In today’s fragmented media landscape, the message has to fit the medium.

Media agencies are often in the best position to make that link because of the audience data they sit on and their expertise across media platforms. That’s why IPG Mediabrands said on Tuesday it’s formalizing a content offering across its agencies — UM, Initiative and Reprise — to deliver on this need for clients.

The offering, called Mediabrands Content Studio, will be led by Brendan Gaul, who has been elevated to global chief content officer at Mediabrands. The group pulls together pockets of creative capabilities from Mediabrands agencies in 12 key markets, from long-form documentaries and branded content at UM and Initiative to dynamic content from Reprise.

“There are great creative products across the Mediabrands agencies,” Gaul said. “I’m going to figure out how to connect the pipes for all of our clients.”

Gaul is developing a consistent suite of content products across Mediabrands, underpinned by a layer of technology that makes it easy for all of its agencies to access. Gaul declined to go into detail because the tools are in development.

But pieces of the creative offering exist across the Mediabrands network. UM Studios, for example, has 80 people creating award-winning documentaries for brands that allow them to show up on ad-free platforms like Netflix. For example, the agency created “5B,” a documentary about the 1980s AIDS epidemic backed by Johnson & Johnson that was the first brand-funded film to debut at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Cannes Lions Grand Prix in 2019. It’s now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Entertainment-style content can be supported by partnerships with influencers and production companies through relationships at UM or Initiative, or with dynamic content created for e-commerce and digital media at Reprise.

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