SMG Begins Planning for GM

MediaVest's Donlin Will Head New Unit for $2.6 Bil. AccountCHICAGO--Starcom MediaVest Group began putting the pieces of its new GM planning unit together last week, naming Dennis Donlin as president of the Detroit-based operation. Donlin was executive vice president of MediaVest's Detroit operation, and he previously held the top media post at GM shop D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles. He was part of SMG's presentation team and has a fan in Mike Browner, executive director of media at GM, a source said. The staff of what is tentatively being called GM Planworks will largely be drawn from SMG units, said Jack Klues, the media company's chief executive officer. "We will draw from our own network of resources to fill a significant number of positions," he said. SMG's assignment includes strategic and tactical media planning for all of GM's divisions except Saturn and Saab, which may be added later, Browner said. Media planning has been at GM's roster of creative agencies, which include McCann-Erickson Worldwide in Troy, Mich., for Buick; Campbell-Ewald in Warren, Mich., for Chevrolet; Lowe, Lintas & Partners in New York for GMC trucks; as well as Bcom3 agencies Leo Burnett in Chicago for Oldsmobile and D'Arcy for Cadillac and Pontiac. The Planworks office is expected to be fully operational by early next year. The GM award was made only days after presentations were completed. "It was faster than I've ever seen a turnaround," Klues said. SMG, created in May as Bcom3's dedicated media operation, beat out Initiative Media North America and Carat North America for planning duties on the account. Initiative's parent, the Interpublic Group of Companies, operates GM's media buying operation, GM Mediaworks, and was considered by some to be a favorite going into the pitch. One source said IPG president John Dooner was intimately involved in the pitch. Starcom MediaVest Group parent Bcom3 also brought in its CEO, Roger Haupt, who finished up SMG's presentation and promised full support of the network's resources for the business, sources said. Compensation for the media planning assignment was not disclosed. A high-ranking media source speculated that GM would cover costs of the operation which he estimated at $25 million, plus an additional fee of up to 5 percent of its total $2.6 billion U.S. media budget. Though Klues said he was open to hiring planners from outside SMG who are familiar with GM's brands, that familiarity would not be a "focal point" when it came to staffing. "I'm not making personal phone calls to Campbell-Ewald to see if they want to be a part of this," he said. "We have 1,300 people at MediaVest and 900 people at Starcom, so I have a pretty good base to start from." While some agencies argue media planning and creative direction are inextricably paired, Klues and Browner said that SMG would not interfere with the creative messages GM has been trying to send for each of its brands. "If we do our job well, effectiveness of advertising creative for the brands by their agencies will be improved by putting the ads in better places, putting the ads at better times, or making sure that we are able to reach more of the target audience more effectively than we now do," Browner said. "We don't expect any kind of direct connection between this and creative development." John Middlebrook, GM's vice president and general manager, said the decision to consolidate media planning would provide several "efficiencies" for the company. "Frankly, the real efficiencies come from improved effectiveness in the marketplace," he said. "We're going to have a lot more back base planning." Still, GM's decision to consolidate its media planning led many to speculate that others will follow. "This is a very dramatic, emphatic vote for one-stop shopping in a media operation, the integration of planning with buying for smoother handling," said a consultant who works with national advertisers. Another source expected the move to create "an avalanche" of unbundling of media accounts as clients look to get more value for their money. Klues downplayed that notion. "I don't think this is about unbundling," Klues said. "It's about elevating the importance of strategic media planning. It's all about, 'How can I find newer and competitive insights from a strategic and planning perspective?'" --with Jack Feuer and Tanya Irwin

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SMG Begins Planning for GM

Aaron Baar

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