• by John Gaffney , June 12, 2003

Positioning itself as a "next generation" media planning and buying company, direct marketing specialist Wunderman is merging its media capabilities into Mediedge:CIA.

The new division will not operate under a new name, but an 85 person Wunderman team will move into the midtown offices of Mediaedge. Wunderman CEO Daniel Morel said he believes the new combination will bring targeted marketing capabilities and more accountability for clients to the buying services already in place at Mediaedge.

"We're all out there competing for business, but I don't see any such thing out there right now," Morel said. "In terms of being able to combine the ability to have one to one marketing knowledge with the media buying capacity of Mediaedge, you have a lot of size and substance."

The combined capabilities, according to both companies, will use Wunderman's customer and household data and behavioral database to better predict ROI. According to Morel, when the Wunderman-Mediaedge team pitches a prospective client, it will be able to use its behavioral data to help predict the best course for a media plan on the front end. Then, after a campaign is finished, that data can be used to help measure results.

Morel is most excited about the help and "edge" that Wunderman can bring to traditional media planning. Within that planning he believes his data can maximize traditional channel like TV and print. But he also sees room for non-traditional media. He said many campaigns plan effectively for many traditional buys, but leave money outside for "something else."

"We're interested in that something else," he said. "Does that extra money go for direct marketing? Or does it go to something else? Deciding ROI is one thing. But our data can provide the missing data to figure out a very efficient use for that extra million dollars."

As part of the new arrangement, KnowledgeBase marketing, a Wunderman subsidiary, will be tapped to support data services. Wunderman co-directors Sheri Rosenblatt and Gary Kagawa have been elevated to managing partner, reporting to Mediaedge executive chairman Charles Courtier.

Morel said he was not moved to strike a deal by continuing consolidation in the media buying marketplace. "This corresponds to what the market wants," he said. "I'm looking at the next five or ten years."