• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, October 7, 2014

MDC Partners said today that it was combining the media operation of its ad shop Doner with Assembly, the media shop it created earlier this year by merging two of its recently acquired media agencies, TargetCast and RJ Palmer. 

An MDC rep confirmed that Doner Media would be rebranded “Assembly At Doner.” 

Complementing Assembly’s existing operations in New York, the addition of Doner Media’s capabilities to the agency extends Assembly’s geographical footprint to Detroit, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Cleveland, while also providing expertise in local broadcast planning and buying. 

As part of the restructuring, Greg Clausen, EVP, chief media officer of Doner Media, will join the Assembly leadership team as Managing Partner. 

The new arrangement also brings a suite of  proprietary tools developed by Doner Media and new media clients to the Assembly fold including Arby’s, AutoTrader.com, Ohio Health, Perkins, PGA TOUR, Smithfield Foods and The UPS Store, among others. 

“By bringing Doner Media’s robust local media buying and sophisticated retail expertise into our offering, we are now even better equipped to optimize marketers’ media investments and deliver unique business-building programs for clients across categories,” said Martin Cass, CEO of Assembly. 

Added David DeMuth, co-CEO of Doner: “With this alliance, we are thrilled to offer even more breadth and depth of capabilities to clients, and even greater creative firepower to our programs going forward.” 

The move comes amid Assembly’s ongoing effort to fill out its management team and grow its business. Since March it has won new business assignments such as the Timberland account. Perhaps equally important, the company is being invited to participate in major account reviews such as the recent Turner Broadcasting pitch, a sign that the agency is on the radar screen of major marketers and search consultants. 

Assembly has also augmented its leadership team with the recent hires of former M&C Saatchi New York CEO Jeff Brooks as the agency’s chief commercial officer and Fox Sports Media Group's Catherine Warburton as chief investment officer. 

At the same time, Doner Media has recently added the Grand Rapids, MI-based grocery/retail supercenter Meijer and the nation’s largest privately held wireless communications provider C Spire to its growing client roster.