How to read an audit

Scope comes first

Each audit specifies the geography, activities, customers, channels and transactions it includes. Statistical classifications help locate relevant evidence; they do not automatically define the competitive market. An explicit definition version keeps later changes visible.

What the framework covers

Every full external audit addresses all twelve modules. A module can be complete, partial or unavailable. Missing evidence is recorded with its consequence for the conclusions; it is never treated as zero.

1. E0 Identity, decision use and market boundary
2. E1 Market baseline and development
3. E2 Macroenvironment
4. E3 Policy, regulation and stakeholders
5. E4 Industry structure and economics
6. E5 Customers, segments and demand
7. E6 Routes to market, suppliers and partners
8. E7 Competition, alternatives and positioning
9. E8 Innovation, technology and transition
10. E9 Outlook, uncertainty and scenarios
11. E10 Opportunities, threats and critical success factors
12. E11 Limitations, monitoring and review

Evidence and comparison

Material claims link to inspected sources. Observations, company statements, estimates, analyst interpretations and scenarios retain distinct labels. Numeric evidence records its unit, population, reference period, source vintage and uncertainty.

A comparison needs compatible market boundaries, entities, periods and measures. A company's disclosed revenue is not an estimate of the whole market. An unavailable audience measure does not establish an organisation's performance.

An undated public register can still provide useful evidence of what was visible when checked. Its publication date remains unknown. Inspection dates, release dates and reference periods are recorded separately; none is silently substituted for another.

Research and verification

Under methodology 1.1.0, evidence collection, drafting, verification and publication are separate stages. Each release follows the series publication policy.

Verification checks whether the source supports the stated claim, calculations can be reproduced, comparisons use compatible measures, contrary evidence is addressed and the conclusion stays within the evidence. The research records retain the checks and the exact manuscript they cover.

Contributions and corrections are welcome and are attributed when they occur.

Useful findings when evidence is sparse

A report can publish supported findings even when some questions remain unanswered. It identifies limited coverage, explains each material gap and excludes conclusions that depend on the missing evidence. For example, a documented policy change can be reported while market-share rankings remain unavailable.

Uncertainty does not justify invented precision. If a claim cannot be supported, the system can seek further evidence, narrow the claim, label an interpretation or omit the dependent conclusion. A failed evidence check cannot be converted into a passing result by declaring a limitation.

Legacy reports and editions

A legacy baseline belongs to the original collection but has not been assessed for conformance with the series methodology. Its original publication history remains visible. Methodology 1.0.0 used named human reviews and owner approval; those historical records retain their meaning.

A 1.1.0 edition identifies its methodology and evidence coverage. Research checks bind the exact manuscript. Publication verification is recorded internally after the deployed route, dates, sources and correction history have been inspected. Substantive changes require fresh checks.

Company assessments

An external audit may support up to three separate Company Marketing and Capability Assessments — Public Evidence. Selection uses either a declared significance measure or an explicitly justified research case, with the same public-evidence threshold. A purposive case answers a stated question; it is not a largest-player claim or a representative sample. Three assessments are never required.

A company assessment depends on the exact published external-audit state and its critical success factors. Public evidence does not establish an internal capability audit. The Validated Internal Marketing Audit designation additionally requires authorised internal evidence, validation and reporting permission.

Monitoring and publication history

The planned cadence is quarterly monitoring, a full annual reassessment and additional checks when material events occur. A completed check can result in no public change, a market pulse, an update, a correction or a new edition. Each release must pass the recorded publication policy. A planned cadence does not mean a scheduled service is already running.

Original dates, earlier editions and correction notices remain part of the record. In 1.1.0, “evidence checked through” is the evidence-search cut-off. Individual source dates and reference periods show how old the underlying observations are. Reading an old source today does not make its data current.

Research and source records can be reused between updates, with deeper checks directed to changed or uncertain claims. Reports and their public source links are free to read.