Media Business - July 2010

Buyers buying into BPA
Ad agencies insist that there is still value
in third-party audits for publishers

BY MARK J. MILLER

As the economy has fallen apart and started to rebuild, publishers have looked to cut every possible cost, big and small: from head count to fewer pens in the office.

One area that has come under consideration for some is membership in audit bureau BPA Worldwide. Some titles have left BPA to find other, cheaper metrics to satisfy media buyers; or a particular maket’s advertisers may have expressed a lack of interest in BPA statements; or they are a single-title market with advertisers that buy ads directly.

“I work with a trade publisher who was
in the enviable position of having very little
competition, so they resigned from BPA to
save the money,” said Jo Ann Binz, circula-
tion-audience development specialist at con-
sultancy Quality Circulation Services. “The
majority of publishers, however, are not in
that position and need to be audited in order
to meet the competition and stay one step
ahead to obtain those precious ad dollars.”
Even with print properties declining for
BPA, the audit bureau actually gained more
new members than it expected in the fiscal
year that ended June 30: close to 200, said
Glenn Hansen, president-CEO of BPA.

In general, b-to-b media buyers are encouraging audience developers to stick with the audit bureau.

“I really can’t imagine doing our job effectively without these resources, especially the audit statement,” said Sheree Johnson, senior VP-director-media services at Nicholson Kovac.

She said other factors help media buyers make their placement decisions, but understanding a publication’s circulation is mandatory. “Audit statements are the best way to evaluate a publication’s circulation integrity, vitality and relevance to a particular target segment,” she said.

David Rowe, VP-media director at ad
agency Doremus, also feels strongly about
third-party audits. “We still rely heavily on
the BPA statements, particularly on the print
side,” he said. “I think it is very short-sight-
ed for publishers to try and save money by
dropping their circulation audit statements.”
For Jeff Kalish, VP-media director at
Robin Shepherd Group, the most important
part of the audit statement is the segmenta-
tion of audience by industry and title.

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