ZenithOptimedia US ops splitting;
Canadian office might follow suit

Whatever changes may be made by ZO's Canadian counterpart 'won't be quite as radical' as yesterday's announcement of the impending divorce between Zenith and Optimedia down south, Sunni Boot tells MiC. But, she adds, 'best practice' nowadays for media biggies, such as the one she heads up, is to form two distinct brands.
By Terry Poulton
December 6, 2006

The NYC-HQ’d Optimedia media agency will break from its sister agency Zenith in early 2007 and become a stand-alone operation. Simultaneously, Optimedia will create a new division – NewsCast – to handle new media-buying and integrated broadcast strategies and new media buying strategies.

That scenario is not exactly what’s afoot at Toronto-based ZenithOptimedia Canada, its president/CEO Sunni Boot tells MiC. ‘We’re not doing that in Canada as of now, but we will be doing something in the future. Our (changes) won’t be quite as radical, but we’re definitely looking at what’s happening in the US.

‘And,’ adds Boot, Optimedia’s split from Zenith down south ‘is in keeping with what’s happening in our industry, where everybody has two brands. It’s definitely in keeping with best practice. If you look at MBS/The Media Company, Enterprise and MindShare, and Initiative and M2, they all have two brands now.’