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ABC Releases
Six Inaugural Newspaper Insert Verification Reports
Schaumburg,
Ill. (May 31, 2006) - The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) today
released the first six audit reports for its newspaper Insert
Verification Service (IVS). The new reports, available online
to ABC members, provide insert proficiency rates and other key
distribution data for the Chicago Tribune, Dayton Daily News (Ohio),
Journal-Gazette/News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Quad-City Times
(Davenport, Iowa), St. Petersburg Times (Fla.) and the Washington
Post.
Launched in
January of this year, ABC's IVS program is a quantitative review
and audit of a newspaper's advertising insert distribution process
on a given test date. Each report includes a "Total Insert
Proficiency" calculation that reflects the newspaper's insert
distribution performance. This is represented as an overall success
percentage indicating the volume of inserts reaching intended
newspaper recipients. The balance of the IVS report offers additional
details on the verification field test and discloses error rates
and conditions observed by ABC.
For instance,
the Chicago Tribune's IVS audit report reveals that 98.7 percent
of its nearly 30 million advertising inserts in the Sunday edition
of the paper were accurately delivered to its customers, free
from any errors, on the ABC test date.
Including
the Tribune, 30 major U.S. newspapers have enrolled in the IVS
service thus far. According to the Newspaper Association of America
(NAA), preprinted FSIs account for the majority of newspaper advertising
expenditures. The most recent NAA estimations indicate that newspapers
distribute more than 87 billion inserts annually.
"Clearly
the reports we're seeing are a step in the right direction and
convey a commendable performance from these newspapers,"
observed Merle Davidson, market media director strategic marketing/media
services, J.C. Penney Corporation Inc. "It's encouraging
to see results that reassure advertisers that newspapers are effectively
reaching our targeted consumers within their varied preprint zoning
and distribution options. With participation from more newspapers,
IVS will build confidence as well as demonstrate the quality and
reliability of their delivery services."
"I'm
very pleased that advertisers have been able to work with so many
newspapers, in the forum that is ABC, to develop this new program,"
commented Craig Sinclair, vice president of advertising, Walgreen
Co. "For the industry, inserts represent a significant amount
of revenue. And for many retailers, including Walgreen's, preprinted
inserts are the majority of our newspaper advertising expenditures.
ABC's new verification service gives us the confidence to know
that our investments are reaching the customers we want to reach
in our targeted ZIP codes."
Michael J.
Lavery, ABC's president and managing director, noted, "IVS
demonstrates ABC's ability to meet the needs of the industry with
services that benefit both advertisers and publishers. I'm proud
of how quickly our members and staff have developed and implemented
this highly effective program."
IVS reports
are available without charge to current ABC eStatement subscribers
at www.accessabc.com alongside ABC's Audit Reports and Publisher's
Statements. A sample IVS report is also available online.
For more information
on IVS visit ABC's Web site at http://www.accessabc.com/newspapers/ivs.htm.
With more
than 4,000 members in North America, ABC is a forum of the world's
leading magazine and newspaper publishers, advertisers and advertising
agencies. The organization provides credible, verified information
essential to the media buying and selling process. ABC maintains
the world's foremost electronic database of audited-circulation
information and an array of verified readership, subscriber demographics
and online activity data. To learn more, visit http://www.accessabc.com.
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