Foong and Jasmin at ABC’s helm as it ushers in digital age
PETALING JAYA: The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has appointed Foong Ai Peng as its chairman and Jasmin Omar as vice-chairman, even as it gears up for an increasingly digital media landscape.
Over the past 42 years, ABC has been an independent body that reported the audited net average circulation and distribution figures of print publications, covering newspapers and magazines.
Since 2012 however, it has also been reporting the audited net average circulation of the digital replica of print newspapers and magazines, Foong said in a statement yesterday.
“Consumers are shifting to screens to obtain news and information. Media owners, aware of this consumption pattern change, are paying more attention to digital,” said the company in the press release.
This is why it has also begun preliminary research on certifying the data provided by traffic verifiers.
There is a cross-industry initia- tive to form the Joint Industry Digital Committee (JIC Digital).
This committee will make recommendations to facilitate the online ad trading process.
“This would provide greater transparency,” said ABC, which aims to deliver industry-agreed standards for digital measurement by verifying figures by media owners, thus also helping media-buying decisions.
This initiative is supported by the Malaysian Advertisers Association, Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) Malaysia, Media Specialists Association, Malaysian Digital Association, and Malaysian Newspaper Publishers Association.
Foong and Jasmin were appointed at ABC’s 42nd annual general meeting on June 19, and will serve in their new roles for the 2017-2019 term.
Foong is currently the head of media and budget management at Maxis Bhd, and is a marketing communications specialist with more than 15 years in the telecommunications industry.
She started her career as a public relations and events executive at a local PR firm, then managed advertising and promotions at Maybank before joining Maxis in 2002.
Jasmin has over 20 years’ experience in global branding and property advertising.
He is currently the managing director of the inbound advertising agency Ellipsis (M) Sdn Bhd, as well as its subsidiary Ellipsis Technologies Sdn Bhd.