Audit ServicesCirculation
What Media Buyers and Newspapers Are Saying About ABC's Insert Verification Service
From Media Buyers...
Marla Dessart, Newspaper Manager, ShopKo Stores, Inc.
"At Best Buy, we strive to keep the customer at the center of every decision. To that end, many Best Buy stores offer product mixes and services that are tailored to each store’s customer base.
"So it is critical that our marketing messages reach the right customer. Many papers already partner with us to accomplish this by offering tight distribution capabilities.
"However, many papers, large and small, have just begun to fine-tune their distribution processes to this level. Participation in the Insert Verification Service would offer valuable reassurance to the advertising community and serve as a reliable internal and external benchmark of a paper’s performance. Newspapers who participate could speak with authority about their processes and their accountability.
"We look forward to acknowledging participating papers as leaders in the industry!"
Marsha Lawrence, Sr. Print Media Strategist, Best Buy Co. Inc
"For many advertisers, FSIs represent a substantial portion of their marketing investment. ABC’s new insert verification service will help all marketers to better manage FSI costs and improve our return on investment. This new audited service is well overdue and is certainly key in the print medium's competitive environment today. There are many significant print media programs in all sizes of newspapers—each program involves timely messages and supports promotional and branding events that are tailored to specific consumers, targeted to store trade areas—these are key attributes that the print medium provides advertisers. The Insert Verification Service further supports these attributes by honing in on the accuracy of newspaper distribution data and providing assurances to advertiser investments—in addition to providing consistency of process—newspaper to newspaper."
Merle Davidson, Media Service Director, J. C. Penney Company Inc.
"The commitment a newspaper makes to its insert advertiser remains very compelling in today's fragmented media space: to deliver the advertiser's welcome message into the hands of a paying newspaper buyer. We count on each and every one of those transactions, down to the last insert, because every contact matters. The insert verification service, while it will be rolled out methodically across our Top 100 newspaper partners voluntarily, represents the most significant step in validating the value proposition of newspapers to insert advertisers since the overall ABC circulation audit launched decades ago."
David S. Walker, CEO, Newspaper Services of America.
"I can't think of any better team to develop this product than ABC and their advertiser and publisher partners. I think that the newspaper verification service is a natural evolution for the industry. Historically, newspaper audits gave the ROP advertiser a sense of assurance that their advertising dollars were working well for them. With the growth of large national and regional advertisers, the insert business has grown substantially and has made more economic sense for these players versus using traditional ROP. It just makes sense that the industry would develop the appropriate tools to give these advertisers the same levels of assurance that ROP advertisers have relied upon for so long."
Craig Sinclair, Vice President, Advertising, Walgreen Co.
From Newspapers...
"Our advertisers make significant marketing investments using inserts in our newspaper and we want to make sure that we maximize the value of their investment by distributing their advertising messages accurately. We’re pleased that the audit of our insert process shows how we are delivering on that commitment.”
Ken DePaola, senior vice president, advertising, Chicago Tribune
“We have made significant investments in our production facilities and distribution network to ensure that the right ad gets inserted into the right paper and delivered to the right customers. The audit shows that our investments are paying off and gives our advertisers assurance that they’re getting what they pay for.”
John Wollney, director, pre-print advertising, Chicago Tribune
"The Washington Post recently demonstrated its support for ABC's Insert Verification Service (IVS) by volunteering to undergo one of the advertising industry's first independent audits of zoned preprint distribution accuracy.
David Dadisman, vice president, circulation, The Washington Post
"The Quad-City Times agreed to participate in IVS knowing that it would add value for our advertisers by supplying documentation of our accuracy. As any quantitative review should be, we found the on-site evaluation to be extremely tough but very fair. Internally, we discovered it became a strong source of pride and recognition for our inserters and mail room employees to know their abilities, processes and quality control have been tested through an audit process and they passed with flying colors.
"Targeted zoning has become more and more important in our industry as advertisers request precise distribution by zip codes, neighborhoods and even by specific streets. While we were confident in our ability to meet these requests, we now have the documentation of the IVS report to support these assertions during customer sales meetings.
"We are confident this report will become an important tool for growing our insert customer base, whether retaining and maximizing current advertisers or acquiring new non-traditional newspaper advertisers."
Julie Bechtel, publisher, Quad-City Times
"Our enrolling in IVS had support from the top. Our motivation was simple, we know our newspaper is the best vehicle for advertisers to deliver their message to customers who will make their cash registers ring and we were confident that we had excellent procedures in place for the insertion and distribution of our advertiser's product.
"IVS provides advertisers with a quantifiable measurement that reinforces that newspapers are the best vehicle to reach their audience. IVS is a good way to compliment an advertiser’s or media buyer’s decision-making process.
"Our IVS audit experience involved almost every department at the Times. For us, it was a new process and required dedicated efforts by our circulation and operations personnel. In the end, we were very pleased with our results.
"Most newspapers have very good procedures in place and IVS helps you re-examine your processes. IVS reinforces your credibility if you’re doing a good job and are confident in your operations. Why not open yourself up to examination? It's always good to "inspect what you expect."
Jerry Hill, director, circulation, St. Petersburg Times
"We want our advertisers to know that we're committed to the program. IVS will help communicate the effectiveness and accuracy of our ability to deliver inserts as we grow this important segment of our advertising business."
Robert M. Bolone, vice president, circulation, The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), Dispatch Printing Company
"We're willing to make the investments necessary to ensure that our advertisers’ business succeeds. We realize the importance of driving traffic into their places of business and we're committed to providing the very best service and distribution accuracy we can provide. While we have tremendous confidence in the accuracy and quality of our distribution processes, we understand the need for third-party validation.”
David Berrier, Circulation Distribution Manager, The News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
"IVS is an opportunity for newspapers to demonstrate, in tangible ways, the absolute value and quality of our delivery service. We also see it as way to show our major advertisers that we have the most credible, reliable distribution services available in the market."
Scott Whitley, Advertising Director, The San Diego Union-Tribune
