NEW YORK, APRIL 18, 2011 – In line with Mediabrands’ client-centric strategy, an innovative move to a new "cluster" structure was announced last April 14. Also part of this development, Matt Freeman will be moving to McCann Erickson in the newly created post of Vice-Chairman, Global Chief Innovation Officer, reporting to Nick Brien, Chairman and CEO McCann Worldgroup.
Mediabrands was created by Interpublic Group (IPG) to manage all of its global media-related assets, with a vision to help clients maximize the impact of their marketing investment to deliver explosive business results. Formerly, IPG’s Mediabrands and McCann Erickson units are under Mediabrands Ventures and had recently undergone realignment to further support its client-centric strategy.
"Today marks the second phase of this process, as we continue to forecast market changes and organize our businesses to help our clients navigate in the dynamic media and marketing environment. Developments at the Lab, TAP and with our increasingly service-oriented approach to global capabilities will make Mediabrands an even better partner to our clients and sister Interpublic agencies and will keep us ahead of the curve in this time of accelerated change,” says Matt Seiler, Global CEO of Mediabrands Worldwide.
Along these changes, will be several developments for Mediabrands such as the utilization of the IPG LAB in helping clients vet offerings and tailor services to meet business needs. Also, Mediabrands will also develop The Audience Platform (TAP) which will further enable its technologies and services to unlock new value across Mediabrands and IPG. Finally, Mediabrands will be organizing its operating units by the benefits each of them delivers.
These developments will essentially tie assets currently under the Mediabrands Ventures umbrella more closely to the core offerings, which will enable Interpublic to redeploy that unit’s CEO, Matt Freeman.
Prior to Mediabrands, Matt was CEO of the Betawave Corporation, an early-stage digital media company where he led a $22.5 million recapitalization and spearheaded the company’s ascent to become the #1 Youth Media company. Also under his leadership, Omnicom Group’s Tribal DDB Worldwide grew to a global network of 45 offices spanning 28 countries and became the first digital agency in history to be named Global Agency Network of the Year by Advertising Age.
Freeman joined Interpublic in January, 2010, helping to scale the group’s media technology offering globally and launching industry-leading new initiatives in areas such as hyperlocal, retail and mobile marketing.
Freeman’s key responsibilities will include harnessing the network’s digital offering, building new digital capabilities to meet the evolving needs of clients, and forging partnerships that will enable new revenue streams and exclusive opportunities for McCann Worldgroup clients.
“Matt is a marketing visionary. He understands the intersection of media, creativity, and technology whilst anticipating how to harness them to build brands,” ended Nick Brien.
