Group M merges US print-buying units

WPP's Group M division is consolidating its three main print-buying operations in the US, including Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom and Mindshare.

The move comes as Group M attempts to cut back on business costs driven by print advertising, which has been hit both by the recession and as a result of the rise of digital media.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the global print adspend for consumer magazines will continue to fall year on year until 2013.

George Janson, a Mediaedge:cia managing partner, is being tipped to head the agencies' combined print operations, which have an estimated shared US revenue of more than $400 million via services including media buying and planning.

Group M implemented a similar restructuring at the start of 2008 for its local broadcast sector, creating two main teams to handle the clients from each of the media agencies.

WPP also created Group M Search last year in a bid to consolidate the search marketing efforts of its media agency networks.