- Brian Morrissey

NEW YORK Publicis Groupe unveiled partnerships with a series of social media vendors and ad networks.
 
The holding company is calling the partnerships a "strategic entity" that will reside within its VivaKi unit that was set up, in part, to provide Publicis agencies with digital marketing tools.
 
The REAL Suite comprises arrangements with app maker Buddy Media, Converseon, communications tool Meebo, social ad play Social Vibe, ad network SocialMedia and user-generated program creator Vitrue. Facebook is also participating. Also included in the suite of services: internal tools developed by Publicis shops Denuo, Moxie, MS&L and Performics.
 
The idea behind the grouping is for Publicis shops to have dedicated providers that will enable them to run a wide variety of marketing campaigns in social media, ranging from buying banners on sites to measuring blog buzz. Publicis said it would also consult with the companies on their creation of ad units, e.g., SocialMedia has an ad unit that displays messaging based on a user's social connections.
 
Executives painted the REAL Suite (it stands for Reach, Engage and Amplify, and Listen) as part of the company's embrace of partnerships in tackling the biggest problem in digital media: the difficulty in running broad campaigns. Last January, for instance, it struck a partnership with Google that includes the exchange of employees and the promise to collaborate on new tools and buying platforms.
 
"Clients want to participate in the consumer conversation, but there currently is no true infrastructure to participate in the dialogue," David Kenny, managing partner of VivaKi, said in a statement. "
 
VivaKi itself was created to address the issue Kenny has called "Internet at scale." It houses Publicis digital operations and works as a way of using the holding company's own scale to strike preferential deals with vendors. For vendors, participating means entree to Pubicis agencies. MediaVest yesterday hosted a gathering for vendors to present their services to agency employees.