• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 21, 2010

Madison Avenue officially kicks off one of its annual summer rites today - in the South of France - where agencies will compete to prove who is most innovative and creative during the 57th annual Cannes Lions advertising festival. Some of the competition will take place during the judging sessions, of which one judging insider tells OMD U.S. agencies have made the most number of entries to the "short list," followed by Sweden. Some of the competition will take place in presentations and panel discussions. And some of the competition will take place in the obligatory press announcements that agencies use to score bragging rights amid all the industry attention. Interpublic's Mediabrands was first to score on the latter front, announcing an innovative online retail marketing initiative with AOL.

The deal, which the companies boasted would "re-invent digital retail advertising," combines the research and development assets of Interpublic units with the ability of AOL to mobilize and activate its massive online user base.

The end goal is to develop new technologies that benefit both online consumers and marketers in the retail marketing process.

To kickstart the effort, Mediabrands and AOL said they would form a Retail Advisory Board, which would help guide the initiative. Other elements include an extensive benchmark analysis by Interpublic's Lab, which will analyze "the pre-shopping experience" via its proprietary "Neutral Shopping Matrix" methodology to understand what influences retail purchasing decisions before consumers buy. Specifically, the analysis will analyze how consumers utilize various media, including online to make price comparisons and research consumer promotion offers before purchasing a product.

The second phase of the initiative will be a live test with five leading retailers that will be conducted by Interpublic's hyperlocal marketing unit Geomentum during the second half of 2010.The test will evaluate how various new online tools and advertising formats impact actual in-store "sales lift."