The measurement framework: from objectives to organisational impact

The measurement framework is a one-page chain that links what the organisation wants to achieve to what communication does about it, and says how each link will be measured. It runs from the objectives through inputs (audience, plan, resources), activity (what you do), outputs (what was produced and who it reached), out-takes (what people noticed, understood or remembered), outcomes (what they now think or do) to organisational impact (the business result). The KPI for each link sits in a grid beneath.

AMEC, the professional body for communication measurement, launched its Integrated Evaluation Framework in 2016 as a free, interactive tool that puts the Barcelona Principles into practice, step by step¹. It takes a planner from organisational objectives to communication objectives, then to audiences, plans, benchmarks and targets, and on to activities, outputs, out-takes, outcomes and organisational impact². Trade coverage describes the seven stages a user completes in order³, and the launch coverage reports AMEC's emphasis on linking organisational objectives to communication objectives and measuring beyond media outputs⁴. Governments use it too: the New South Wales Government's communications evaluation guidance is built on it⁵.

The Barcelona Principles are the measurement industry's shared statement of good practice. Version 3.0 treats setting goals as the prerequisite for planning, measurement and evaluation, and states that advertising value equivalents are not the value of communication⁶. The 2025 revision, version 4.0, reorders the principles to follow the steps of the framework and asks for objectives that can shape a campaign while it runs⁷.

1. Write the organisational objective and the one or two communication objectives that serve it. See objectives and KPIs.
2. Fill the chain left to right, one or two lines a box.
3. Choose one metric per stage from outputs to impact, and fill the grid: baseline, target, source, cadence.
4. Check the logic backwards: if the outcome happened, would the impact follow? If the out-take happened, would the outcome?
5. Book the reviews and agree who reads the numbers.

Illustrative: the fictional Ourika Roasters' subscription launch.

• Objectives organisation, build subscription revenue; communication, make café regulars aware of the subscription and start trials.
• Inputs café regulars; the "roasted this week" message; the budget; café staff.
• Activity in-café cards, social videos, a launch story, search ads, launch email.
• Outputs cards handed out; video reach; articles published. Out-takes: prompted awareness of the subscription in a café survey. Outcomes: subscriptions started; café sign-up codes used. Impact: subscription revenue and monthly churn.

• Stopping at outputs Reach and coverage prove activity, not effect⁶.
• Advertising value equivalents The Barcelona Principles reject them⁶.
• No baseline Measure before the work starts.
• Too many metrics One per stage is enough to show the chain; detail lives in each team's dashboard.
• Measuring only at the end Responsive objectives let results change the plan while it runs⁷.

• AMEC's framework^1, 2 and the trade coverage of its steps^3, 4; the NSW Government's evaluation guidance⁵.
• The Barcelona Principles 3.0⁶ and 4.0⁷.
• On IMC Report: objectives and KPIs and measuring effectiveness.