Organization Reaches Critical Milestone for Establishing the Foundation for Cross-Platform Measurement, Announces Jane Clarke as CEO
NEW YORK – February 4, 2015 – The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) announced today that it has reached a five-year milestone in building the foundation for cross-platform measurement and has promoted current leader Jane Clarke to CEO and managing director of the organization. At a time when creating solutions for cross-platform measurement is more important than ever, CIMM continues to champion research and development initiatives on behalf of marketers and advertisers across the industry and today also announced its 2015 cross-platform measurement priorities.
“Over the past five years, CIMM has laid the groundwork for cross-platform measurement by identifying the necessary elements for and challenges to implementation, engaging key stakeholders and conducting Pilot Tests to build solutions. From coalescing industry participants around the issue and testing cross-platform systems to writing an open standard watermark for content and ad identification and examining best practices among data enrichment providers, CIMM has led the way,” said Kate Sirkin, EVP and Global Research Director, Starcom MediaVest Group and member of CIMM’s Executive Committee.
Throughout the course of the upcoming year, CIMM expects to focus on the following initiatives:
- Continued Development of Project Blueprint with comScore: In 2014, CIMM launched a Pilot Test of comScore’s pioneering cross-platform measurement service – the industry’s first to provide unified measurement of media usage on a national scale across TV, radio, computer, smartphone and tablet for video, audio and all forms of digital content. The Pilot Test is measuring cross-platform exposure for 10 media companies and three cross-platform advertising campaigns. In 2015, CIMM will continue to refine the data from this Pilot Test, and work with comScore on next steps in development.
- Data Enrichment Providers: CIMM has tapped Gerard Broussard, principal of Pre-Meditated Media, to author a Whitepaper assessing the quality of various data enrichment providers that are increasingly providing purchasing, demographic and lifestyle data for matching to digital and TV usage behavior. These “Big Data” integrations are being used to plan media targeting and for ROI analyses, yet there are no standards across these datasets, and the quality of the data varies. Broussard’s whitepaper intends to evaluate how best to understand and use these new data sources in media planning and buying.
- Children and Teens’ Measurement: At the request of CIMM member companies focused on advertising to children and teens, CIMM has formed a new committee with the goal of providing a higher level of urgency and importance to improving cross-platform, digital and mobile measurement (for both content and ads) among children and teens aged two to 17. The new committee has issued an RFP to relevant research vendors, and is also working closely with the Media Rating Council, to find solutions.
- SMPTE Standards Drafting Group: In September 2014, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®) and CIMM announced the results of a year-long Study Group to identify the best technology for binding Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR) and Ad-IDmetadata into the essence of video to identify television content and ads. The report recommended that SMPTE form a Drafting Group to write an open standard using audio watermarking technology, which will enable faster cross-platform measurement, and improve the accuracy and efficiency of media buying workflows. The Drafting Group has been working on a request for proposals (RFP) that will be released in mid-February to identify the best technology partner for these efforts.
“As CIMM enters its fifth year as the research and development arm of the advertising and media measurement industry, I am pleased to continue to lead the critical work CIMM and its member companies are undertaking,” said Jane Clarke, CEO and managing director, Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement. “The industry is at a turning point, with effective cross-platform measurement solutions at our fingertips and marketers and advertisers clamoring for change. CIMM is well-positioned to continue to foster collaboration and implement meaningful advancements for the industry and we encourage new voices to join in this important discussion.”
CIMM’s successes over the past five years include: establishment of the Pilot Test to launch the cross-media planning service, USA TouchPoints, now operated by RealityMine, who is also launching similar services in more than 20 countries, beginning with Canada which formally launched earlier this year; publication of pivotal whitepapers on set-top box data and cross-platform ad effectiveness research, among other topics; pioneering single source cross-platform measurement panels with comScore, Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio), and Symphony Advanced Media – leading to the 2014 Pilot Test of Project Blueprint; creation of CIMM’s 7 Criteria for Cross-Platform Measurement to guide vendors in creating solutions; and several development projects with Nielsen.
For more information on becoming part of the cross-platform measurement solution, please visit CIMM’s website and for updates on it progress, follow CIMM on Twitter @CIMM_NEWS.
About CIMM
The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is comprised of leading video content providers, media agencies and advertisers that aim to promote innovation and foster efficiencies in audience measurement for television and cross-platform video. CIMM explores and identifies new methodologies in audience measurement and verifies these approaches through a series of pilot tests and studies conducted with independent measurement companies. CIMM’s primary focus is on two key areas: the current and future potential of television measurement through the use of return-path data, and new methods for cross-platform media measurement. www.cimm-us.org
Media Contact:
Sara Sefcovic
For CIMM
(212) 446-1886