The CIM, the Centre for Information about Media, was founded in 1971.

It is a tripartite industry body:

• Advertisers
• Media buying and advertising Agencies
• Media and their media sales houses

To see a list with all the members of the CIM, go to the “Who’s who?” part available through the homepage.

Mission statement : to deliver the required figures for objectiveness and optimisation of the advertising expenditures to the advertising market.

To achieve this statement, the CIM carries out researches and studies. The results are published on digital supports, via specific software or package and via the CIM website.

Major media surveys carried out by the CIM

Strategic Plurimedia Audience Survey

• PMPA Study (Plurimedia Products & Attitudes)
• Pige MDB (Ad Pressure Monitoring, Ad expenditures Measurement)

Tactical Monomedia Audience Surveys

• Press Audience
• Cinema
• Outdoor
• Television
• Print Run and Circulation Figures – Press Authentication
• Radio
• Internet

The general design of the CIM surveys takes 2 levels into account:

• central surveys (PMPA survey and Ad Market Measurement System) designed to choose media (strategy);
• tactical surveys, making it possible, once the media strategy is made, to select individual advertising carriers.

PMPA Study:

This multi-media and multi-product survey was launched in 1972 and relates to the global media reach, the consumption or purchase of goods and services, socio-demographic characteristics.

It is a 2-step survey :

1. plurimedia (press, television, cinema, internet, outdoor advertising, radio)
2. products (deals with consumption and purchase of products and services)

Both samples are merged, allowing to link the data from one part to the other.

Purposes :

• describe the reach of media categories: dailies, magazines, free press and television, radio, cinema, internet and outdoor;
• offer the opportunity to cross media exposure with the consumption and/or the purchase of goods, products and services;
• cross the consumption of several media throughout the density concept (heavy, medium and light users of …)

Press Audience Measurement:

The data collection is carried out at the same time as the first step of the PMPA study.

Purposes:

• describe the reach of almost 200 press titles (dailies, magazines and free press);
• offer the opportunity to cross reach figures with the consumption and/or the purchase of the most significant goods, products and services, socio-demographic characteristics and socio-cultural data (if any).

Outdoor survey:

This study describes and measures the reach of outdoor advertising in the 24 Belgian urban centres.

The study consists of 2 distinct parts :

• the 1st section concerns the moves of the population into the 24 Belgian urban centres (traffic);
• the 2nd section concerns the location, size and position of the advertising boards.

Matching both sections provides the boards exposure figures (GRP).

Television Audience survey:

An electronic people meter system measures the TV reach of all TV channels receivable in Belgium (Audimetrie).

Electronic devices recording which channel is looked at and who is in front of the screen are placed in 1500 households (750 Dutch-speaking and 750-French speaking households, being a representative panel of the Belgian TV owners households). Every night, data are automatically downloaded into a central computer.

Horodatage (= time logs) allows to check second per second programs or spots for each of the measured channels, it allows accurate exposure evolution.

Internet survey :

Metriweb®: This study is focusing on the traffic measurement: number of visitors, number of visits, number of pages requests. It allows a complete registration of all surfing behaviour and is using a own CIM methodology.

Metriplan : Deduplication of traffic between sites.

Metriprofil : Profile of the visitors.

Press Authentication survey:

Through the CIM’s official control reports, the media specialists know exactly and on a regular base:

• the print run of a title
• its paid circulation
• its percentage of subscribers
• the number of subscriptions
• the number of merchandising copies
• the number of free copies
• the number of unsold copies

The results are available on the CIM’s website. Choose “Media” and then “Press”.

Ad Market Measurement system:

It is an almost fully computerized system, based on data provided by media sales houses. The results are published through a monthly report day + 30, or a weekly report day +10.

Starting in 2006 : mixed system of declarations and scannings in press, digital photos in outdoor, sound sampling in radio.

Radio Survey:

Today’s study started in March 2002 and many adaptations have been made during the last years : 1 week diary, face to face recruitment, ...

Main mission

The CIM’s main mission is :

• to deliver all figures and findings required by the market(s);
• single source data, labelled as being reliable (rigour, technique, statistics);
• neutral.

Conclusion

The CIM’s policy to succeed:

• being the real CENTER of the tripartite
• being all EARS
• being a house to be open to all
  • extend contacts with users and suppliers
  • more liberal access to some figures
• using up-to-date communication tools

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