Interpublic Group, Mediaplex Forge Alliance

Marketing giant the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG) on Tuesday partnered with ad technology firm Mediaplex, agreeing to deploy the company’s technology across its agencies and affiliates.

IPG also acknowledged that it had taken an investment in Mediaplex back in November when the technology company had its IPO. Although IPG wouldn’t reveal the size of the stake, it’s likely less than five percent, since ownership stakes larger than five percent have to be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. No such documents have been yet filed.

Today’s deal calls for Mediaplex’s MOJO (mobile Java objects) technology to be rolled out across IPG agencies, and it is already being used by DraftWorldwide, McCann-Erickson Worldwide and Icon Medialab International. The agencies will be using the technology to serve clients.

MOJO lets online advertisers integrate timely back-end business data — including customer, pricing and inventory information — with online marketing initiatives in real time. That means that a banner ads could be linked to a database, and be automatically switched out when, say, a product was no longer in inventory.

“With online advertising booming and e-commerce sales escalating,” says Gil Fuchsberg, Interpublic’s vice president, new media and technology, “real-time messaging is becoming increasingly important for marketers who want to stand out and make their online dollars work harder.”