• by John Gaffney , May 2, 2003

It usually means "you're it." But the ad industry will have to wait and see what a new division called TAG will mean, including a partnership between McCann-Erickson and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs.

McCann-Erickson launched TAG* last week, as a think tank and marketing and communications resource aimed at reaching the 18-24 young adult market. Headed by Lori Senecal, McCann New York Executive VP, Director of Account Management and Craig Markus, Senior VP, Group Creative Director, TAG is a resource for existing clients, including Interbrew and Microsoft whose spending against the young adult audience tops $100 million. It will also will pursue new clients.

According to a McCann-Erickson statement, proprietary TAG tools gather insights on, and establish connections with, this audience. "Innovative TAG programs will help clients reach out to this target, and importantly also help them partner with other marketers on joint initiatives directed to this group," it said.

Said Senecal: "TAG is an innovative concept because of the unique discovery approach and tools that get deeper into the lives of the target, and the client community aspect which offers collaborative opportunities amongst like-missioned marketers."

TAG is partnering for support in urban marketing with Blue Flame Marketing + Advertising, a lifestyle marketing company, led by Combs. Blue Flame Marketing + Advertising is a division of Bad Boy Entertainment that had $8 million in annual billings in 2002. The McCann statement also said other partnerships will include consulting and communications services drawn from McCann-Erickson WorldGroup companies, including Universal McCann, in media; MRM Partners, in direct marketing; Momentum, in promotions/event marketing; Weber Shandwick in public relations.

A good deal of the value proposition will apparently also come from research. "TAG digs beneath the surface of issues with a collection of special proprietary tools. These tools are designed to establish true rapport, even relationships with the respondents and get past the superficial observations so common to research aimed at this audience," stated the corporate release.