BPA Worldwide and its Canadian division, the Canadian Circulations Audit Board (CCAB), are holding the line on all their rates including membership and audit this fiscal year. Hoping to release some of the strain on membership – made up of up of advertisers, agencies and media owners – the global media auditors recently approved the plan to freeze the rates at the July 2008 level through the fiscal year end on June 30, 2010.
‘It’s a move we felt compelled to make given the headwinds lingering in the media marketplace,’ explains BPA president and CEO Glenn Hansen in a recent release. ‘It’s important that, while we keep rates steady, we continue to make investments in our service and in new media channels to maximize the value of the BPA/CCAB media audit beyond circulation.’
One of those service investments is giving CCAB members free access to a Nielsen-powered online statement filing tool and a tag-enabled web measurement audit in tandem with the fee freeze as part of the existing circulation audit fee. The online pre-buy planning tool currently has 64 Canadian sites, of the 450 global ones using the measurement service.
Tim Peel, VP of CCAB BPA Worldwide, states in a release that customer service levels remain high despite the rate freeze, pointing out that 14% of all the interactive audits so far are for Canadian sites. ‘We’re also very excited about the 10th anniversary of our Montreal office – a reminder to our community that we can provide bilingual service, documentation and support to the Francophone market,’ he says.
Industry-wide, the BPA and CCAB are also championing the safety of audited media to ad buyers in domestic and international media markets, with a renewed push behind the Buy Safe Media campaign and efforts to heighten awareness of event audits globally.
As media investments come under increased scrutiny, the decision is part of a strategic initiative to address a market need for integrated services and transparent, verified data.
