PR measurement. Ketchum’s David Rockland, who is also the chairman of the AMEC U.S. Agency Research Leaders Group, worked with the group to draft seven principles for PR measurement. The principles were reviewed and refined by more than 200 delegates from 33 countries at the 2nd European Summit on Measurement in Barcelona, co-sponsored by AMEC and the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), and the result was the Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles. The Barcelona Principles represent a collective, industrywide effort to bring professional standards and global consistency to PR measurement. They bring quantitative analysis to PR measurement, an evolving concept of growing importance to clients. Ketchum has experienced this firsthand, as our research group has grown from five people to 125 in the 10 years since its inception. With this sort of track record, it makes perfect sense for our own David Rockland to have led this industrywide measurement initiative with involvement from many industry organizations, research suppliers, and even firms we often compete with, all of which joined together to build the first-ever standards for PR measurement. We devote this edition of Perspectives to the Barcelona Principles because we believe it is important to understand what they are all about, how and why they were developed, and how they will affect clients, PR practitioners and the industry overall. The “Overview” is a must-read starting point, explaining the seven Principles and providing supporting detail and explanation for each. In “Voices of Influence,” David lays out what he believes the Principles will mean for PR, and AMEC leaders Barry Leggetter and Mike Daniels join with Pauline Draper-Watts of IPR to talk about why it was important to push the initiative forward and the challenges and opportunities they believe lie ahead in the adoption of the Principles. In “Viewpoints” two top global communications executives — Andre Manning, who currently leads global marketing and communications at Royal Philips Electronics, and Toney Wilkinson, the senior director of global communications at FedEx — explain how the Barcelona Principles relate to their existing communications efforts and what they think it will mean for the future of PR. (Philips and FedEx are both Ketchum clients.) Our “Roundtable” section contains insights and opinions from top representatives of some of the world’s leading public relations organizations: the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO), the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, and AMEC. The individuals highlighted in this section participated in the AMEC Summit and contributed to shaping the final set of Principles. Finally, in a separate article titled “Next Steps from AMEC,” we provide a snapshot of the organization and its planned next steps for furthering adoption of the Principles, including details about two AMEC task forces assigned to develop validated metrics to replace advertising value equivalents and ways to best measure social media. As always, I hope you find this issue of Perspectives informative and useful, and I welcome your feedback. Please feel free to contact me at ray.kotcher@ketchum.com to let me know what you think. Best regards, Ray Kotcher Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Ketchum

Overview

The Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles are the work of well over 200 delegates from 33 countries representing five of the world’s foremost PR organizations – the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Measurement Commission, and the International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO) — which came together for the first time in June 2010 at the 2nd European Summit on Measurement in Barcelona, organized by AMEC and IPR.

The goal of the two-day summit was to establish a new global declaration of PR measurement standards and techniques to be shared with the global PR community. The seven Barcelona Principles that resulted are as follows:

1. Importance of goal setting and measurement.
2. Measuring the effect on outcomes is preferred to measuring media results.
3. The effect on business results can and should be measured where possible.
4. Media measurement requires quantity and quality.
5. Advertising value equivalents (AVEs) are not the value of public relations.
6. Social media can and should be measured.
7. Transparency and replicability are paramount to sound measurement.

Here is a closer look at each Principle:

Principle 1: Importance of Goal Setting and Measurement

• Goal-setting and measurement are fundamental aspects of any public relations program.
• Goals should be as quantitative as possible and address who, what, when and how much the PR program is intended to affect.
• Measurement should take a holistic approach, including representative traditional and social media; changes in awareness among key stakeholders, comprehension, attitude, and behavior as applicable; and business results.

Principle 2: Measuring the Effect on Outcomes Is Preferred to Measuring Media Results

• Outcomes include shifts in awareness, comprehension, attitude and behavior related to purchase, donations, brand equity, corporate reputation, employee engagement, public policy, investment decisions, and other shifts in stakeholders regarding a company, NGO, government or entity, as well as the stakeholder’s own beliefs and behaviors.
• Practices for measuring outcomes should be tailored to the business objectives of the PR activities. Quantitative measures, such as benchmark and tracking surveys, are often preferable. However, qualitative methods can be well-suited or used to supplement quantitative measures.
• Standard best practices in survey research including sample design, question wording and order, and statistical analysis should be applied in total transparency.

Principle 3: The Effect on Business Results Can and Should Be Measured Where Possible

• To measure business results from consumer or brand marketing, models that determine the effects of the quantity and quality of PR outputs on sales or other business metrics, while accounting for other variables, are a preferred choice. Related points include:
• Clients are creating demand for market mix models to evaluate the impact of consumer marketing.
• The PR industry needs to understand the value and implications of market-mix models for accurate evaluation of consumer marketing PR, in contrast to other measurement approaches.
• The PR industry needs to develop PR measures that can provide reliable input into market-mix models.
• Survey research also can be used to isolate the change in purchasing, purchase preference or attitude shift resulting from exposure to PR initiatives.

Principle 4: Media Measurement Requires Quantity and Quality

• Overall clip counts and general impressions are usually meaningless. Instead, media measurement, whether in traditional or online channels, should account for this:
• Impressions among the stakeholder or audience.
• Quality of the media coverage including:
• Tone.
• Credibility and relevance of the medium to the stakeholder or audience.
• Message delivery.
• Inclusion of a third-party or company spokesperson.
• Prominence as relevant to the medium.
• Quality can be negative, positive or neutral.

Principle 5:  Advertising Value Equivalents (AVEs) Are Not the Value of Public Relations

• Advertising value equivalents (AVEs) do not measure the value of public relations and do not inform future activity; they measure the cost of media space and are rejected as a concept to value public relations.
• Where a comparison has to be made between the cost of space from earned versus paid media, valid metrics should be used, stated for what they are, and reflect the following:
• Negotiated advertising rates relevant to the client.
• Quality of the coverage (see Principle 2), including negative results.
• Physical space of the coverage, and the portion of the coverage that is relevant.
• Multipliers intended to reflect a greater media cost for earned versus paid media should never be applied unless proven to exist in the specific case.

Principle 6: Social Media Can and Should Be Measured

• Social media measurement is a discipline, not a tool; but there is no “single metric.”
• Organizations need clearly defined goals and outcomes for social media.
• Media content analysis should be supplemented by Web and search analytics, sales and CRM data, survey data, and other methods.
• Evaluating quality and quantity is critical, just as it is with conventional media.
• Measurement must focus on “conversation” and “communities,” not just “coverage.”
• Understanding reach and influence is important, but existing sources are not accessible, transparent or consistent enough to be reliable; experimentation and testing are key to success.

Principle 7: Transparency and Replicability Are Paramount to Sound Measurement
PR measurement should be done in a manner that is transparent and replicable for all steps in the process, including specifying this:

Media Measurement:

• Source of the content (print, broadcast, Internet, or consumer-generated media) along with criteria used for collection.
• Analysis methodology — for example, whether human or automated, tone scale, reach to target, content analysis parameters.

Surveys

• Methodology — sampling frame and size, margin of error, probability or non-probability.
• Questions — all should be released as asked (wording and order).
• Statistical methodology — how specific metrics are calculated.

Voices of Influence

Perspectives tapped representatives from the two co-sponsors of the 2nd European Summit on Measurement in Barcelona – the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) – to explain why and how the Barcelona Principles came about, what challenges the industry faces in implementing them, and how clients, agencies, and the industry overall stand to benefit from them.

David Rockland, head of Ketchum’s Global Research Network, a member of AMEC’s U.S. Agency Research Leaders Group and the recent recipient of AMEC’s new Services to Industry Award, which was presented for his “outstanding work in establishing the Barcelona Principles measurement framework and for launching AMEC's first international chapter in the U.S.,” shares his thoughts about what the Principles will mean for the public relations industry. Then, Mike Daniels, AMEC chairman, Barry Leggetter, executive director of AMEC, and Pauline Draper-Watts, chairperson of the IPR commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation, respond to questions about the Principles.

What the Barcelona Principles Mean for PR

By David Rockland, Ph.D.
Chairman, AMEC U.S. Agency Research Leaders Group; Partner, Ketchum; CEO, Ketchum Pleon Change; and Managing Director, Ketchum Research

The PR industry has debated the topic of measurement forever, and the lack of acceptable, consistent measurement principles has hurt the profession. The 2nd European Summit on Measurement in Barcelona, organized by AMEC and IPR, marked the first time the industry sat down on a global basis to address this critical issue and come out with results we can call a “done deal.”

Based on our discussions there, delegates from around the world believe that more accurate measurement of PR value tied to business results will help our clients plan and manage their campaigns better. As clients continue to look for increased efficiencies and effectiveness from all of their marketing partners, the Barcelona Principles help PR to clearly prove its value in a transparent, tangible way. They provide the foundation for PR metrics that are not only transparent, but also logical and replicable on a global basis. They are a strong first step in standardizing what we do, and they move us away from certain practices that negatively affected the actual and perceived value of PR.

Understanding the Real Value of PR
An overarching goal of the Principles is to communicate that good PR is not based on the number of placements or impressions. A successful effort involves getting the right story, with the right messages, in the right places, reaching the right people, and tying it back to show the effect on a client’s business.

The Barcelona Principles look to provide a basis for analysis that connects PR results and value in terms of outcomes and business results. The value of PR lies in how earned media drives changes in audience awareness, comprehension, attitude, behavior and, ultimately, business results such as sales. As an industry, we need to be very clear about how you get to these results.

Accepting and Rewarding Good Measurement
Change can be scary, but I think acceptance is already starting. AMEC took a tremendous leadership role in using the summit in Barcelona to create the Principles. The International Communications Consultancies Organization (ICCO), the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management also have stepped up as leaders in contributing and adopting them. Now it’s time for other organizations, agencies and measurement companies to follow suit. Two in the U.K., the Chartered Institute for Public Relations (CIPR) and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), have already done so.

For starters, industry awards programs can play a major role in spreading the word and driving adoption of the Principles. Already, PRSA allocates half of its total points for Silver Anvil entries to upfront research and back-end measurement and evaluation. There is a clear challenge and call to action for other major awards programs in other regions to apply similar importance to measurement. When awards criteria include a results measurement section in line with the Barcelona Principles – and once entries start getting rejected for not adhering to them – it’s likely the industry will quickly embrace the Principles as the new framework for measurement. The awards programs themselves will benefit as well because their scoring criteria will be even more tangible and realistic.

Working Together to Move Forward
AMEC is to be commended for its emerging role as a global leader in PR measurement. Something like this could have happened years ago, but no other organization stepped up to the challenge or took the time to actually do it. Some people have said we didn’t go far enough, but every journey starts with a step, which we have now taken.

My hope is for every PR organization to adopt the Principles as their own, at which point we can all work together to shape the practices, metrics and standards that we use going forward.

After the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) conceived the idea of the Barcelona Principles, the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) joined alongside AMEC to co-sponsor the summit in Barcelona, where the Principles were introduced and refined. Here, Mike Daniels and Barry Leggetter from AMEC and Pauline Draper-Watts from IPR answer questions about the genesis, implications, and practical applications of the Principles.

Perspectives: Why were the Barcelona Principles developed?

Barry Leggetter: The Principles developed from an idea I mentioned to Ketchum’s David Rockland and AMEC chairman Mike Daniels. I felt AMEC, as the global body responsible for communication management, needed to make program management compelling for PR professionals. The original idea was to partner with other global PR professional bodies and create a set of global standards. In late 2009, we worked with David to create interest in the worldwide PR community, and by year-end, we had a session in our first AMEC Summit program draft titled “Creating the Barcelona Accord: Farewell AVEs.” From there, the Barcelona Principles were born. 

The ambition was to take a leap forward toward marginalizing the use of advertising value equivalents (AVEs) throughout public relations. As David took over detailed planning for his role as moderator of the half-day session at the Barcelona Summit, he realized AMEC needed to make clear statements, both for the record and as a base point for change. 

I’m delighted to report that almost overnight from Barcelona, measurement became, if not fashionable, then something communicators were happy to talk about. We believe we have officially put program measurement on the agenda. The challenge now is to maintain the momentum.

Mike Daniels: Holding dual roles as AMEC chairman and as director of a measurement provider, I obviously have a somewhat biased view of the importance of the Barcelona Principles. Still, I believe it is fair to say that the Barcelona Principles are arguably the single most important initiative undertaken by AMEC because they move the organization from being largely seen as a suppliers’ club – and a very U.K.-centric one at that – toward becoming the communications industry’s key global source of knowledge about measurement best practices. This knowledge-sharing mechanism is much needed by the entire industry.

Perspectives: What are the goals of the Barcelona Principles?

Leggetter: The principal goal was to create a practical initiative that would create noise, engage PR stakeholders and take the measurement of public relations forward. AMEC’s aim was to create the conversation and then commit to action that would ensure, conclusively, that PR measurement is no longer thought of as only a “nice to have.”

Specifically, AMEC believed that an initiative such as the Barcelona Principles could energize thinking from PR professionals, including agency professionals, freelancers and corporate client teams, and get them to rethink their notion of program measurement. From this point forward, PR program measurement must be viewed as a mission-critical business activity. We believe more accurate measurement of PR value tied to business results will help clients plan and manage their campaigns better. At the same time, it also will support in-house communications professionals in their need to show the value and role of communications in driving profitable business growth in front of their top managers.

There are two key business benefits from the Barcelona Principles. The first is that the new metrics critically underline the dollar value of public relations. Secondly, through AMEC’s work in developing new metrics to measure social media, it will help prevent other marketing disciplines from trying to claim that they own social media when, in fact, it is a logical extension of PR’s work.

For all our enthusiasm about the issue, we do remain realistic. The Barcelona Principles are not the complete solution, but our hope is that they will end years of debate as to whether there should be global standards and whether unacceptable metrics such as AVEs and multipliers should be used.

Daniels: A key goal is to help clients meet their goals, and we think the Principles will do that in at least three ways: clients will have a clear view of how to apply metrics and of their place within business goal-setting and outcomes research; clients will be able to demonstrate true accountability and transparency to the board of directors or C-suite; and clients will be able to show other management functions that PR measurement and key performance indicators (KPIs) are as professional and rigorous as other business metrics.

The widespread adoption of the Barcelona Principles also should make it much easier for clients to justify measurement. After all, no organization likes to feel it is losing competitive advantage.  The Principles undoubtedly will ensure that companies with sound measurement will improve the impact of their efforts, as well as their resource management.

Pauline Draper-Watts: From IPR’s point of view, consistency is an important goal. Over the years, I have seen a wide range of measurement and evaluation of PR activity. Some of these practices have been good and some have been lacking and even misleading. With the Barcelona Principles, we have sought to define some solid disciplines. Many of these principles should be obvious, but sadly such practices have been absent on too many occasions.

I feel passionately that PR needs to have solid, robust metrics that can stand up to scrutiny, and the Principles provide a roadmap to raise the bar to a minimum level that everyone should be able to attain. Some will go much further, which is brilliant, but at least these principles have defined some basic standards for performance in measurement.

Perspectives: What are the limitations or problems with previous PR metrics?

Draper-Watts: While many organizations use measurement and evaluation, there had not been set standards or common currency. Because there had been no consistency, one client might be happy to accept no measurable objectives while another might insist on them.

Leggetter: PR professionals often speak proudly about the strategic and creative difference they’ve made to a client campaign, but a far smaller percentage of them put the same amount of emphasis on program measurement. The same holds true on the client side. My personal experience in 25 years of global PR consultancy work is that measurement has sadly been seen by clients as added cost. Most of them typically prefer to allocate budget to more work rather than to funding program measurement. The result is they never know if their work made a difference, and if so, was it worth it.

But there is a change in the air, and that’s why the Barcelona Principles initiative is such a light-bulb moment for researchers. Leading agencies such as Ketchum that have dedicated research groups can have a massive influence on major clients by showing them the business benefits of research and evaluation. We’ve seen signs that a similar commitment to planning, research and measurement is now being made by smaller agencies as well.

Perspectives: What are the primary challenges for implementation and industry acceptance and adoption?

Leggetter: The biggest challenge is professional inertia: “The client likes AVEs, so why should we change?” AMEC is undertaking a major professional education program for PR practitioners to demonstrate the business benefits of properly thought-out metrics, each measured against SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely) objectives. We’re encouraged to already see early signs of genuine interest from the profession.

In the U.K., the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), an International Communications Consultancies Organization (ICCO) member, and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), a founding member of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, are working with AMEC to introduce new measurement program for their members. PRSA has signaled its own endorsement of the importance of measurement by announcing a strategic partnership with AMEC to support its work. PRSA also joined with AMEC to co-present a half-day workshop in London in November 2010 designed to show PR practitioners how to introduce the new metrics developed by AMEC task forces.

Draper-Watts: The Principles incorporate a strike against AVEs, but the reality is that AVEs traditionally have been an accepted method of reporting in many organizations. Their perceived value in measuring PR remains an issue that the Principles must overcome. As stated in the Principles, AVEs do not measure the value of PR; public recognition of this by so many professional bodies and individuals is a big step forward. However, I believe the Barcelona Principles are a starting point rather than the finishing post. In and of themselves, they are irrelevant unless organizations adopt them and we continue to forge ahead in raising the expectations for sound, robust, replicable measurement. There is still work to be done, but we have laid the foundations for change.

Perspectives: Why is the introduction of the Principles a critical issue for the industry?

Daniels: For PR agencies and the industry as a whole, broad acceptance of the Barcelona Principles will confer a legitimacy on the sector. Just as market research companies (and their clients) gain real advantages from being members of their professional bodies – e.g., the Market Research Society in the U.K., the Marketing Research Association in the U.S., ESOMAR internationally – due to their acceptance of, and adherence to, a coherent and consistent set of professional practices and guidelines, PR agency professionals are a step closer to gaining that same level of comfort as a result of the Barcelona Principles. Clients will know that any AMEC company adopting the Principles will deliver data and insight to a certain minimum standard of rigor and methodological consistency.

The public relations industry is a community with a shared interest in measurement standards. For agencies, the thinking is “Why would you want to hide success?” For suppliers, it is “We’ll validate the success of your efforts.” For clients, the Principles support the measurement industry’s development of products and services that meet real business needs. In that context, the Barcelona Principles represent by far the best route for the industry as a whole to move to a new level of professionalism and value.

Draper-Watts: Adoption of these industry principles illustrates how PR professionals are demonstrating increased accountability in their work. The Principles increase the credibility of measurement. They also assist agencies when clients are asking for measurement that has little to do with the value of PR. For example, I know of one firm that already has dissuaded two clients away from AVEs based on the Barcelona Principles. Clients now have a roadmap that can negate other agendas that are not necessarily beneficial to the business.

The Principles also are a critical issue because they mean we are now no longer lagging behind other marketing and communications disciplines, which have long had recognized and accepted measurement and evaluation practices. While we have steered away from the word “standards,” we also felt “guidelines” was not strong enough in communicating our message. At the very least, these principles are thought-provoking about how we conduct ourselves. At best, they are the roadmap to guide us and the springboard for us to develop further enhancements.

Leggetter: It is a logical step in the evolution of public relations to measure – as a routine discipline – the effectiveness of its programs. Lord Tim Bell, chairman of Chime Communications PLC, the leading marketing services agency in the U.K. and a major figure in the development of PR, is almost disbelieving that PR professionals do not routinely evaluate a program. Still known as Margaret Thatcher’s PR man and an instrumental figure in three General British Election successes, Lord Bell told Gorkana in an interview earlier this year: “Evaluation of course can’t be done without knowing what the objectives are, but it’s more about the preparedness of people to be evaluated. I happen to think it’s very important for us to evaluate our work, because otherwise why should anyone have any confidence in the relationship.”

In my previous role as global chairman at Bite Communications Group, I worked with global CEO Tim Dyson, who famously said (and I paraphrase): “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want clients to know how successful your program had been.” It comes back to truly believing in your program and wanting to know that it’s working.