The collaboration between the Young & Rubicam agencies will give Mediaedge:cia full access to Wunderman's data planning and analysis resources, while Wunderman will benefit from Mediaedge:cia's media experience and databases.
Both agencies claim that that this will offer a point of differentiation over their competitors by making media targeting more precise through the use of customer-level data. Investment will be optimised and customer acquisition will be more cost-efficient, they also claim.
On a practical level the collaboration will result in Mediaedge:cia and Wunderman offering joint planning and execution of campaigns, with use of their combined tools to track results and optimise investment.
The plan was conceived by Stewart Pearson, the chief executive of Wunderman EMEA, and Rob Norman, the chairman of Mediaedge:cia UK. The offering will initially be available in five major European markets - the UK, France, Germany, Spain and The Netherlands - before being rolled out across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Norman said: "This initiative makes absolute sense for both our businesses. The ability to use customer-level data will help us deliver ever refined targeting based on customer value. This will support our use of survey data and make a real contribution to our goal of driving investment return for all our clients. We are committed to channel neutral planning and this partnership will help us advise clients on how best to allocate their budgets on advertising and direct marketing."
In the US, the 85-strong Wunderman Media team in New York has moved into Mediaedge:cia's offices. The team previously existed as a separate division because of US direct response buying practices but no similar move is planned in EMEA as Wunderman has no separate media division in the region.
Perspective, p11.
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