Oman, one of the GCC countries that is beginning to embrace independent media auditing, is to have representation on the Middle East Advisory Board of BPA Worldwide, the global auditor of media, following the appointment to the Board of Mohammed Al Hassani, Head of Corporate Communications at BankMuscat.

BankMuscat is the leading financial services provider in Oman with a strong presence in Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Investment Banking, Treasury, Private Banking and Asset Management. The Bank has a network of 125 branches in Oman, a branch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a representative office in Dubai (UAE).

“The increasing numbers of publications represent a major challenge for advertisers to create a model that will maximize their investment in advertising. Currently, most of the media space buying decisions in Oman are based on past experience or trial and error because of a lack of transparent, trusted data,” explains Mr. Al Hassani. “My main objective on the advisory board is to help speed up the culture of auditing in Oman and other countries in order to help maximise the return on our advertising spend.”

BPA Worldwide established an office in Dubai in June 2006 and its Middle East Advisory Board provides input to BPA from local buyers and sellers. The current membership of 15 companies comprising eight representing advertisers and agencies and seven media owners. Other advertisers represented include Beiersdorf; telecoms company STC and the Al Jawad Business Group.

Glenn Hansen, BPA Worldwide President and CEO, commented: “With the appointment of Mohammed Al Hassani, not only will the Middle East Advisory Board benefit from the prestige that BankMuscat’s involvement brings but also from Mr. Al Hassani’s insight into the Omani market and his take on the particular requirements  of advertisers in the region.”