Indiantelevision.com Team

(19 October 2006 10:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The Interpublic Group of Cos (IPG), the world's fourth largest media conglomerate, is reorganizing its media operations for the second time in 17 months.

Under the new structure, the company's major global media operations, Initiative and Universal McCann, will respectively be aligned within Draft FCB Group and McCann Worldgroup. The stated aim of this exercise is to ensure that media thinking and expertise plays a central role in both brand and communications planning.

Both Initiative and Universal McCann will retain their current management teams and their financial independence within their new operating structures.

Will any of this have its repercussions in India? Not likely in the near term at least. This is because Initiative in India is managed by Lintas Media Services, while creative agency Lowe is a 50:50 JV between IPG and Lintas.

Interpublic Media
The Interpublic Media operation will be wound down by the end of October. A number of professional and support staff will be transferring to other Interpublic companies, while a small number of executives will be leaving the company.

"When we created Interpublic Media 17 months ago, we pledged to invest in stabilizing our media operations and beginning to rebuild the core product," explained Mr. Rosenthal, Chairman and CEO of Interpublic Media. "Our progress in these areas has been significant. We also indicated that we would determine the appropriate steps to launch the 'media offering of the future.'

The new media strategy represents the third major organizational change Interpublic has instituted this year. In March, the company announced that it would re-focus its Lowe agency on reclaiming its creative heritage, delivered in eight key hub markets and in concert with marketing communications firms such as Jack Morton, Octagon and Momentum. In June, Interpublic combined its Draft and FCB units around the world to create a channel-neutral agency model.

Interpublic's Magna unit will continue to negotiate on behalf of all Interpublic media clients. A new unit, to be called Futures Marketing Group, will bring together Interpublic's specialist and digital capabilities to serve as an incubator for media tools and solutions.

Oversight of this unit, as well as Interpublic's future direction and investment priorities relating to media, will be the responsibility of a newly-created Interpublic Media Council, made up of senior operating unit and corporate executives.

Initiative and Universal McCann
Interpublic's global media companies, Initiative and Universal McCann (UM) will respectively be aligned within Draft FCB and McCann Worldgroup.

"We are looking forward to partnering with Draft FCB and playing a part in realizing the new agency's vision of end-to-end, channel-neutral communications that put creativity and accountability on an equal footing," said Initiative Chairman and CEO Alec Gerster. "By pooling our complementary tools and intellectual capital, we can develop a truly differentiated media product - one that will provide competitive advantage to Initiative and Draft FCB, as well as all of our clients."

"This new organization is a logical extension of the interdependence model that we have been pursuing with the Worldgroup to respond to the changes that are transforming our industry," said Universal McCann Chairman and CEO Nick Brien.

Magna
Interpublic's Magna Global, negotiation unit, will continue to operate. It will focus solely on negotiating. Magna will also continue to serve as a provider of research and market intelligence to all Interpublic buying operations, whether within Initiative, Universal McCann or the US independent agencies.

Cella Named Vice Chairman of Draft FCB
In a related development, Bill Cella, previously Chairman and CEO of Magna Global, has been named Vice Chairman of Draft FCB. In this new position, he will work directly with Howard Draft and report to President and COO Laurence Boschetto on traditional and new media initiatives.

Futures Marketing Group
The newly formed Futures Marketing Group will act as an engine for Interpublic and its media assets to offer new communications services and business models to the market. The group will re-architect existing media related offerings, develop new business models and manage digital and new media investments and alliances, such as Interpublic's recent affiliation with Facebook. It will also offer emerging media research and development services. The components of the group will include assets such as the Interpublic Emerging Media Lab, The Consumer Experience Practice (TCEP), Wahlstrom, NSA and other hyper-local media offerings. The Futures Marketing Group will report to the Interpublic Media Council.

Interpublic Media Council
Oversight of the Futures Marketing Group and of coordinated group-wide activities and capabilities, such as Magna, Magna Trading (media barter) and OSI (outdoor media), as well as Interpublic's future media strategy, including M&A and investment priorities, will be the responsibility of a newly-created Interpublic Media Council.