Today’s advertising campaigns span an average of nine different touchpoints, from TV and digital platforms to social media and more. While this multi-channel approach increases reach, it also makes measuring real impact more complex than ever.

Advertisers have long sought to understand what truly works. But insights into net reach and frequency are often incomplete, inconsistent, and difficult to compare across platforms. Limited ability to accurately track and de-duplicate reach and frequency across platforms makes it challenging to assess the true performance of campaigns in an objective and comprehensive way.

This can lead to excessive frequency, wasted budgets, and consumer fatigue.

This is why advertisers need a transparent and reliable cross-media measurement system. The CIM is currently developing such a solution to deliver clearer, more accountable, and more effective campaign measurement across all channels.

The CIM is making clear progress in cross-media measurement through three key initiatives. First, ToVA Pre-Buy already supports media planners in estimating net reach and optimising the balance between TV and online video during campaign planning. Second, ToVA Post-Buy, which will be available soon, will enable unified post-campaign evaluation across TV and online platforms. Finally, CIM ONE will provide a comprehensive cross-media framework, offering a holistic view of media consumption and campaign reach across all media and devices.

ToVA (Total Video Advertising) is CIM’s strategic video planning tool, integrating TV and online video into one system. It is built on CIM TAM (Television Audience Measurement), run by GfK, which measures viewing on TV sets in a panel of around 1,500 households (±3,700 individuals aged 4+) equipped with audimeters, and CIM DAM (Digital Audience Measurement), run by Gemius, which measures online traffic via a panel of 85,000 individuals aged 12+, also owned by CIM.

These data are enriched with insights from the CIM-CPS (Cross-Media Platform Survey), which analyses duplication between TV and online video.

Thanks to ToVA Pre-Buy, media planners already have access to a tool that:

• estimates net reach for combined TV and online video campaigns;
• measures the incremental contribution of online video platforms to a TV plan;
• tracks duplication and consumption across linear TV, YouTube, video sites and apps, and news sites and apps from major Belgian broadcasters and publishers, delivering real added value for advertisers.

These applications have been developed into concrete use cases that are available via the CIM platform.

CIM is also developing a ToVA Post-Buy solution, enabling comprehensive post-buy reporting and evaluation of video campaigns in Belgium.

The solution will:

• measure campaigns across local broadcasters’ video properties, including linear TV, Broadcaster Video On Demand (BVOD), addressable TV (via telco platforms) and online video in apps and on their websites (both long-form and short-form).
• provide unified reporting across TV and online platforms, covering all devices (TV, connected TV, desktop and mobile), and demonstrate combined and unique reach per platform.

The objective is to help broadcasters, publishers and sales houses prove their effectiveness in delivering video audiences, while enabling agencies and advertisers to analyse performance and maximise return on investment.

The scope is at first limited to local broadcasters.

Consumers’ media consumption has fundamentally changed. Today, people watch, listen, and read across multiple screens, platforms, and contexts. Traditional, separate measurements per medium are no longer sufficient to properly understand this behavior.

CIM ONE marks the transition from media-centric measurement to consumer-centric measurement, providing one integrated view of total media consumption.

For marketers, this means concretely:

• a single comprehensive view of net reach and duplication across all media and platforms;
• improved attribution and a better understanding of incremental reach (the additional reach a medium delivers on top of other media);
• data that can be directly used in media planning and in media agency tools;
• a solid foundation for well-informed cross-media decision-making.

One of the key pillars of the CIM ONE Framework is the CIM ONE panel, that actually consists of the integration of two panels:

• the CIM TAM (Television Audience Measurement), run by GfK, which measures viewing on TV sets in a panel of around 1,500 households (±3,700 individuals aged 4+) equipped with audiometers. Combined with the new Router Meter, this panel provides audience data on TV-sets and also on all online consumption at home, including international platforms.
• the new CIM XMP (Cross-Media Panel) which consists in a passive measurement of TV, audio and online (also international platforms) at home and out of home. CIM is therefore using the capacities and technology of the Mediacell+ meter of Ipsos and the RealityMine meter.

This approach allows to measure as much media consumption as possible (primarily video & audio), in house and out of home, from a single-source. Is the single source of truth for crossmedia measurement.

CIM ONE combines five complementary modules into one integrated framework:

Through UBA channels and CIM communications, marketers are regularly informed about:

• articles and insights related to CIM ONE;
• updates on modules, panel expansion and new reporting;
• international recognition and collaboration within cross-media measurement initiatives.

This ensures that UBA members stay continuously up to date with developments in cross-media measurement in Belgium.