• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 30, 2007

Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett and its below-the-line unit Arc have secured a targeted assignment from leading cable operator Comcast.

While details are unclear--Burnett and Comcast officials declined to elaborate--the business win was driven by Arc, which focuses on an array of services from direct marketing to promotions to retail channel.

Goodby, Silverstein will continue to handle the more traditional ad duties for the Philadelphia-based MSO, the Comcast representative said. The West Coast agency has used an "It's Comcastic" tagline and plugged the company's triple-play offering of TV, phone and Internet service sold in a bundle.

The new-business win was announced by Publicis Chairman-CEO Maurice Levy last week on a conference call, where he pegged it as an example of the holding company's efforts to reverse a 2007 first-half that brought slow organic growth.

Levy said the win was propelled by Burnett and Arc working in tandem, suggesting a new holistic communications model "more in line with consumer trends and advertiser needs." Levy also said that Burnett "has recovered its dynamism by significantly modifying its structure: The integration of Arc provides an innovative response to advertisers' needs."

He cited the Comcast business, along with Buick and GMC at Burnett, as examples of recent new-business successes helped by the new template--which have helped offset losses of the U.S. Army and Cadillac accounts at the Chicago agency last year.

The Publicis chief spoke on a conference call to announce results from the first half of 2007 that saw organic growth up only 1.6% within revenues of $2.2 billion.