How do you measure the value of earned media coverage?

For many years, the PR and communications industry have measured and quantified the value of its work by using the 'Advertising Value Equivalent' method (AVE). The concept behind is to compare editorial coverage with the cost of placing an ad at the equivalent size in the same media title. The official cost of the advertising space is then multiplied by a number (often 2,5) to reflect the idea that editorial coverage is more valuable (due to trust and integrity) than advertising.

Today, more and more professionals reject AVE as a valid tool and at Hypefactors, we have never been supporting the AVE method. Some of the reasons are:

1. The official rate cards for advertising space rarely reflect the actual (lower) negotiated rates.

2. AVE don’t distinguish between positive and negative mentions.

3. AVE don't distinguish between an exclusive mention (mainly about one specific brand or organisation) and a secondary mention (covering more brands/organisations).

4. AVE don't take into account how well the readers of a specific media outlet fits the target group.

At Hypefactors we have developed an alternative and more sophisticated, but still very operational method. Will come back to this later:-).