• by Joe Mandese , September 22, 2005

Starcom MediaVest Group Wednesday put the finishing touches on the reorganization of its GM Planworks unit, naming two top buyers to represent General Motors' formidable advertising budget, and completing the transition of the media buying account won by the Publicis media network earlier this year in a heated pitch with Interpublic's GM Mediaworks division. Mediaworks--the first ever dedicated media buying agency for the giant automaker--is now defunct, but one of its top buyers, Mike Rosen, has joined Planworks as chief investment officer.

Also joining Planworks is Jennifer Shaw, who was named senior vice president-managing director of the unit's Video Investment Group--an indication that GM will be aggressively pursuing the development of new TV platforms such as broadband video, mobile TV, and other emerging TV technologies.

Shaw, who also joins Planworks from Mediaworks, had been senior vice president-manager of the automaker's network and cable sports buys, overseeing traditional media negotiations as well as event sponsorships, on-air signage, and product placement deals. She was a key player in GM's sponsorship of the Olympics Games from Seoul in 1998 to Athens in 2004.

Shaw will report to Rosen, who in turn reports to Planworks CEO Dennis Donlin. They are two of the senior-most executives to make the transition from Mediaworks to Planworks. Former Mediaworks CEO Rick Sirvaitis, a long-time cable network sales executive before running the Interpublic media buying unit, has been working closely with Invidi, a company that has been developing a highly addressable TV advertising technology for the cable industry.

Meanwhile, the subordination of Mediaworks into Planworks is a symbolic and telling move on the part of one of the world's biggest advertisers. It suggests that the world of media services is moving from a tactical orientation of "buying" into a far more strategic era of planning.