The challenge: Organisations have long struggled to demonstrate the impact of media coverage using outdated metrics like AVE or static reach.
The solution: Medianet’s REAL Impact Score is a proprietary, mention-level metric that measures the actual impact of media mentions. REAL (R = Reach, E = Engagement, A & L = Authority & Leverage) Impact Score is backed by science and aims to shift PR measurement from vanity figures to proven value.
How it works: The score analyses three pillars: Outlet (reach), Article (engagement), and Author (authority and leverage).
Why it matters: It provides a credible, science-backed way to identify high-impact coverage and report confidently to stakeholders, in line with the AMEC Barcelona Principles 4.0.
Who it’s for: Professionals seeking a reliable metric to quantify the impact of media coverage and communicate results to leadership.
Availability: Included in all Medianet media intelligence plans.
PR and communication practitioners have wrestled for years with how to show the true value of their work. Advertising value equivalents (AVE) and static reach numbers offered a faulted method when nothing else was available to demonstrate what their leadership always asked for: the impact of media coverage. These legacy metrics, which are still being used, are based on inaccurate and outdated data.
Now, Medianet has introduced the REAL (R = Reach, E = Engagement, A & L = Authority & Leverage) Impact Score: a science-backed, mention-level metric that aims to shift PR measurement from vanity figures to proven value.
The REAL Impact Score was co-developed with global data science partner Identrics. It calculates the influence of a single media mention by analysing three core pillars: the outlet, the article, and the author. Each element reflects a different part of media value:
Together, these inputs create a dynamic score that goes beyond simple clip counts or circulation figures. The higher the score, the greater the impact of that mention.
Medianet Managing Director Amrita Sidhu said the REAL Impact Score responds to a long-standing industry need. She believes that the conversation needs to move from 'how many people could have seen it' to ‘what was the actual impact’ of a media mention.”
“The reality is we have settled for outdated, inflated and plain simply 'made up' metrics for too long. We deserve better - our stakeholders deserve better,” Amrita Sidhu, Medianet MD.
This shift aligns with the AMEC Barcelona Principles 4.0, the global benchmark for communications evaluation, which emphasises outcomes over outputs. Powered by a proprietary algorithm developed with Identrics, the REAL Impact Score offers a consistent, data-driven way to evaluate how coverage resonates with audiences.
For PR and communications teams, leadership buy-in often hinges on measurable results. Boards and executives want to see evidence that communications strategy protects and enhances reputation, supports organisational goals, and delivers tangible outcomes.
The REAL Impact Score gives teams a clear and consistent way to present that evidence. Instead of relying on broad estimates such as the ones offered by AVEs, professionals can now demonstrate the value of individual media mentions, showing which coverage delivered influence with key audiences.
As Sidhu noted, the aim is to help communications professionals “report to the C-suite with confidence.”
For communications teams, the new metric addresses several long-standing pain points. It helps identify which pieces of coverage had the most impact and potentially influenced an audience, not just where mentions occurred. It provides consistent data to showcase the strategic value of PR, rather than relying on inaccurate estimates.
It enables practitioners to report to leadership with credible evidence of impact, potentially linking earned media to tangible outcomes such as reputation, awareness, or business performance.
In the case of proactive outreach and earned media from communication efforts by PR teams, REAL moves the goal of reporting counting mentions to “making mentions count”. From filling a monitoring report to shaping agendas and driving results.
The REAL Impact Score is designed to grow as technology advances. Medianet and Identrics plan to refine the algorithm using natural language processing and additional data points, ensuring the metric evolves alongside media habits and audience behaviour.
The score is now available to all Medianet media intelligence clients, alongside our monitoring and outreach tools.
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Read the press release announcement here.
Learn more here or book a demo to see the REAL impact score in action.