As rumored, Publicis Groupe has indeed set up a new digital venture - a standalone consultancy to help clients, and their budgets, leave behind traditional advertising and move toward digital, interactive and mobile media, reports Brand Republic. The division is called Denuo, Latin for "afresh" or "anew." Publicis said yesterday its intent is to "marry media, marketing and technology."

"The world of digital communications is becoming so complex that advertisers need a kind of shepherd, people who can guide them in this complicated new world," Maurice Levy, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Rishad Tobaccowala, chief innovation officer of Publicis Groupe Media, will head Denuo, which will have offices in Chicago and New York. He will report to Publicis Groupe Media chairman Jack Klues.

"Denuo is a standalone business, not based on any pre-existing industry model. Denuo's model rests on three pillars, functioning simultaneously as a strategic consultant, an inventor of solutions and as an investor in partnerships," Publicis said.

The company is also venturing with various startups, including Brightcove, an open Internet TV service, and Shadow TV, a streaming video service that provides all-digital access to live and archived television content via the web.

Tobaccowala and Klues have handpicked 15 entrepreneurial partners and are "fortifying" Denuo with Nick Pahade, former president of WPP's Beyond Interactive and managing director of Media:com digital, Publicis said.

Among those also joining Denuo are the founding members of the Groupe's online and video game unit Play, Tim Harris and PJ MacGregor; Tom Tercek, founder of SMG Access; Courtney Jane Acuff, founder of Digits wireless; and Dan Buczaczer founder of word-of-mouth shop Reverb. The partnership also includes Scott Witt, digital group director at MediaVest; and Christian Kugel, who was previously a director at market research company Millward Brown.

Tim Hanlon, who launched TV 2.0 at Starcom as well as the ventures practice at PGM, is a key partner who has been actively pursuing collaboration and alignment with emerging companies and VCs for the past several months. He was named to the Brightcove Advisory Board in 2005.