• by Joe Mandese , July 9, 2008

Interpublic has quietly reorganized, and re-branded its elite Magna Global unit, incorporating the industry forecasting role that historically has been overseen by sibling unit Universal McCann. As part of the move, Bob Coen, the long-time senior vice president-director of forecasting at Universal McCann, has been moved to the corporate-level media operation, which has dropped the word global from its name and is now known simply as Magna.

The moves, which were subtly unveiled Tuesday as part of Interpublic's annual mid-year update on the advertising economy, are part of a progression that has been transforming Magna from a centralized media negotiating unit that some felt was redundant with the media-buying functions of Interpublic media shops Universal McCann and Initiative, into something that is more akin got a media brain trust that houses centralized media research, industry analysis and forecasting for all of Interpublic's agencies.

The move also signals a closer integration between long-time industry seer Coen, and Magna Director of Industry Analysis Brian Wieser, or most insiders and outsiders see as Coen's heir apparent.

Coen and Wieser Tuesday presented their respective outlooks for the overall advertising industry, and for the emerging media tracked by Magna (see related story in today's edition), repeating a tandem act that began at last year's mid-year update.

The juxtaposition of the two divergent outlooks for the advertising industry - one tepid and one that has been "hyper accelerated" - has raised questions about when Interpublic, the de facto source for official ad estimates for many industry stakeholders, might integrate the two. For the moment, they remain separate, with Coen's methods representing the official ad industry totals for major media, and Wieser's representing them for emerging media.