• Mediaweek, Monday, March 30, 2009 10 AM

MediaVest is quietly rolling out a restructure of its investment arm as part of its move to de-silo its company. The overall goal is for the agency to more closely buy and plan media based on consumers' habits.

Under the prior structure, the agency's print buying group handled a given client's print spend, the out-of-home group handled the client's outdoor business, and so on, and the groups would collaborate with each other. Now, clients are being reassigned to single buying groups based on where the client's spending is concentrated. The agency has also begun the process of cross-training its entire staff of 285 buyers in how to negotiate a range of media platforms.

Individual planning units and their heads won't go away, say MediaVest execs. The intent, however, is to enable the agency to more efficiently serve a vendor like NBC Universal, which straddles video, out of home and digital. The change is designed to reduce clients' points of contact at the agency and bring integrated media buys to life faster.

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