• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, May 12, 2005

Consolidating traditional and interactive media buying duties, Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages last month quietly awarded its media account to Mediaedge:cia's The Digital Edge, a WPP shop. Mediaedge:cia previously handled traditional media buying for the beverage company, which owns Dr. Pepper, 7 UP, and Snapple, among other brands.

The move is expected to help with the integration of online and offline campaigns, said Alan Schanzer, managing partner of The Digital Edge. "The consumer is moving seamlessly between TV, print, and online, and marketers need to do the same thing," Schanzer said. He added that the agency now can "sit down with our TV buyers and our print buyers and develop one team for Dr. Pepper, or whatever brand we're working with."

In the past, The Digital Edge has done online work for Cadbury Schweppes in conjunction with Mediaedge's traditional buys. For instance, this January, The Digital Edge helped develop a deal for a campaign on America Online for Diet Dr. Pepper, Schanzer said. That initiative involved the online extension of a campaign that ran in Time Warner magazines.

Schanzer said that online campaigns might include repurposed television ads and exclusive content, such as sponsorships of Web-only programs. The company also will consider buying paid search listings connected to sponsored programs. "Obviously, we're not trying to sell soda online," Schanzer said, "but we're trying to create more value in things CBSA [Cadbury Schweppes] is already investing in."