Auditing is a major component of a successful magazine brand and in the current economic climate, it is more relevant than ever before. Advertisers and media buyers need accountability for their spend and will be wary of your brand unless you can prove that you have an audience that is relevant to them and that it is genuine.
ABC
Owned by the media industry, ABC independently verifies and reports on media performance, providing a major trading currency for media owners and buyers across print, events, digital and evolving platforms.
What does ABC measure?
ABC provides detailed circulation, distribution, attendance, traffic and related data across a broad range of media platforms including:
- National, regional and free newspapers
- Consumer and business magazines
- Consumer and trade exhibitions
- Digital media including web, email, video and audio, podcasts, databases, directories and adserving.
All ABC data is prepared to independent, industry-agreed standards. This provides comparability, trust and facilitates efficient trading.
ABC has two roles within the media industry:
- Setting and maintaining the Reporting Standards via the coordination of the Reporting Standards Groups.
- Auditing media owners' claims to check that the data is compliant to these industry-agreed standards.
The Reporting Standards are the industry-agreed rules by which ABC data is prepared and reported by media owners.
Who owns ABC?
ABC is run by the media industry. It is governed by a Council of permanent and elected representatives from advertisers, media buyers, media owners and trade bodies. The Council makes decisions on how ABC is run as well as agreeing any changes to the Reporting Standards and fee charges.
Industry bodies represented on the ABC council are ISBA, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA), Newspaper Society and PPA.
ABC is a non-profit distributing organisation. All profits are invested back into the business for the benefit of the industry.
ABCe
ABCe certifies digital media such as web traffic and downloads. ABCe audits these and evolving platforms to ensure they conform to industry-agreed standards. These standards and proposed changes are agreed by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS), which comprises the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), The Association of Online Publishers (AOP), ISBA, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) and the Newspaper Society.
IFABC
ABC is a founder member of the International Federation of ABCs (IFABC) which forms a global network of audit bureaux from 34 countries around the world.
Importance for advertisers/media buyers
ABC independently verifies a media owner’s circulation, attendance or traffic data to ensure advertisers and media buyers can have complete trust in their claims. This provides confidence that advertising budgets are being spent effectively. In addition, ABC and ABCe certificates are full of valuable information providing accurate and comparable data for use in buying decisions.
Importance for media owners
The ABC and ABCe logos are recognised throughout the industry as a mark of integrity. An ABC or ABCe certificate gives added credibility and demonstrates a media owner’s willingness to be audited and to confirm to industry agreed standards. ABC and ABCe certification provides an effective sales and marketing tool.
For more information on ABC, ABCe and ABC and ABCe audits, visit Abc.org.uk.
BPA Worldwide
A not-for-profit organization since 1931, BPA Worldwide, a founding member of the International Federation of ABCs (IFABC), is governed by a tripartite board comprised of media owners, advertising agencies and advertisers. Headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut, USA, with offices in London, Canada, China and Dubai, BPA has the largest membership of any media-auditing organization in the world, spanning more than 25 countries. Worldwide, BPA serves more than 2,500 media properties—including over 1,700 B-to-B publications, more than 300 consumer magazines, 150 newspapers, 380+ web sites, 50 events, email newsletters, databases, wireless and other advertiser-supported media—as well as 2,700 advertiser and agency members. For more information visit the BPA Worldwide website.
How do publishers and other media owners benefit from a BPA Worldwide audit?
Today’s media owners are looking to retain and grow marketing revenue in an increasingly diverse media landscape. The highly stringent, uniform processes and rules that differentiate the BPA audit provide media buyers with the security of knowing that they are truly reaching their target audiences in markets throughout the world. Media owners confirm enhanced advertising sales in publications and new media through BPA audits as a result of the edge provided by increased credibility and a strengthened sales story.
Publishers utilising multiple media platforms recognize that success lies with a better understanding and identification of all touch-points its brand has with consumers. BPA’s unique services and products include the Brand Reach report which enables publishers and other media owners to effectively demonstrate the full scope of their brand’s audience reach through each individual media channel and the crossover between media channels. Publishers, for example, can employ the Brand Reach report to show, in a single document, the audited reach of a publication and affiliated Web sites, email newsletters, events/exhibitions, and other offerings, see www.bpaww.com/brandreach.
BPA is also uniquely positioned to offer media owners services such as translations in all foreign languages of circulation/attendance/traffic reports and audits.
Interactive auditing
Media buyers are more focused than ever on metrics and ROI, websites that step up to the plate with in-depth data independently verified according to BPA’s highly respected standards can leverage this for significant competitive edge. Today, advertisers and media buyers don’t want to wait many months for audited data, they want claims to be verified in a timely fashion to make decisions about new campaigns and monitor previous investments, BPA Worldwide now offers near real-time audited web traffic data, to current print and event members this is a value added service at no extra cost, see www.bpaww/interactive.
For more information on BPA, contact Francis Stones 020 7631 4809, email fstones@bpaww.com, or visit www.bpaww.com.