Measurement

Barcelona Principles

AMEC Barcelona Principles · Barcelona Principles 3.0

Definition

Barcelona Principles are AMEC’s seven rules for measuring communication. They were agreed in Barcelona in 2010, revised in 2015 (2.0), rewritten in 2020 (3.0), and updated again as 4.0. The line most people know is the ban on advertising value equivalency. The rest of the list is the actual job: set goals first, separate outputs from outcomes and impact, mix numbers with judgment, cover online and offline, and show your work.

Version 3.0, launched at AMEC’s 2020 virtual summit, widened the audience from “PR campaigns” to communication in any organization. It also named society as a possible impact layer, which small teams often cannot fund research to prove. 4.0 keeps the AVE prohibition and tightens the instruction to measure contribution by outcome and impact.

How it works

Start with the decision the program is supposed to change. Then pick measures that sit on the right rung.

Outputs are what you made or got: pitches, placements, impressions, links. Outcomes are what changed in a public: awareness, comprehension, attitude, search demand. Impact is what changed for the organization or a community: applications, donations, legislation, safety behavior. A clip book is an output report. A pre/post survey of trust among staff nurses is an outcome report. A drop in vacancy days is an impact claim and needs a design that can survive a skeptic.

Example: a transit agency runs a three-month safety campaign. Outputs: 22 stories, 8 dofollow links, 4 radio interviews. Outcomes: unprompted awareness of the new platform-edge rule rises from 18% to 41% in a rider survey. Impact: recorded edge incidents fall 12% year on year on the treated lines, against a 3% fall on untreated lines. Barcelona-style reporting keeps those three rows labeled. An AVE of $1.2 million would have erased the only numbers that describe whether the work did anything.

How it differs

PESO sorts channels. Barcelona sorts evidence. Digital PR dashboards that stop at referring domains are output tools. They can sit inside a Barcelona program if someone also tracks whether the coverage changed the audience the board funded.

The principles are not a scoring rubric and not a certification. You can follow them with a spreadsheet. You can also print the poster and keep selling AVE.

Common errors

Quoting Principle 5 and still putting “PR value” in a footnote. Claiming societal impact from media impressions. Counting only quantitative clips and calling it 3.0-compliant because the slide says “outcomes” under a list of outputs.

Sources