Why and how the Barcelona Principles revisions are hurting PR

Of course, I believe differently (and run my agency differently and advise all of you differently), but I can’t really blame him. There isn’t an ironclad way to measure the effectiveness of our programs, and metrics are all over the board.

As well, the official “definition” of public relations is about as clear as mud:

Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.

I used to fight Arthur Yann (God rest his soul) on this issue nearly daily. To his point, it is better than the original definition from 1982, but it still tells no one what the heck we do, yet it’s the guiding light for the industry.

Now the guiding light for the industry’s measurement is the Barcelona Principles. This set of seven voluntary guidelines established by industry professionals to measure the efficacy of PR campaigns has been revised to more accurately depict metrics for our field.