• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 7, 2009

Buried in Monday's announcement that Interpublic had tapped Universal McCann's Quentin George as the digital czar for its fledgling Mediabrands operation is the fact the new media management unit has also absorbed Reprise Media, the search marketing specialist that Interpublic acquired in 2007 and vowed to continue operating as a "stand-alone unit."

In a follow up announcement released this morning, Interpublic said it would revise its Reprise holding company structure by placing it under Mediabrands, the centralized unit created in July 2008 to oversee and manage Interpublic's disparate media services operations. At that time, Interpublic said Mediabrands would oversee Initiative, Universal McCann, Magna, Magna Trading, J3, Wahlstrom, as well as Interpublic's Emerging Media Lab. In today's announcement, Interpublic said Reprise has been added to the Mediabrands portfolio to "further deliver on its promise to reinvent the way that major brands plan and buy media."

"As part of Mediabrands, we feel we are better positioned than ever before to help our clients take advantage of this synergy," Reprise Managing Partner Joshua Stylman said in a statement.

"Joining Mediabrands will supercharge all of our client relationships, both within and outside of Interpublic," added Managing Partner Peter Hershberg.

In addition to servicing key Mediabrands clients such as Microsoft, Hyundai, Kia and CA, Interpublic said Reprise would remain an independent third-party working directly with other brands.

When Interpublic acquired Reprise in 2007, it was mainly to bolster its position in the rapidly expanding search marketing business. Reprise was named OMMA magazine's "Search Agency of The Year" in 2006, and has since expanded into other forms of digital marketing services, especially social media campaigns.