Metrik.world
AVE
AVE expresses how much a media output would cost if it were purchased as advertising. It is calculated on the basis of the space occupied, the length of the spot, or the size of the online placement, and the rate-card price of advertising.
alternative names
- advertising value equivalent
- advertising equivalent value
- ad value equivalent
- advertising space equivalent
related metrics
units
- Currency (€, $, etc.)
Additions, clarifications, extended definition
In some variants, the value is multiplied by a coefficient (e.g. ×3) so that PR has "greater value than advertising".
There is no market consensus on the conversion coefficient.
The conversion is based on official media rate cards.
AVE takes no account of the quality of the output, its sentiment, or its influence on the target audience.
AVE is a heavily criticised metric, considered not only ineffective but also unethical.
Interpretation
AVE converts PR outputs into a monetary value and allows them to be compared with advertising costs.
It is, however, a misleading metric, because it does not reflect the actual impact of communication.
Watch out: limits and risks of distortion
- Both AMEC and ICCO recommend against using AVE.
- It says nothing about quality, sentiment, or effectiveness.
- Advertising and PR are not the same – they have different purposes and different impacts.
- Rate-card prices often do not match real prices (discounts, barter, targeting).
Where and how to measure
- Calculation based on media rate cards.
- Monitoring tools (some still offer AVE).
- Converting space/time/character count into an advertising equivalent.
Context
AVE is a historically widely used metric, but today it is considered methodologically unsound. It is being replaced by qualitative metrics such as Adix, MQI, or sentiment.
Example from practice
A PR team calculated that a full-page article in a magazine would cost EUR 6,200 according to the advertising rate card. They presented this as the "value of PR". The article, however, had a neutral tone and low relevance for the target audience. The figure looked impressive, but the real benefit was negligible.
