Is it time to refresh the Barcelona Principles?

Measurement has never been more important for PR practitioners.

Many communicators report that a top concern is proving value to top decision-makers—thereby earning bigger budgets. A recent study revealed that many executives either don’t know what PR is or don’t value its contribution to their bottom line.

Yet PR pros have been debating the finer points of how to measure their campaigns for over a decade, the foundational text for many being the Barcelona Principles. These guiding tenets were an attempt by some to change the conversation around measuring communications from looking at how much effort was expended to what an organization reaped from all that work.

PR pros have been relying on the Barcelona Principles for almost 10 years. How has the industry been shaped by the framework introduced in 2010? Has it been successful?

David Rockland, who spearheaded the original campaign to establish the Barcelona Principles, says the project started to get PR pros to move away from “silly metrics.”