Global standard for proving PR's value to be created at key Barcelona summit next week

The leaders of five global professional measurement and evaluation bodies will join together for the first time at the high-profile meeting in Barcelona to create the ‘Barcelona Declaration of Research Principles’.

This is expected to be a new worldwide standard for measurement and evaluation.

More than 150 other representatives from the world’s top measurement companies and PR agencies will witness the declaration at the three-day conference, which is being organised by the Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and the Institute for Public Relations.

The leader of the session David Rockland, CEO of Ketchum Pleon Change, said: ‘This will be a pivotal long-term decision for communications credibility.

‘Until now, PR has been undervalued due to its inability to measure itself. We need to leave Barcelona with a set of standards for which every organisation should expect to be accountable and show proof that their programmes are working,’ he said.

The conference runs from 16-18 June. Key speakers include president of the ICCO Richard Houghton, the MD of FT Business and B2B Casper de Bono, Banco Santander’s global marketing and comms director Juan Manuel Cendoya and Fernando Rodes Vila, the CEO of Havas.

The five key bodies are The Global Alliance, IPR Measurement Commission, AMEC, PRSA and ICCO.