NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the industry leader in advertising research among brand advertisers, agencies, media and research firms, today announced that it has acquired the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM).
Under the acquisition, CIMM will become a subsidiary of the non-profit ARF, focusing broadly on advancement of media measurement. The new division, which retains the CIMM name and logo, is headed by current CIMM CEO and Managing Director, Jane Clarke. The acquisition was approved by the Boards of both the ARF and CIMM.
The combined organization will enable inclusion of a broader array of companies in the development of research initiatives focusing upon media measurement technology and methodology. It will also provide ARF and CIMM members with greater efficiencies through a pooling of resources.
CIMM was founded in 2009 by major TV network groups, television content providers, media agencies and advertisers as an industry R&D consortium to promote innovation in audience measurement for television and cross-platform media.
CIMM and the ARF have been frequent collaborators on industry initiatives, most recently working together with the DMA, a division of the ANA, in an initiative to develop, test and adopt standards for audience data quality and transparency.
“The ongoing close work between the ARF and CIMM, the common members each organization holds, and the reality that together, as one unified organization, we can achieve industry goals much faster and more efficiently, made this an obvious decision to make,” says Scott McDonald, President and CEO of the ARF. “The expertise, knowledge and advancements that have been made by CIMM in cross-platform measurement and granular TV measurement will significantly enhance the current efforts by the ARF to ensure that media measurement is keeping pace with an evolving industry.”
“The progress made by CIMM to bring about full cross-platform video measurement, from planning through activation and attribution, has been significant. Our integration into the ARF will further accelerate our progress here,” says Clarke. “The synergies will enable us to not only expand efforts, but also apply our expertise to the wider variety of measurement challenges created by the changing behavior of consumers with technology.”
About The ARF
Founded more than 80 years ago, the ARF is dedicated to creating, curating, and sharing objective, industry-level advertising research to enable members to make a true impact on their advertising and build marketing leadership within their organizations. It has 400 members from leading brand advertisers, agencies, research firms, and media-tech companies. www.thearf.org.
