• Member Login
  • Contact
  • Resources

Lost your password?

  • English English English en
  • العربية العربية Arabic ar
  • Indonesia Indonesia Indonesian id
  • Melayu Melayu Malay ms
  • Български Български Bulgarian bg
  • hrvatski hrvatski Croatian hr
  • Čeština Čeština Czech cs
  • Dansk Dansk Danish da
  • Suomi Suomi Finnish fi
  • Français Français French fr
  • Deutsch Deutsch German de
  • Ελληνικά Ελληνικά Greek el
  • हिन्दी हिन्दी Hindi hi
  • Italiano Italiano Italian it
  • 简体中文 简体中文 Chinese (Simplified) zh-hans
  • Norsk bokmål Norsk bokmål Norwegian Bokmål no
  • Română Română Romanian ro
  • Русский Русский Russian ru
  • српски српски Serbian sr
  • Slovenčina Slovenčina Slovak sk
  • Slovenščina Slovenščina Slovenian sl
  • Español Español Spanish es
  • Svenska Svenska Swedish sv
  • Tagalog Filipino Tagalog Filipino Tagalog Filipino tgl
  • Tamil Tamil Tamil ta
  • ไทย ไทย Thai th
  • Türkçe Türkçe Turkish tr
  • اردو اردو Urdu ur
  • Tiếng Việt Tiếng Việt Vietnamese vi
  • 日本語 日本語 Japanese ja
AMEC

International association for the measurement and evaluation of communication

  • Education
    • AMEC Online College
      • AMEC Training Opportunities
      • AMEC Academic Scholarship 2023
      • AMEC Foundation in Measurement & Evaluation
        • FAQ’s – AMEC Foundation Course
      • AMEC Certificate in Measurement & Evaluation
        • AMEC Certificate 2023 Alumni
        • FAQs – AMEC Certificate Course
        • Student Testimonials
        • AMEC IEF Tutorial Course
        • Diploma – Coming 2024
      • AMEC Academic Advisory Group
  • Resources
    • Barcelona Principles 3.0
    • Integrated Evaluation Framework (IEF)
      • AMEC IEF Tutorial
    • 2023 AMEC Agency White Paper
    • AMEC Planning Resources
    • Measurement Methodology
    • 2023 AMEC APAC Market Insights Paper
    • Videos
    • AMEC Measurement Month
    • Case Studies
    • Find a Speaker
  • Events
    • Events Calendar
      • Upcoming Events
    • Measurement Month
      • 2023 Events
      • 2022 Events
      • All Events
    • Summits
      • All Summits
      • 2023 Regional Summit – Jakarta
      • 2024 Global Summit – Sofia
      • 2023 Global Summit – Miami
      • 2022 Global Summit – Vienna
      • 2021 Global Summit – Virtual
      • 2020 Global Summit – Virtual
      • 2019 Global Summit – Prague
      • 2018 Global Summit – Barcelona
      • 2017 Global Summit – Bangkok
    • AMEC Communication Effectiveness Awards
      • 2023 Awards
      • 2022 Awards Winners
      • 2022 Awards
      • 2021 Awards Winners
      • 2021 Awards
      • Past Award Winners
      • Don Bartholomew Award Winners
  • About
    • Who We Are
      • About AMEC
      • AMEC Board of Directors
      • AMEC Special Interest Groups
      • Partners & Alliances
    • Chapters
      • Asia Pacific Chapter
      • European Chapter
      • Latin America Chapter
      • Middle East and Africa Chapter
      • North American Chapter
  • Insights
  • Membership
    • Join AMEC
      • AMEC Special Interest Groups
      • AMEC Global Chapters
      • Membership Categories
    • Membership Directory
      • See all Members
    • AMEC Board Elections
      • AMEC Elections 2024
      • AMEC Elections 2023 Results
      • AMEC AGM 2022
      • AMEC Elections 2022 Results
      • AMEC AGM 2021
      • AMEC Elections 2021 Results
      • AMEC AGM 2020
      • AMEC Elections 2020 Results
      • AMEC Elections 2019 Results
    • Exclusive for Members
      • AMEC General Webinars (members only on-demand)
      • AMEC NFP SIG “Ask the Experts” Series
      • All Measurement Month Events
      • AMEC Agency Toolkit Series
      • AMEC North America Chapter “Ask the Experts” Series
      • AMEC European Chapter – Hints and Tips
      • AMEC Global Membership Survey
  • Resources
  • Menu Menu

How to move teams away from AVEs or impressions?

You are here: Home » AMEC Member Article » How to move teams away from AVEs or impressions?

How to move teams away from AVEs or impressions?

7th November 2019/in AMEC Member Article, News, Special Interest Groups GOLIN, Jonny Bentwood/by Julie Wilkinson

“We need AVE” or “we need the impressions number”

…in my view, these two short statements are some of the worst phrases a measurement geek like myself can hear. This post isn’t about why AVE is rubbish – this is discussed countless times on the wonderful new AMEC web site but rather how is someone meant to engage with clients or colleagues who are demanding this number.

I have heard all the reasons why I should accommodate but mainly falls into two areas:

  • The team are remunerated based on this score
  • We have always done it this way so need a point of comparison

So what’s the answer? In our client-centric world we inherently try to please our stakeholders – is it such a catastrophe in doing it then? The answer of course is yes. However, the narrative cannot be so blunt. There are a few options in how to persuade the client that this is not the best route.

It encourages your communications team to do the wrong job

At best chasing a huge vanity number derived from impressions is a ridiculous metric – after all, how can you justifiably look someone in the face and say your campaign hit 78 billion people. At worse though, using AVE or impressions suggest that they only correct course of action for a campaign is one whose focus is on awareness. It pays little account into whether this is the right thing to do. If your objective is to change attitude or promote advocacy or purchase intent then anything that purely drives an increase in awareness runs counter to the tactics and metrics you would pick for other stages of the customer journey. For example, I would work with niche, trusted influencers if I wanted to alter attitude but high reach broader targets for awareness. If you are only using AVE or impressions, you could never pick communications tactics that help anything but awareness and if that is not your goal, then you are doing the wrong job – and that is a waste of money that nobody wants.

Of course, if this narrative is the stick, then pivoting the discussion is the carrot – “how can we pick the metrics that drive our objective?” I prefer this route as it’s less confrontational, but the purpose remains the same. In essence what this does is help drive the narrative from discussing outputs to outcomes – which is key to our job.

Provide a parallel alternative

I fully recognise that it’s easy for me to preach from my ivory tower about how you should never use AVE or impressions as KPIs. But what can you do if the above argument fails? I think it’s important what red lines you draw. For me, I will never use AVE but I would be happy to suggest running parallel metrics showing impressions alongside my recommended metrics that illustrate change in the customer journey alongside the most indicative KPIs for that space. My aim here, would be to show the client or stakeholder that the alternative approach still provides the success metrics they need. And if they want the historical examples, then I would be delighted to run historical benchmarks so they can have their comparative data points.

Looking ahead, we must be fully cognisant that many markets have entrenched views about what metrics are needed. Stamping your feet and saying “no to AVE” is not an answer. We must provide alternatives that clearly demonstrate how companies will be more effective by using these better measurement pathways.

Jonny Bentwood | Global Head of Data & Analytics

GOLIN

 

Tags: AMECagencies, AMECMM, AMECorg, common ground, GOLIN, Measurement Month, No to AVEs
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://amec.blazedev.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/GOLIN.jpg 238 300 Julie Wilkinson https://amec.blazedev.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AMEC-25.png Julie Wilkinson2019-11-07 10:08:472019-11-07 15:38:28How to move teams away from AVEs or impressions?

News and Spotlights

#AMECMM

Embracing the transformative power of AI

1st November 2023

AMEC Member Article

AMEC Innovation Hub Series: Using Generative AI in Measurement & Analytics: Pitfalls & Opportunities

7th September 2023

See more News Stories
View Measurement Month Events
Visit the AMEC Resource Centre
Amec News

Keep up to date with the latest news and trends



By clicking Submit, you have read and agreed to receive emails from AMEC. You can find more in our Privacy Policy.

Connect with AMEC

Quick Resources

  • M3- Measurement Maturity Mapper
  • Integrated Evaluation Framework
  • PR’s Guide to Measurement
  • Events Calendar
  • Measurement Month
  • Speakers Bureau
  • Resources

Member Areas

  • AMEC Global Membership Survey
  • Membership Directory
  • Exclusive for Members
  • Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions
  • Sitemap
  • Resources
Copyright © 2025 AMEC. All Rights Reserved. All Trademarks Acknowledged. - Website by Blaze Concepts
How do you persuade clients (especially those with modest resources) to invest...4 Copyright Intersections; Risk, Requirements, Responsibility, Redux
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies including non-essential cookies.

Accept settingsView our Privacy Policy

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visist to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions
Accept settingsHide notification only
This is a Development or Staging site for AMEC by Blaze Concepts!
This site is registered on wpml.org as a development site. Switch to a production site key to remove this banner.