Agencies Boost Social Media Savvy

Social media is getting more and more, well, social.

"You can't walk out your house without bumping into a social-media expert today," Forrester analyst Sean Corcoran tells the Wall Street Journal. "The reality is the space is still very much a Wild West."

In an effort to grab hold of that manifest destiny and the growing stream of ad dollars, Madison Avenue is rallying.

Universal McCann, owned by Interpublic Group, recently created a social media agency it's calling Rally. Headed by former MySpace exec Heidi Browning, its mission is to assist marketers with creative campaigns, sparking online engagement, and monitoring performance.

Publicis Groupe's Vivaki is set open its own social-media consulting practice, and Rishad Tobaccowala, chief strategy officer says he will dig into his mergers-and-acquisitions budget if needed to support the unit.

The brass ring for all: leveraging Facebook and Twitter, with their 500 million and 120 million users respectively.Continue reading...