Are Advertising Value Equivalents (AVEs) a good measure of media publicity?
So called ‘ad values’ are used by some PR firms and executives as a measure of publicity (ie. volume of publicity multiplied by the advertising rate of the media in which it appears). However, there are fundamental flaws in this method. Advertising is never unfavourable; never promotes competitors; always communicates key messages; and is usually favourably positioned. Editorial publicity may be very favourable and influential. However, editorial also can be negative; it can report on competitors and even favourably compare competitors; it may not contain key messages; and it may not be in key media that reach your target audiences and markets. Also, a client’s mentions may only be part of an editorial article. Few users of Advertising Value Equivalents deduct unrelated content and unfavourable coverage or coverage that misses your target audiences. This method is described as “questionable” and “invalid” by the world’s leading public relations academics, institutes and researchers. Mo
