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To AVE or AVE not. Pourquoi, porque, perché, waarom, warum, varför, hvorfor, proc, why?

Another slump and once again the pressure is on to prove PR delivers value for money. So the old debate about the usefulness - or not - of AVE comparisons (Advertising Value Equivalent) rages with clients and agencies alike.

A recent article in PR Week, 8 November 2002, "Criticism mounts as AVEs rise again" referred to survey results compiled earlier this year. It showed that 50 per cent of practitioners were resorting to AVEs - up from 28 per cent in 1998 - a trend which has done nothing to assuage the reservations of what is still a largely AVE-sceptical, if not downright AVE-hostile, PR industry.

The three Cs 

But why is there such reluctance to embrace such a simple, easy to understand measurement if clients are asking for it, especially when PR coverage usually beats advertising time and time again in delivering added value in terms of the three Cs: credibility, clout and cost?

The rationale goes something like this: AVEs have little real validity and are largely irrelevant in measuring the true value of PR and its ability to change target audience behaviour. By focusing on press cutting quantity, they are inadequate, inflexible and incapable of rating the effectiveness of key message communication. They are used reactively in response to client pressure to justify spend and there is little alternative currently available.

But the reason could well be something altogether different: why go to the expense and bother of offering a service for which there is not yet universal client demand? Do away with AVE as an invalid measurement tool and maybe you eliminate the whole spectre of making PR as accountable and measurable a business activity as any other. In the same PR Week article, Mark Westaby of evaluation solutions company Metrica, was quoted as saying, "the problem is that PR is driven by people who don't understand the importance of measurement."

At DA, we not only understand the importance of measurement, we vigorously use it as a strategic management tool which is as essential to our way of making PR deliver quantifiable results as it is to our clients.

The main weakness with AVE lies in its simplicity because it is usually applied as a stand-alone, one dimensional evaluation. PR measurement, however, requires a more rigorous 360° approach which can and should be applied to each and every PR activity.

Metrics à la carte 

But talking about the strategic value of measurement is one thing, providing it consistently and using it tactically is another. This is why at DA we have developed, tested and proven a flexible range of à la carte metrics which we select with clients and then use for on-going evaluation and effective programme management.

While we certainly won't advocate using AVE in solus, its validity comes into its own when used in conjunction with other measurement tools. Our Advertising vs PR case study gives one example of its use alongside the IPR-approved cost-of-impact ratio… figures, as they say, don't lie.

But there are other, often overlooked, metrics - like press coverage analysis. At DA, we do this thoroughly and incisively for clients according to ranked key message take-up, leveraged by country / market / product, target media and volume - which is important when evaluated against the previous qualifications. Competitive tracking, analysis and coverage measurement at agreed intervals are extremely valuable in assessing the effectiveness of brand and corporate identity development.

Awareness, perception and target audience benchmarkings provide valid, periodic feedback that can be correlated to business performance, as can the positive effects of PR generated sales leads and data capture.

With continual assessment of every PR activity, DA makes sure every pound, Euro or dollar of our clients' PR spend works harder and smarter to deliver measurable business results. And, through regular evaluation, efficiency audits, budget analyses and monthly monitoring of annual plans, we keep programmes on track, on time and on budget.

So if your measurement is not measuring up, it might be time to re-assess - because there's more to PR than press releases.