CASE STUDY · BEFIMMO
How we put Befimmo at the heart of the workplace debate.
Brum Smith
A debate in need of fresh data
As a real estate player specialised in offices, Befimmo has a clear expertise in the office and what makes it work. We saw an opportunity to turn that expertise into thought leadership, a key lever in real estate PR. Since the pandemic, the future of the workplace has been a recurring media topic, and the debate needed fresh data from the people concerned: employees and future employees. Our goal was to make Befimmo a leading voice in that conversation.
From an idea to a yearly barometer
1. Imagining the barometer.
In 2025, we proposed that Befimmo launch its own Office Barometer: a yearly study that backs Befimmo's expertise with fresh data and makes it the go-to source for journalists covering the workplace.
2. Renewing the angle every year.
A barometer stays relevant when it keeps up with the debate. For the first edition, we surveyed 1,000 Belgian employees and 200 students, the employees of tomorrow, with iVOX to map how they see the office and what makes it worth the commute. The key finding: two out of three employees prefer an assigned desk to a flexdesk.
For the 2026 edition, we built on that first year in two ways. We repeated the survey among the same sample to track how attitudes evolve, and we added a complementary survey among 50 Belgian HR managers and CFOs to bring in the employer's perspective. This produced the headline finding of the year: one in three Belgian employees (33%) no longer wants to work from home at all, up 8 percentage points from the year before.
3. Reaching every newsroom.
For each edition, we drafted the press release and mapped the right media for each angle: business, HR, consumer and lifestyle press. We also involved external experts such as labour economist Stijn Baert, who added credibility to the findings and brought the debate to their own networks.
Two editions, a growing interest
The first edition generated 26 media appearances and reached a total audience of 4.8 million, in De Tijd, Trends-Tendances, L'Echo, La Libre, HR Magazine, Het Laatste Nieuws and Paris Match. The formats were equally diverse: in-depth features in Trends and La Libre, radio on Nostalgie, and lifestyle coverage in Flair and Moustique.
The 2026 edition built on that success. Its key finding made the front pages of Het Nieuwsblad and De Gentenaar and led to 33 media appearances, with a total audience of 7.5 million, 56% more than the first year. Highlights included De Tijd, L'Echo, Sudinfo, Gazet van Antwerpen, Trends-Tendances and The Brussels Times, VTM's talk show De Tafel van Gert, and radio coverage on Nostalgie, Vivacité and the HLN news bulletin.
What this case shows
Thought leadership starts with claiming the topics where your expertise is relevant. For Befimmo, that topic is the future of the workplace. Owned data is one of the strongest tools in media relations: a barometer turns a single press moment into a yearly appointment with journalists. By renewing the angle each year, every edition brings a new story, and the client becomes the reference voice on a topic that belongs to its business.
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