Public relations in South Africa has reached a turning point, according to a new report, moving away from being a perceived value-add to rapidly becoming a strategic powerhouse grounded in data and proof.
The central theme of the 2025 South African PR Measurement Landscape Report is the answer to a singular question: “So what?” The findings reveal that as measurement maturity increases, practitioners are finally moving past vanity metrics to demonstrate real organisational impact.
The research highlights a prerequisite for effective communication: strategy wins when practitioners have access to the core of the business. More than half (60%) of PR practitioners now report having strategic-level access to organisational decision-making. Qualitative interviews suggest that while this access is at a record high, there is a push to include middle management in strategic decisions to further bolster bottom-up communication flows.
Perhaps the most exciting trend for the industry is the continued decline of advertising value equivalency (AVE). Long criticised for failing to answer the “So what?” question, AVE is finally losing its grip on the South African market.
The report reveals that AVE usage plummeted from 63% in 2022 to just 36% in 2025. PR practitioners are now adopting a more sophisticated multilevel measurement approach: 79% measure outputs (what was sent out), 53% measure outtakes (what the audience understood) and 47% measure outcomes (how behaviour or perception changed).
Despite the positive trajectory, PR practitioners still face a changing risk landscape of internal constraints
Awareness of the AMEC Barcelona Principles 4.0 — the global gold standard for communication measurement — has reached a peak of 64%. While 66% of those aware of the principles implement them, a gap remains. Some sectors, particularly the public sector, struggle due to a lack of practice maturity. The report suggests that mature measurement is a byproduct of mature practice. When an organisation’s PR operations are sophisticated, the Barcelona principles fit seamlessly into its workflow.
The report also shows that AI adoption has soared, moving from an emerging tool to a core operational component. In 2024, 21% of respondents had no plans to use AI; by 2025, that percentage had dropped to 6%. AI is primarily used for idea generation (80%), followed by content creation (65%) and media research (62%).
When it comes to measurement, 86% of practitioners use AI to analyse results, while 59% use it for sentiment analysis. The majority of PR professionals say that AI saves them time. However, given that 64% of practitioners record “employee time” as a cost in return on investment calculations, the industry must now navigate the optics of how saved time impacts the perceived value of their services.
Despite the positive trajectory, PR practitioners still face a changing risk landscape of internal constraints. The most significant challenge is budget constraints (56%), followed by resource constraints (45%), time constraints (34%) and proving value to management (27%).
Overall, the report paints a picture of an industry moving decisively towards a future where its strategic value is undeniable. “So what?” is no longer a question to be feared but an opportunity for PR trailblazers to lead the business conversation.
The big take-out: PR practitioners are leveraging AI and strategic board-level access to replace outdated vanity metrics with data-driven proof of organisational impact.
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