• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, May 18, 2012

Mediabrands is preparing to launch its third agency network this summer. The shop will be called Brand Programming Network, or BPN, and is designed, in part, to enable Mediabrands to pursue more new business opportunities that were not previously available due to conflicts at sibling shops Initiative and Universal McCann.

Plans for a third Mediabrands media agency network have been in the works for about a year.

Last September, Mediabrands CEO Matt Seiler confirmed in an interview that the project was a priority. He noted then the company had been conflicted out of $11 billion worth of potential new business in less than a year. "I am so tired of having to turn down opportunities because of the phenomenal incumbent base we have," Seiler said at the time.

At this point, the network is still a work in progress. The head of the new operation, not yet identified, will report to Brian McMahon, the CEO of Orion Trading, the Mediabrands unit that specializes in trading corporate assets for ad time and space.

The new agency would be more technology-based and likely have a smaller head count than its sibling media agencies, Seiler said last year. He is keen on having its compensation model be mostly -- if not strictly -- pay-per-performance. That is a model that both Initiative and UM are rapidly headed toward.

More details about the new shop, its business model, global offices etc., are expected to be unveiled closer to launch.