AMEC rocked the world of public relations when it issued the Barcelona Principles at its 2010 conference, aiming to establish superior communications measurement principles and famously rejecting the use of traditional advertising value equivalency (AVEs), still popular with many South African public relations firms. The organisation is considered at the forefront of public relations measurements and while its recommendations are not necessarily binding on public relation firms, they are generally accepted by corporate representatives and academics as part of measuring return on investment.
In a first, Africa will also be represented at the summit as Ornico, the brand intelligence research firm, recently became the only African company to be awarded full membership of AMEC.
Barry Leggetter, CEO of AMEC, was particularly pleased that Ornico's application had met its stringent membership criteria: "Our membership panel was impressed by the professionalism of their application and also of the company's growth record and plans for still future expansion.
Ornico's head of operations, Francois van Dyk, will join a panel of other professionals in Amsterdam to advise delegates on how to establish a measurement system in a public relations consultancy. He currently serves on AMEC's Business Development Committee. With delegates from more than 20 countries expected to attend the several workshops and talks in Amsterdam, the latest global trends and best practices of public relations and communications measurement will be firmly in the spotlight as several global PR agency heads, including Dave Senay (Global CEO: FleishmanHillard) Kevin Murray, (Chairman: The Good Relations Group) and Matt Neale (President: International, GolinHarris) will share their thoughts on best measurement practices.
African public relations practitioners will get to share in the latest global measurement trends as Ornico will be hosting several breakfast events in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya as part of AMEC's Measurement Week being held from 15-19 September 2014. Ornico will team up with other members globally to create better understanding around the latest thinking in communications measurement and analytics.
