Akonte Ekine, convener of the Consumers Value Awards (CVA), has stressed the need for Public Relations professionals to rethink measurement strategy in PR. In an interview with The Guardian in Lagos recently, he observed, “one of the biggest blind spots in PR is measurement. For years, public relations has been measured by the wrong things: Media mentions, impressions. We track reach, impressions and volume, however, we rarely track trust shifts, sentiment depth and consumer belief.”
To him, this is the missing layer and why many ‘successful’ campaigns fail to translate into real brand preference. On paper, he observed many brands are winning, but in reality, many are not being believed. He said this is because in today’s market, attention is no longer the goal—trust is. To him, It is no news that consumers have changed, but are more informed, skeptical and selective.
Speaking further, Ekine, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Absolute PR, noted there is a growing disconnect between what brands communicate and what consumers actually believe. Many PR campaigns, he said, still focus on pushing messages, rather than aligning with what consumers truly care about. To him, “when communication is not rooted in consumer value, it fails to stick. From experience, perception is shaped by relevance, trust and consistency. Anything outside of this triangle is secondary.
“The implication is clear: PR must move from Announcements to insight-driven storytelling; Coverage to credibility; Visibility to value perception. This requires a shift in how campaigns are designed. Not from the brand’s perspective—but from the consumer’s reality. He added. “Saying brands that will lead going forward are not necessarily the loudest, but the ones that understand their consumers deeply, communicate with clarity and authenticity, deliver value consistently, and build trust intentionally.
In conclusion, Ekine assured PR is not broken but the way success is defined in PR needs to evolve.
