• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 31, 2004

Like most big media shops, Havas' MPG unit is going Hollywood. But instead of actually going to the West Coast to find new talent to manage its so-called "branded entertainment" operations, the media agency has gone to Madison & Vine, the fictitious industrial intersection developed by the journalists at Advertising Age magazine to describe the integration of Hollywood entertainment productions and Madison Avenue's marketing and advertising capabilities. MPG has tapped two of the magazine's journalists, Senior Editor Hank Kim and Reporter Richard Linnett, to run a new branded entertainment division, reports today's Wall Street Journal.

The move is an interesting development for several reasons. First, it marks MPG's first move into the market, which has been the buzz at a number of industry discussions, conferences and trade coverage, especially in the pages of Advertising Age, which had sought to build a new franchise around the "Madison & Vine" concept. The magazine, published by Crain Communications, had launched a newsletter edited by Kim, and had conducted a series of conferences based on the idea. Earlier this year, Advertising Age Editor Scott Donaton published a book entitled "Madison & Vine."

But insiders said the franchise has been waning within Crain, and that Kim and Linnett had been looking to take the idea outside. According to the Journal, the duo have been discussing the idea with MPG since December.

The development is interesting on another level, because it is unusual for trade journalists to move into the practice of advertising services or entertainment. Normally, the move goes in the opposite direction. Variety Editor Peter Bart was a former Hollywood studio executive before helming the Hollywood trade publication.

The most notable examples of trade journalists going into the business are former New York Times advertising columnist Carl Spielvogel, who was a top ad executive at McCann-Erickson before leaving with Bill Backer to found legendary ad agency Backer & Spielvogel, which ultimately merged with Ted Bates Advertising.

On the Hollywood side of the vine, former Variety reporter David Kissinger went on to become a studio mogul for Universal Television Productions.

It will be interesting to see how MPG's new team articulates the agency's vision for branded entertainment, a concept that encompasses everything from conventional product placement and sponsorships to the seamless integration of marketers' brands into entertainment content. While the approach is seen as a solution to a post-advertising era in which consumers are no longer compelled to look at ads, but are exposed to brand messages in a more integral way, also has its critics whom believe truly integral opportunities are few an far between.