IAA Kuwait Convenes Roundtable on Best Practice: Media Auditing

Kuwait 1 February 2010 –The Kuwait Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) has invited global not-for-profit media auditor, BPA Worldwide, to present on the theme of media auditing as a means to improve long-term industry success, transparency and accountability in the media planning, procurement and sales processes.

The event, entitled "Buying and Selling ‘Safe Media’: An Introduction to Media Auditing," will be convened on 9 February 2010 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait City.

By way of introduction to the internationally-recognized best practice of third-party media auditing, BPA will present background and audit methodologies involved in verifying distribution of both print and digital media. Additionally, BPA will share its experience in developing an audited media environment in the UAE as a case study. A representative of Dubai´s Gulf News shall share that paper´s experience of how auditing has impacted its business as well as the local and regional publishing and advertising industries.

In the second half of the program, IAA Kuwait will moderate a panel of leading media and marketing professionals from Kuwait to discuss the benefits and risks for the country´s media sector in adopting audits as a standard and expected practice for our industry.

Mr. Louai Alasfahani, newly-elected President of the IAA Kuwait Chapter, welcomed the roundtable as a first for the Kuwaiti media industry. "We look forward to a lively and constructive debate among the panelists and audience to set an agenda for increased accountability, transparency and fair play in our market. The Kuwaiti media industry is maturing and increasingly participating in the global media industry, so we must recognize the need to provide third-party verified data to the media buying community in the buying and selling of advertising in our market."

The IAA Kuwait Chapter and BPA Worldwide anticipate broad participation by members of the media and advertising communities and hope to see a large number of participants from media, agencies and advertisers. The panel for the roundtable, moderated by Mr. Alasfahani, will include:

Mrs. Ikbal Hadad, Marketing Director

Mr. Bashar Kiwan, CEO

Mrs. Zeina Mukadam, Managing Director

Mr. Waleed Kanafani, General Manager

Mr. Karim Thabit, Managing Director

Mr. Sanjay Malik, Group Circulation Director

Mr. Stuart Wilkinson, Managing Director EMEA, and Ms. Aspen Aman, Business Development Manager – Middle East, both of BPA Worldwide, will present in the first half of the session.

Members of the industry and journalists wishing to confirm attendance should call Paragon Communications, +965 25716068, as seating is limited to 60.

For further information:
Mr. Louai Alasfahani
Paragon Marketing Communications
louai@paragonmc.com
+965 66009977

Ms. Aspen Aman
BPA Worldwide
aaman@bpaww.com
+971-4-369-2489