Media buyer beware

Motivate has one of the longest unbroken records of circulation audits in the region. What’s On has been audited since the early 1980s – first by the UK- based Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and then BPA.

Open Skies, Emirates’ in- flight magazine, which we publish, has a verified circulation of 133,095, making it the highest circulation BPA title in the region. It has been audited since soon after its inception in 1986.

Of course auditing is an expensive process. There are the fees – which add up for a publisher like ourselves – and the cost of extra paperwork to keep printing and distribution numbers transparent to an international standard. Most significantly, it demonstrates we are investing in printing the number of copies we are claiming.

One by one publishers have shied away from audits, especially as times have become tough and the temptation to slash print runs to save money is, for many, irresistible.

Agencies are left with the dilemma of sticking with audited publications on accepted commission terms or supporting unaudited publications that can often afford to make it much more worth their while with bonus pages, inflated discounts and volume rebates, all financed by print savings.

As far as clients are concerned, caveat emptor remains the golden rule: buyer beware.