The changing of the guard is symbolic beyond the ages of the two men (Coen is 86 and Wieser is 34). It also reflects a push to account for a variety of rapidly emerging media and new technologies that didn't always fit neatly into Coen's classic definition of adverting in recent years.
That was increasingly evident during Interpublic's semi-annual forecasts, when Coen would provide a general overview for the advertising economy, and Wieser would give his take on so-called emerging media, such as online search, social networks, mobile, interactive TV, and digital out-of-home media.
In an announcement made early this morning, Interpublic's Mediabrands unit did not say how Wieser's and Coen's benchmarks and methods for forecasting might be integrated, but Interpublic's estimates have served as the Madison Avenue's unofficial scorecard for more than half a century.
Interpublic, however, said Wieser would be interviewing Coen in a series of video presentations on advertising over the decades. A preview has been posted on Mediabrands's new www.mediabrandsww.com site.
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