Authored by: Ankita Juneja, Country Head - India, RedhillThe Matrix Moment for PR in IndiaIf there is one uncomfortable truth that the PR industry has lived with for decades, it is this: we don’t have our own matrix. At a time when every other marketing function can throw up a dashboard with conversion rates, leads generated, or impressions delivered, PR often walks into the boardroom with stories, relationships, and reputation narratives—things that are invaluable, yet notoriously hard to quantify.For a long time, this imbalance didn’t matter much. Reputation was considered intangible, and executives trusted PR teams to handle it with intuition and expertise. But the ground has shifted. As marketing has become almost entirely data-led, decision makers are asking sharper questions of PR: What did this story achieve? How did this campaign help sales? How is brand sentiment shifting in measurable ways? Without credible answers, PR risks becoming a peripheral function, rather than a strategic partner.Why the lack of metrics is negatively impacting PRIn India especially, where marketing budgets are being reallocated heavily towards digital, PR often struggles to defend its share. Digital marketing shows ROI in numbers that travel straight to the CFO’s spreadsheet. Meanwhile, PR reports sometimes still rely on clippings books or inflated reach figures. This disparity doesn’t just undermine the industry; it risks sidelining PR professionals in the conversations that matter most—those happening at the CXO table.What many of us underestimate is the long-term consequence of this gap. Without matrix, PR is left out of strategic decision-making. Without matrix, younger professionals don’t see a clear way to prove their impact and, in some cases, even understand the impact of their work themselves. Without matrix, we risk being seen as “nice-to-have” rather than “must-have.”Changing how we workSolving this is not just about adopting better tools. It demands a fundamental shift in how we work. Traditionally, PR agencies have presented clippings, tonality, and volume of coverage as the final output. But today, that is just the starting point.To make our work truly measurable, agencies and in-house communication teams need to work far more closely with marketing and digital teams. For example, if a major story appears in a Tier-1 publication, do we also track the spike in website visits during that period? If a thought leader is profiled on LinkedIn, do we measure whether their follower count, profile views, or inbound requests increase as a result? If a press announcement trends on social, do we connect it to referral traffic or new leads generated?These are not insights an agency can capture in isolation. They require collaboration between PR, corporate communications, marketing, and sometimes even sales teams. Clients, too, need to come to the table with clarity on what business outcomes matter most—whether it’s investor confidence, talent attraction, lead generation, or policy influence. Only then can we build a measurement framework that is not generic, but genuinely reflective of a brand’s priorities. This also means investing into tools that can do the required data crunching and insight sharing which is currently in a chicken and egg situation loop – corporates not wanting to spend on efforts which are primarily “earned” but that’s the shift we collectively need to be able to plan, execute and reinforce insights driven communications. Building India’s own measurement grammarThe good news is that Indian tools are evolving rapidly. Platforms like Wizikey or Kanalytics allow brands to go beyond coverage numbers and track sentiment shifts, competitive benchmarks, and real influence across languages and geographies. When paired with Google Analytics, CRM dashboards, and LinkedIn analytics, these tools allow us to tell a fuller story—one that connects coverage to brand momentum.But measurement cannot be one-size-fits-all. A consumer brand chasing festive sales will need a very different matrix from a B2B tech firm seeking credibility with CIOs, or a startup preparing for fundraising. This is where the role of PR professionals changes: from delivering clippings to consultants co-creating metrics with clients.From storytellers to story-sellersThe future of PR in India lies in marrying storytelling with accountability. We cannot abandon the relationship-building, credibility, and context-setting that make PR unique. But we can no longer afford to be vague about impact either. Our role must evolve into being storytellers who also sell the story internally—with numbers, evidence, and insight.The Barcelona Principles, now in their third iteration, give us a global north star: measure outcomes, not just outputs. But in India, where cultural nuance and media diversity are so high, we need to adapt these principles thoughtfully. It’s not about proving that PR can be digital—it’s about proving that PR can be decisive.A collective responsibilityUltimately, measurement is not the agency’s job alone. It is a collective responsibility. Agencies, corporate communications teams, marketing departments, and clients must all align on what success looks like and how it will be tracked. If one side is still operating in silos—reporting clippings without context, or refusing to share marketing data—the chain breaks. The only way forward is to build a more collaborative ecosystem where everyone participates in defining and measuring impact.The call to action and the time is nowThis is PR’s “matrix moment.” If we continue to treat measurement as an afterthought, we risk irrelevance. But if we embrace it as an integral part of strategy, we gain not just a seat at the table but a voice that shapes the agenda. PR has always been about influence. The challenge now is to influence with clarity—and with proof. Numbers don’t replace narratives; they reinforce them. The sooner we as an industry learn to combine both, the stronger and more future-ready we will be.DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ThePRPost.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.