• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 28, 2009

In its battle to break Donovan Data Systems' stranglehold on Madison Avenue's media processing systems, challenger MediaBank has quietly racked up wins totaling more than $1 billion in media billings, including all the advertising buys for cable programming giant Turner Broadcasting System, and a portion of General Motors' media account. The momentum comes as MediaBank has been struggling to gain a foothold inside another major agency holding company, most of which have long-term contracts with DDS, and as its biggest supporter, Publicis' Starcom MediaVest Group, effectively remains under a gag order stemming from a protracted arbitration process tied to its support of MediaBank and its decision to drop DDS more than a year ago.

It also comes as other major agency holding companies are believed to be reviewing the terms of their contracts with DDS following an 11th-hour decision by Interpublic's Mediabrands division to stick with that incumbent for a major portion of its U.S. media processing.

That makes MediaBank's win of part of General Motors' media buying business especially interesting, because the assignment did no come in through SMG's GM Planworks unit, which remains under a separate, long-term agreement with DDS, but through the Martin Retail Group, which is affiliated with Publicis, according to executives familiar with the shift. Martin Retail Group is not affiliated with Interpublic's Martin Agency, which in December announced that former GM Mediaworks and GM Cyberworks chief Linda Thomas Brooks had joined as president of its in-house media group, Ingenuity Media.

In November, after a protracted review of its media data processing services that came down to DDS, MediaBank and Strata Marketing, Interpublic's Mediabrands had been preparing an announcement that it was moving to MediaBank, but at the last minute said it was sticking with DDS.

The last minute switch raised suspicions that DDS may have significantly reduced the rates its charges Interpublic to retain its business, a move that would have triggered so-called "favored nation" clauses in the contracts of other big agency holding companies such as WPP, Omnicom, and even Publicis, which continues to do business with DDS in other parts of its organization.

MediaBank, meanwhile, has been chipping away at smaller, but sizeable media services accounts, including Turner Broadcasting System's in-house advertising and media department, which purchases hundreds of millions of dollars annually in paid media buys.

MediaBank also has picked up some fairly sizeable independent media services agencies, including Cincinnati-based Empower MediaMarketing, and Dallas-based Southwest Media Group.

MediaBank has made some other important industry inroads, as well, including integration with other crucial industry sources. In November, MediaBank struck an important agreement with the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers, enabling it to integrate its technology platforms with Ad-ID, a joint venture of the AAAA and ANA enabling advertisers, agencies and the media to digitally code all media buys and advertising related assets. MediaBank said its full "product suite" would integrate with Ad-ID, allowing advertisers and agencies to more effectively manage metadata and measure performance throughout any media campaign lifecycle.

On Tuesday, it announced a similar integration deal with Google TV Ads (see related story in today's edition). Asked if it's iDesk system also was integrated with Google TV Ads, a DDS spokesman said the company had no comment.

Editor's note: This story has been updated from an earlier edition that incorrectly attributed the General Motors account to Interpublic's Martin Agency instead of the Martin Retail Group.