BIRMINGHAM, MI—BNP Media, the publisher of ASSEMBLY and one of the largest privately held B2B media companies in the United States, has received the first-ever accreditation from the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) for its audience and media management technology platform and Digital Audience Profile reporting system.

The AAM is a nonprofit industry organization founded in 1914 by the Association of National Advertisers to help ensure media transparency and trust among advertisers and media companies. Originally known as the Audit Bureau of Circulations, today AAM is a source of verified media information and technology platform certifications, providing standards, audit services and data for the advertising and publishing industries. In 2023, AAM merged with BPA Worldwide to create the largest nonprofit media auditing organization dedicated to increasing trust, transparency and assurance across the media industry.

BNP Media’s Digital Audience Profile (DAP) is an audience and media management technology platform that reports audience count, engagement metrics and demographics across channels for each brand.

Digital channels created opportunities to share audience data across BNP’s growing platforms. This led to the development of the DAP, which integrates data across all products to showcase the breadth and depth of BNP Media’s audience. To prove its commitment to transparent data, BNP Media decided to have its platform accredited by the AAM.

The AAM’s examination was performed in accordance with generally accepted information security management and reporting standards. The examination included reviews of platform technology, data life cycle management, system monitoring, access controls, software development life cycle, media production, media distribution, audience data, documentation, reporting, and disclosures. 

Based on its review, the AAM accredited the DAP for meeting rigorous industry standards for information security and reporting.

“One goal was greater transparency and trust in our data,” said Nikki Smith, BNP’s chief operations officer, in an interview on AAM’s website. “We’ve worked hard to clean up our data bases by removing inactive audience members and adhering to privacy best practices. The accreditation validates the quality of our audiences and builds trust with our advertising partners.

“Not all data is created equal. Given the millions of data points processed to produce our Digital Audience Profile, third-party verification provides an added level of review and differentiates us from competitors. It offers valuable confirmation of our data practices.”

“Accreditation of our Digital Audience Profile is a big deal,” said John Sprovieri, chief editor of ASSEMBLY. “We have built our reputation on providing authentic, must-have information to a qualified, engaged community of manufacturing engineers and managers. Earning this accreditation tells our customers that we have done just that.”

With Google’s plan to phase out third-party cookies in 2025, advertisers are looking for new ways to reach high-quality digital audiences and achieve greater ROI. BNP Media helps advertisers target audiences by leveraging its greatest strength: first-party data.

“That’s where a lot of our opportunities lie. More advertisers are looking for digital ROI and delivering on that need will keep us relevant,” she said.

Third-party oversight of how that data is collected and updated is equally important. “Considering that we process millions of data points to produce our DAPs, it’s valuable to have that added level of review and helps to set us apart from the competition,” she said.

BNP Media is a fourth-generation, family-run media company founded nearly a century ago to provide news to the electric refrigeration industry. It has since grown to one of the largest privately held B2B media and data companies in the U.S. with 34 brands, 31 live events and hundreds of online events and continuing education courses.

BNP Media works to develop authentic content centered around communities that helps connect their audiences.