- Steve McClellan

NEW YORK In a bid to help marketers execute highly targeted strategies across the fragmented media landscape, Interpublic Group's Mediabrands has launched a practice called Geomentum.

The new unit offers consulting, research, planning and activation for traditional and emerging channels in the so-called "hyper-local" sector. Basically, hyper-local media include all outlets that allow clients to target customers in regions smaller than a Nielsen TV market (DMA). Specific ZIP codes, city blocks or even individual households come into play, with ad messages delivered via interactive TV, zoned editions of newspapers, Yellow Pages, outdoor media and local search.

Dave Walker (pictured above) has been appointed CEO of Geomentum. He will continue to oversee sibling newspaper planning and buying specialist NSA, which now becomes part of the Geomentum operation along with several other specialty units such as outdoor-advertising shop OSI and Wahlstrom, a firm that focuses on directory marketing, mobile, search and social networking.

In July, Mediabrands hired John Ross for the new position of president of its Emerging Media Lab. In addition to running the lab, Ross is tasked with developing a broader retail practice, and he will work closely with Geomentum to reach that goal.

Combined, the specialty units under Geomentum's purview account for $2 billion in annual spending by IPG clients, or about 20 percent of those clients' total media expenditures.

According to Walker, about a half-dozen IPG clients have signed up for Geomentum services, and the unit will pitch other current accounts while also aggressively pursuing outside prospects ranging from national corporations to neighborhood businesses. Per Walker, a key for Geomentum is its ability to deploy the latest technology and analytic modeling techniques to help clients manage inventory distribution and cost-of-goods ROI on a "store-by-store, hyper-local basis."

"We've created a paradigm where we're delivering media-driven marketing," he said. "That's really at core the driving principle behind Geomentum." Walker brings significant client-side insight to the job, having served as a senior marketing executive at companies including Toys R Us and Circuit City.

He reports to Nick Brien, CEO of Mediabrands, who said in a statement that the new entity "has the means and talent in place to revolutionize the local media industry."

Mediabrands has recently hired several executives with marketing backgrounds to help Walker manage the new unit. These execs include Mike Hayes, chief strategy, development and operations officer; Jeff Haines, chief client officer; and Bob Bukala, chief financial and administrative officer.

"Business performance management is the underpinning of media-driven marketing," said Hayes. "The fragmentation of media is creating a million different choices and ROI pressure points. We think Geomentum provides a framework for deciding the right media mix.