This week sees the deadline (July 15) for feedback from delegates to the 2nd European Summit. It’s been encouraging to see the positive way PR and media intelligence professionals around the world have responded to the Barcelona Principles.
We won’t be deflected. The industry is moving forward, using the spirit of Barcelona to engage in conversations and practical initiatives. It makes it all the more a pity that a US blogger – while we are still in our consultation period – has called for a boycott of named companies who offer some form of Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) measurement in their product offer. AMEC feels this is a member discourtesy to name companies in this way.
We move on, refusing to be deflected from the consensus we reached with delegates from 33 countries. See Download AVE company boycott not the way.FINAL. 12.07.10
Hello Barry, as I wrote to you commenting the Barcelona Principles, the AVE point for me was the most controversial one and in Barcelona I voted against it. I was full of hope, when before Barcelona Summit you wrote in Linkedin discussion that AVE should be abolished. Then I went to the Summit and I was dissapointed: we were voting against AVE and comparing PR with measurement but we had to vote for new index, which is nothing else than AVE created on slightly different rules, is also comparing PR with advertising and has no scientifical evidence. I understand there are many companies from media monitoring industry which use AVE because it is demanded by their clients (and they want to earn money above all) and AMEC does not want to make any revolution. But I am sociologist and I look at the case from sociological point of view: any technique which is not scientifically based and has no scientific evidence, should not be used and PR cannot be compared with advertising. In my company, NewsPoint, we do not use AVEs at all and we are discussing with our clients, why. Even if it can mean loss of money earned on counting this. Why? Because it has no scientifical evidence. If our clients start to buy a horoscope from us, should we start to offer them horoscopes (and call it in a different way)? Our task is to educate industry and to set standards which are compatible with scientific methodology.
Posted by: Anna Miotk | July 16, 2010 at 08:33 AM
Barry, just wanted to let you know that I do understand your position, and that AMEC mustn't piss off it's membership because that's what sustains the organization. ON the other hand, I urge AMEC in the strongest terms possible that if we really are going to move forward there must be SOME consequences put in place for organizations that aren't in compliance with the Barcelona Principles. Otherwise it's just another bunch of PR people reiterating the same vapid assertions we've been using for years. So if you all put some teeth into the principles, I'd be happy to rescind my call for a boycott.
Posted by: Katie Delahaye Paine | July 21, 2010 at 03:08 PM