• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 2, 2011

Coleen Kuehn, the chief strategist at Havas' MPG unit, has joined MediaVest as president of strategy and planning, a role that has been dormant since former MediaVest manager Lisa Donahue left that job to become president of sister Publicis agency Starcom nearly two years ago. CEO Bill Tucker said MediaVest had always planned to fill the role, but that it took that long to find the right person to bring into the organization.

"It was kind of a no-brainer for me," Tucker said, adding that Kuehn was the right person at the right time, because the role of strategic planning is becoming a key selling point for big agencies, and a core service for their clients.

Kuehn said it was MediaVest's clients, especially big marketers such as Coca-Cola, Kraft, Procter & Gamble and Walmart - many of which she had worked with in the past -- that attracted her to MediaVest.

"They are some of the most forward-thinking and innovative clients, and they attract the best talent," she said.

Before Havas, Kuehn had worked at WPP's MediaCom unit, and also had a stint on the client side at Coca-Cola Co. She said the role of strategic planning is becoming critical for big marketers and their agencies, because consumer media behavior is changing at an accelerated rate.

Citing the rapid rise of social media as an example, Kuehn said the trend is beginning to change conventional notions of communications planning. For example, she noted that while friends and family have long been considered some of the most influential sources for most consumers, a behavior that is beginning to change because of social media.

"We've seen some skyrocketing numbers in research, where people are not only trusting their friends and family, but they are trusting complete strangers," she said, adding that those shifts are changing the strategies that agencies utilize, especially in the mix of so-called paid and earned media.