SpotCheques and balances

“Error, whether technical or human, will always creep into a campaign,” observes Debbie Ihlenfeldt, Director of seasoned SpotCheque subscriber, the MediaShop agency in Cape Town, “and so it's vital to be able to manage and rectify it using services like SpotCheque.”

SpotCheque assists agencies and their customers by providing an independent verification of media schedules, confirming whether an advertiser's commercial has appeared in the allocated timeslot, is the right ad and was shown for the correct duration. Even flightings during non-scheduled programmes are monitored and included in the detailed report provided to clients.

Clients are also notified of any inconsistencies or errors by email before 12h00 the next day. “This rapid reporting facility is so important,” notes Ihlenfeldt, “because it enables you to make sure that any gaps that have appeared can be addressed and rectified immediately.”

A winner of Ad Review's ‘Best Media Agency of the Year' award, the MediaShop is an enthusiastic subscriber to Ornico's SpotCheque verification service. “It's an essential tool,” Ihlenfeldt enthuses. “When you are investing such a tremendous amount of time and money into creating a suitable strategy, producing an appropriate commercial and securing the right flightings, the service really does pay for itself.”

With error rates as high as 15 percent, the potential revenue losses are huge. “The possible negative impact of error rates that high on a campaign's effectiveness is considerable,” concedes Ihlenfeldt, “which is something that clients obviously appreciate and, in our experience, they tend to buy into the necessity of services like SpotCheque very quickly.”

As well as receiving next day notification by email, marketers and media buyers are given detailed, user-friendly reports covering incorrect time of flighting or date of issue, non-flighting or appearance, bad quality flighting and reach and frequency. These detailed reports also allow firms to adhere to most corporate governance transparency issues.

“We have used Ornico's SpotCheque service for over six years and have been delighted with it,” concludes Ihlenfeldt. “A tremendous amount of administration is involved in media buying and colleagues have nothing but positive comments to make about the quality and professionalism of the service. The MediaShop would happily recommend SpotCheque to anyone going this route.”

For further information about the SpotCheque media monitoring service or any of Ornico's extensive range of essential advertising and editorial media monitoring products and services, contact Ayanda or Brent directly on +27 (0)11 884-5041 or visit the company's website at http://www.ornico.co.za