The Middle East edition of one of the world’s most recognisable consumer media brands - Hello! – has published the results of its first circulation audit by BPA, the world’s only global media audit organisation.

Hello! Middle East, which, like its namesakes in other regions, combines news and photo-features with a regional flavour with news on international celebrities with a cross-border appeal, is published under license in the United Arab Emirates by Motivate Publishing. Its total average qualified circulation, according to BPA Worldwide, was 12,402 copies.

“In 2004 Motivate Publishing was a major driving force in pushing for a meaningful audit process for Middle East magazines,” explains Ian Fairservice, managing partner of Motivate Publishing.

“We decided to appoint BPA due to their strict methodology and the international recognition of their audits. Today Motivate continues to lead the way towards total transparency for its advertisers, which is critical to maintaining international standards and integrity. Increasingly, we are seeing a return on our investment in circulation audits through growth in advertising bookings but there is still some way to go before all agencies and MBUs plan their schedules based on the reliable data which these audits provide.”

“The publication of the first BPA audit of Hello! Middle East will not only provide regional and international advertisers with added confidence in their media decision making, it also underscores the important role that a circulation audit plays as an independent quality benchmark between an international licensor and its regional franchisee,” notes Stuart Wilkinson, BPA’s Managing Director for EMEA.