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 create 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’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 lifecycle management, system monitoring, access controls, software development lifecycle, 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 published by AAM. “We’ve worked hard to clean up our databases 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.”

"This is a big win for us and our parent company," said Sarah Harding, publisher of The ACHR NEWS. "Our nearly century-old brand was built on providing useful, accurate information to those in the HVAC industry, and the AAM accreditation demonstrates that advertisers can rely on our detailed data about this high-quality audience."

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 returns on investment. 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,” Smith 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,” Smith 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 include 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.

“We want to bring our audiences into a brand community and move away from a product-focused platform,” said Smith. “We aim to advance our data capabilities to serve our audiences and advertisers better while adhering to rigorous and evolving privacy standards.”