AVE RIP: The oft-maligned Advertising Equivalency Value (AVE) finally may be put to rest. Richard Bagnall, chairman of the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), said May 17 during AMEC’s summit in Bangkok, “We will be investing significant time and resources to kill off finally this derided metric.” Bagnall, CEO, PRIME Research UK, and a newly minted member of the PRN Measurement Hall of Fame, says client demand for AVEs has fallen from 80% in 2010 to 18% this year. To accomplish the killing, AMEC says it will launch a global online educational resource center showing why the metric is invalid and it will urge all AMEC members to sign a pledge saying they will no longer provide AVEs to clients. Should a brand request AVEs from an AMEC member it “will receive standard educational material explaining why the metric is invalid and should not be used,” AMEC says. AMEC also says it will be reaching out to PR award organizers worldwide urging them “to introduce a zero-scoring policy if awards entries include AVEs as a metric.”
Call the Briefing…Maybe Not: Many PR pros counsel against holding press briefings when brands lack anything new to share. Similarly, the daily White House press briefing might be overkill, although it affords the administration a daily shot at shaping the national agenda. Of course, President Donald Trump sets the agenda via Twitter. In any case the president said May 12 he’s considering canceling the daily briefing because it’s difficult for White House communicators to keep up with his fast-moving presidency. He conceded, though, the briefings are “getting tremendous [TV] ratings.” On May 18 reports surfaced that the daily frequency of the briefings will be reduced when the president returns from his trip abroad late this week. Press secretary Sean Spicer reportedly will make fewer appearances at the briefings in favor of deputy Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Research: Brand communicators share two basic objectives for research: the need to communicate value and generate a positive ROI for PR. During the IPR|PRIME conference in NY earlier this month, KPMG corporate communications director Christine Curtin notes its media analysis program delivers PR performance results using the language of business. She adds, “Data takes the emotions out of PR evaluation and communications decision making.” Beyond demonstrating value, Atle Erlingsson, communications chief, SAP N. America, tells the conference he manages PR outreach to generate ROI. SAP ties PR to customer success stories, creating closer bonds between SAP and clients. This has won PR support from SAP’s sales teams, which sees PR as a value-added asset in closing deals.
Finance and Expansion: The Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) added S&A Communications of the U.S. and asoluto of Austria to its roster of 50 agencies. During its recent Dallas meeting, PRGN members elected Christina Rytter, managing director/founder, Scandinavian Communications, president, succeeding Evelyn Holtzhausen, founder, HWB Communications of South Africa. – Fintech firm Wachsman PR opened its European headquarters in Dublin May 11. The NY-based firm tapped Dublin native Emma Walker to head the new office. – Six independent agencies collaborated May 10 to launch The PLUS Network, touted as a client-focused alternative to large, bureaucratic agencies and companies that will span paid, owned, earned, social, experiential and search. WE Communications created PLUS, which also includes The Garrigan Lyman Group, Salt Branding, YouGov, Interel and Envy Create. The combined billings of the member agencies exceed $300 million globally. – Peregrine PR of Mumbai, India, launched De Jure, a unit dedicated to offering legal PR to brands facing legal issues. It believes it’s the first Indian PR firm to set up such a unit. Former journalist Sunil Shivdasani will lead De Jure. – Dalton Agency of Jacksonville, FL, and Bill Hudson Agency of Nashville, TN, merged May 17. The new entity will be called DaltonHudson.
People: APCO Worldwide named Jen Young senior director in its global health care practice. She recently was EVP/director of operations at Edelman. – Rosewood Hotel Group named Patricia Rosentreter corporate director of brand communications, Americas & Europe. She joins from The Peninsula Hotels, where she served as regional director of communications for U.S. and the Americas. – Women’s Marketing named Raquel Klugman SVP, beauty. The Wharton MBA joins from Butter London. – Marino promoted Dani Friedman to director, digital and brand strategy. She began her career at Relevent. – Congrats to Meredith Klein, who starts today as director of media/PR at Jet.com, the online retailer Walmart acquired last year for $3.3 billion.