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The International Challenge

Measurement, and research more broadly, is evolving at an exponential pace. How we all conduct business is being transformed through our interactions in an increasingly digital, always-on world. This digital, internet-enabled business landscape generates massive, and increasing amounts of data and content. Making sense of, and creating  meaning from this mass of data is  perhaps the single most important challenge faced by business and organisations .

And digital is no respecter of national boundaries. Content now reaches global audiences simultaneously, irrespective of distance… Understanding international media channels is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for informed decision making.

Measurement in an international environment brings it own challenges. Mike Daniels has spent over 25 years building successful international media analysis programmes. He recently co-authored, with Angela Jeffrey, a paper for the IPR Measurement Commission on how to build a practical international media analysis programme.

The Barcelona Principles - Rev 2

The Barcelona Principles are a framework for best practice in measurement (and indeed in research more generally). Although only every designed as the initial steps towards professionalising media measurement, the Barcelona Principles were the first tangible signs of a move to align media analysis more closely with market research standards and practices, in order for its results and findings to be taken seriously by senior management within businesses and organisations. The great achievement of the original BPs was less the nature of the Principles themselves, but the fact that they created a space for dialogue about research methods, and how data could best be utilised to drive business outcomes. Moving away from a focus on methods and outputs (i.e how much coverage, about what and where) to more of a debate about insight, business performance and planning has helped ensure a greater understanding of the power of data to transform decision making. A new, updated set of Barcelona Principles was agreed at the AMEC Summit in Stockholm this year. A useful and brief primer by David Rockland, CEO of Ketchum’s global research practice, and co-ordinator of the Barcelona Principles working group is here.

In his capacity as Chair of AMEC, Mike Daniels was instrumental in supporting the original Barcelona Principles initiative, and authored an AMEC guide to using the Principles in creating outcomes focused measurement programmes…