WPP Group media agency MindShare is disbanding its digital unit in order to blend its interactive services with all parts of the company. The move is part of a recent trend among traditional agencies, which have sought to remove the digital marketing discipline out of its siloed support role, in recognition that online has become an integral part of campaigns and media buys. In MindShare’s case, the decision to break up MindShare Interaction, which handles digital media planning and buying, as well as analytics and audience measurement, is meant to give a digital touch to all of its thinking and processes.

In place of silos—a philosophy 10-year-old MindShare calls “the value exchange,” which is based on the belief that “a brand’s value is driven by the sum total of exchanges between consumers and the brand and that these exchanges can be mapped and monitored.” Instead of a separate unit like MindShare Interaction, the agency will be divided four broad groups:

—client leadership
—business planning
—invention, which will handle entertainment and content creation
—The Exchange, which combines all trading - digital and non-digital, and is intended to serve as a guide for all marketing plans.

The changes should be completely phased in across MindShare’s global operations by the end of the year. No word yet on whether layoffs could result. Release