Ipsos MediaCell clears CESP audit with 97% accuracy
Ipsos's passive measurement app reported 97% radio accuracy in a CESP audit. Here's what that means for cross-media planning.
For years, media measurement has leaned on what people say they watched or heard. Ipsos just made the case for watching what they actually do. The MediaCell app, which turns a participant’s smartphone or other device into a passive audio and online meter, was put through an independent CESP audit and came back with 97% reporting accuracy for radio sessions and 98% for listening time.
The validation matters because media is consumed in messy conditions. CESP tested detection at home, in a moving car with the windows open and on a building site, with the device on a table, in a bag or in a pocket. Passing that test suggests the data can be treated as a reliable currency for radio audience measurement, not just a pilot.
Why passive measurement changes the conversation
MediaCell is built around measuring human behaviour rather than the technology itself. That distinction is important for brand managers. A survey asks people to reconstruct their media day; a passive meter logs exposure as it happens, minute by minute, across TV, radio and digital.
- Cross-media exposure: sees how a consumer moves from TV to radio to digital.
- Platform detection: an inaudible watermark can tell whether viewing happens on a TV set or online, and can report time-shifting for up to two years.
- Location context: Wi-Fi signatures separate in-home from out-of-home listening in a privacy-compliant way.
- Longitudinal tracking: the same panel’s habits can be followed through market and technology changes.
What it means for your media plan
Claimed recall is useful, but it is filtered by memory and social desirability. Observed exposure tells you when a person actually crossed from radio to mobile, or whether a sports fan saw live coverage at home or out of home. For an advertiser, that is the difference between planning on assumptions and planning on evidence.
The tool also has a tactical side. Ipsos describes MediaCell for Advertisers as a short-term engagement study that can measure advertising reach and attitudinal outcomes, compare competitors and run alongside complementary surveys. That combination — passive exposure for the “when and where”, survey data for the “why” — is the practical takeaway.
“The audit once again shows that we have established a sound measurement that meets the international standards. A system to be proud of.”
— Olivier Daufresne, Associate Director at CESP
Patricia Sonius, Director of Research at NMO, called the new NMO radio audience measurement “fit-for-purpose” and “a reliable currency”.
The move for marketers
Start treating claimed recall as a layer, not the whole picture. If you run campaign tracking, add a passive panel to log actual cross-media exposure. Then use a short survey to capture attitudes, competitor comparisons and outcomes. The CESP result suggests the passive layer is now accurate enough to calibrate the rest.
Media measurement rarely feels like a creative topic. But the campaigns that win are usually the ones built on sharper observation of what people really do.
Source: Ipsos
