On behalf of all of us at the ABC and CAB, I would like to welcome you to our first ever email newsletter – the ABA Update. There has been a tremendous amount of change within the Audit Bureaux over the past 12 months which also reflects the pace of change within our industry. Our newsletter is intended to help us communicate more effectively with both our members and with the media sector generally to ensure we keep you abreast of our new projects.

Our intention is to publish 4 editions per year and we would welcome your views and thoughts on both the content and relevance to you personally, whether a publisher, media buyer or advertiser.

For those of you who are not currently members of either the ABC or the CAB, it may come as a surprise to learn of the dramatic expansion of products and services now provided by this organisation. Our auditing activities now include Digital Editions, Web Traffic, Email, and Out-of-Home media. In addition we are working closely with other industry associations including the MFA, IASH and the IAB to ensure that we stay at the forefront of new media technologies. It is our determined ambition and intention to remain as relevant today to our members as when founded over 77 years ago.

The measurement and auditing of Print Circulation and Distribution has been an essential component of Advertisers and Media Buyers tools in being able to determine true value for money for their media campaigns. This remains true today, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. It is worth noting that circulation data has been collected in a transparent and industry agreed manner for over 70 years. The auditing rules are open and can be reviewed by anyone in the industry including publishers, agencies, media buyers and advertisers. As a result all players in the industry have absolute confidence that the data is correct, and that the methodology and process by which it is gathered is both transparent and credible.

We intend to apply this rigour to other forms of audited media as was recently evidenced by our entry into the auditing of Web Traffic numbers. This is the first step on a longer journey – we look forward to continuing to receive your valued support as our partners in the media industry.

Best regards,

Gordon Towell

CEO – ABC and CAB