MediaCom merges data and creativity under a new division

What has precipitated the reorganization?

• The case for better integration of media and creative teams has become common wisdom among clients and agencies, with businesses such as P&G and BT throwing out traditional silo models in favor of integration of data, execution, creative and content.

  

  MediaCom’s global chief of creative transformation Stef Calcraft

• In the vanguard of this dawning realization has been P&G’s Marc Pritchard, who has been outspoken in his calls for the complex agglomeration of roles accumulated within agencies to be swept away in favor of a simplified structure.

• This stance has precipitated a brutal cull of agencies from its books as P&G slashed its roster by 50% through 2018, part of a four-year contraction that saw 4,700 firms jettisoned.

What is MediaCom up to?

• The latest evolution of that process sees Medicom’s Creative Systems division rolled out worldwide across the Mediacom network following its launch in the US and Australia.

• At the heart of the launch is a suite of creative-driven creative products such as Addressable Creative, which is heralded as a game changer in uprating media performance by entwining addressable creative with addressable media.

• Another important launch is Creative Analytics, a new tool for harnessing AI to better gauge the performance of adverts and drawing actionable insights to ensure future client communications perform better.

• Lauding the restructure, Stef Calcraft, MediaCom’s global chief of creative transformation, said: “The creative potential of the data and insights available to media agencies is ground-breaking, but it is largely untapped due to the divide that still too often exists between media and creative. Creative Systems bridges this gap to help accelerate the creative transformation of our clients’ brands and businesses.”

Who else will serve in the Creative Systems team?

• Alongside Calcraft, a range of prominent figures have been chosen to head up the new division including global managing director Jane Ratcliffe, global head of product Nick Palmer and global head of sport, entertainment and culture Misha Sher.

• Selected for their breadth of experience, the trio will be joined by global chief security officer Anush Prabhu and global chief commercial officer Benjamin Vendramin, both of whom will undertake their expanded remit in conjunction with their existing responsibilities at MediaCom US.

A data and creative powerhouse

• Further strengthening the appeal of Creative Systems will be access to WPP and GroupM’s data, technology and content capabilities as well as in-depth relationships with companies such as Motion Content Group, Hogarth Worldwide and Greenhouse Group.

• Talking up the plans Nick Lawson, global chief of MediaCom, said: “Seeing the Bigger Picture means spotting the opportunities and the need for new approaches to drive our clients’ communications more powerfully. MediaCom Creative Systems turns the data that we all talk about into an opportunity that enhances messaging relevance and effectiveness. People don’t see the difference between media and creative, they just respond to brilliant ideas that work for them.”

• In tandem with Creative Systems, the agency has also introduced MediaCom Play, a full-service gaming practice that has been positioned to advise clients how to become involved in the growing entertainment sector via dedicated hub offices in New York, London and Shanghai.