MediaAnalysisPlus has opened an office in New York and tapped Ed Rosenthal, previ ously director of business development at the former CIA Medianetwork, to head the office.
Rosenthal, who joins as a partner in the media-auditing firm, reunites with MAP CEO Jim Surmanek, who was managing director for CIA in Chicago and New York before leaving in 2001 to launch Denver-based MAP. The new office has no clients as yet.
"Ed has very specific skills in business development," Surmanek said. "He brings a deep know ledge of the advertising and media business."
Rosenthal has two decades of experience as an agency media executive and seller-side sales rep. He held media posts at Young & Rubicam and William Esty, and was a sales rep for Playboy, Life, People and other publications. He left CIA in March, following the merger of The Media Edge and CIA to form Mediaedge:cia in January. CIA parent Tempus Group was purchased by WPP Group, which owned The Media Edge, in November.
"You have to tell a different story [to clients]," Rosenthal said about his new position. "We're introducing a different concept than advertisers are used to hearing in the U.S. It's about pitching the concept of how to increase their ROI, rather than going in as a media agency and saying how we could help increase their exposure."
MAP was a consultant on Maytag's $100 million media buying and planning consolidation, won by Universal McCann earlier this month. The audit firm also is a contender in Hyundai/Kia's current review of media-audit firms. That search, the winner of which will oversee $400 million in media buying handled by Aegis Group's Carat, Los Angeles, will be decided this week, sources said.