Hotwire, the global integrated PR and communications agency, is to launch an updated Hotwire Measurement Framework to support innovation in creating modern measurement practice for PR.

Based on the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) Valid Metrics Framework, the new Measurement Framework will put a greater focus on business objectives throughout the entire campaign, so that direct business outcomes are easier to identify, record, and measure.

AMEC first conceived the desire to change measurement in 2010 at a conference in Barcelona, where a set of founding ideas, which later became known as the Barcelona Principles, were created with the intention of moving away from the advertising value equivalent (AVE) as a defining measurement factor for PR. By 2011, the Valid Metrics methodology had been drawn up which shifted focus towards business objectives and outcomes, which should be the core focus of all PR activity.

Barry Leggetter, executive director, AMEC said, “Hotwire’s new Measurement Framework is a real leadership step in the PR industry. It’s a bold way of showing staff and clients that measurement really matters and to actually do something about it. When we began our measurement journey in 2010 with the Barcelona Principles, it signalled a moment when PR programme measurement became a business imperative. A milestone for that journey was the development of the Valid Metrics methodology that Hotwire has incorporated in its Measurement Framework.”

Andy West, group chief development officer, Hotwire, commented, “Measurement and delivering solid business outcomes have always been at the heart of Hotwire since the agency was born. Twelve years later, we are still passionate about these topics and continue to work to deliver industry innovation. We still have a lot of work to do to challenge and kill-off outmoded forms of measurement such as AVE. Our Measurement Framework is another nail in the coffin of AVE and is about driving forward the progressive PR measurement agenda so that business objectives are a starting point rather than simply a ‘nice to have’.”