• by Larry Dobrow , April 13, 2004

MediaVest took a big step towards upping its print presence Monday by poaching Robin Steinberg away from Carat USA to serve as vice president-director of print services. Steinberg, who had headed Carat's Pfizer print account, starts her new gig on May 3.

Reached at Carat, where she'll remain until April 23, Steinberg cited - what else? - "opportunity" as the key motivation for her move. "I'll be running an AOR with multiple clients," she says. "I'm going to be running a group, not just one client. That's the kind of position, you work really hard and hope you get a chance to do someday."

Additionally, the MediaVest print unit is a new one, which will afford Steinberg the chance to put her stamp on a fledgling entity. Though she's stingy with details about the new post - she said the size of the group and its exact fit within MediaVest will be specified when she arrives - Steinberg will report to executive vice president, managing director Bill Tucker.

As for clients, she says that she hasn't yet received a complete list, but it's expected that she'll play a large role in managing MediaVest's Kraft print business. She's also been charged with prospecting for new print clients and possibly wringing new business out of existing clients. "I want this to be a well-oiled machine, and it will be," Steinberg promises.

Unlike many of her peers, Steinberg doesn't bandy about phrases like "cautious optimism" when asked about the current state of print. "We're in a changing world right now," she notes. "It's been a buyer's market for a really long time - so moving forward, we know we can get really cheap pricing. What I think everybody wants to see are some big ideas."

Citing 10 consecutive months of page declines against the year-ago period, Steinberg attaches most of her hopes for the long-awaited print rebound to 2005. "I don't see 2004 as the big winner," she adds. "Print is an excellent medium and we've proven that it works. If used correctly, the impact of schedules can be that much better."

Steinberg has worked on Pfizer's business for 10 years, the last five at Carat (as vice president, director of Pfizer print services) and before that at Paragon Media. She has nothing but fond words for her soon-to-be former employer: "It's a wonderful agency and they do so much innovative work, but it's time for me to do something new."