PR Evaluation Survey 1 – 80% do measurement; 43% use AVE

PR students at Bournemouth University were surveyed recently about their experiences of evaluation practices during their 2012/13 sandwich year placement. 55 students (85%) took part in the self-completion survey. As all but one of them (98.2%) had been on placement for nine months or more in a single organisation, they can be considered valid observers of practices taking place around them or in which they participated.

Headline news, using valid percentages, was that they reported

• 80% of placement organisations undertook formal or information evaluation of PR activity
• 79.2% of activity was measured in those organisations that undertook evaluation
• The main measurement was of media coverage, by 10 times (at least) ahead of measurement of KPIs, social media or organisational objectives (in that ranking)
• AVE was used in 43.2% of placement organisations; On the other hand, it was not used in 56.8% of placement organisations

Calculation of AVE

Students who reported that AVE was used were asked “How was AVE calculated at your main placement organisation?”

Their verbatim replies indicate that (1) AVE continues to be widely used and (2) some AMEC members are actively offering products and services to calculate the metric.

Got it from Precise; PR Value = AVE x 3 divided by 100

Based on rates from Gorkana

By media evaluation agency as percentage of editorial value

[Media coverage multiplied) X 3

Via Metrica and Cision's algorithms

We rang companies for the figures or used Precise or Gorkana

We used Mymarket Monitor to indicate AVE which they used page space to decide value

A piece of coverage that took up 1/4 of the page, for example, was divided by 4 and x (multiplied) by 3 or 5 depending on whether it was online or print coverage.

PR value x 3

PR Value = Advertising by 3

For press coverage a value was calculated at the end of the month

Depending on the size of coverage times x 3

Through Precise Media and AVE reports for each campaign

We would send coverage to an outside agency (Kantor) they would reply with AVE

By measuring coverage, working out the costs of this space by advertising rates and times value by 3

Calculated the published article against (an) advertising rate card. Also against viewers

Not sure: PR Value x 3 (divided by) 100%. Same strategy applied for all.

From Precise media cuttings package

Despite the Barcelona Principles, which were announced with very visible support from CIPR and PRCA in 2010, AVE is as widely used as it ever was. And AMEC members, who wrote and adopted the Barcelona Principles which barred use of AVE, are leading the way in its continued usage.

More research outcomes follow soon in PR Evaluation Survey 2.