• by Masha Geller , February 18, 2003

What do you call a deal where competitors become each other’s clients and together offer a comprehensive solution for evaluating online marketing effectiveness? A partnership.

Today, Dynamic Logic and Millward Brown, both well known in the advertising field for their research capabilities, will announce a strategic partnership that aims to enable advertisers to utilize best practices from both companies – Dynamic Logic’s AdIndex™ online advertising and brand evaluation research programs and Millward Brown’s team of advertising and branding experts.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but if anything, said Nick Nyhan, CEO of Dynamic Logic, it’s Millward Brown “effectively becoming a Dynamic Logic client.” He said the two companies had several clients who were using both services and instead of making them choose between one or the other, the two firms decided to form a partnership.

As a result, former competitors Millward Brown and Dynamic Logic will work together in North America under a nonexclusive agreement to “support the development of industry standards for online advertising and marketing effectiveness metrics, while also providing flexible and customized solutions to meet specific client needs.” In addition, the two companies will work together to develop new product offerings for measuring the effectiveness of multichannel marketing efforts, using online and offline media vehicles.

“Millward Brown, a recognized leader in advertising and brand evaluation for leading global marketers, embraced the Internet early on,” said Mary Ann Packo, chief marketing and client service officer of Millward Brown. “As a result, this partnership with Dynamic Logic is a natural fit. As traditional marketers move further into the online space, we know from our clients that there is a demand for more flexible and comprehensive solutions to assess their overall marketing communications programs,” Packo said.

The agency community seems supportive of the partnership already. “We see this as a positive development because the complexity of online accountability research varies greatly across our clients,” said Christian Kugel, director of insights & analytics at Starcom IP, a mutual client of Millward Brown and Dynamic Logic. Starcom IP is the digital arm of Starcom MediaVest Group, one of the world’s largest brand communications groups. “This partnership will ultimately enable us to take a consistent approach to online measurement while also giving our clients choice and flexibility,” Kugel said.