Audit Watch - Nov07

Auditing contradiction

As reported in Marketing magazine's April edition of Audit Watch, ACP Magazines declared its intentions to submit the circulation figures for both Cleo Singapore and The Singapore Women's Weekly for the period of January to June 2006 to the Audit Bureau of Circulations Singapore (ABC) for verification.

More than six months later, the audit figures for both titles have shown Cleo Singapore to have an audited circulation of 60,048 copies for the mentioned period, while The Singapore Women's Weekly has ended up with a figure of 63,917 copies, making it the highest audited circulating women's title in the Singapore market.

"The results are strong complements to our readership studies which provide the qualitative information that shows our titles continue to grow in effectiveness, reinforcing that ACP titles know women and speak to women," Charlotte Goh, marketing communications director for ACP Magazines said.

However ACP Magazines appears unconvinced in auditing as the company would not commit to regular audits in the future, a necessary step for a publication to be recognised as audited.

"Audits are carried out for a specified period. The period during which the circulation has been audited is stated in the published figures and on the certificate of audit. Media buyers and advertisers should take note that any failure to maintain audit for subsequent periods raises a red flag and they ought to seek the reasons for failing to audit. If you are advertising in any publication you will want to have current circulation numbers and audited circulation of the immediate period completed, whether it is bi-annual or annual," Eddy Quek, administrator for ABC said.

When asked if ACP will maintain Cleo Singapore and The Singapore Women's Weekly audit, Goh would only say that it would continue to invest in a range of initiatives to demonstrate the effectiveness of the medium beyond absolute numbers.

"In an increasingly fragmented media industry where competition for share of voice and, more crucially, share of the consumers' mind is evermore critical, the key to improved performance is ensuring your product is reaching its stated target effectively," she said.