Word has leaked that Publicis Groupe has created a new corporate-level unit that may begin taking financial roles in media companies to assert economic influence over new media and technologies on behalf of advertising clients, Mediapost reports (via MediaBuyerPlanner). This comes as media shops have been seeking to move their positioning away from media buying agencies toward media investment managers.

How Publicis Groupe's new unit, Publicis Groupe Media Ventures, will work is not yet clear; and insiders aren't exactly sure how the new approach will be handled - whether the agency will be taking equity positions directly, on behalf of its clients, or both.

Taking equity positions in new media companies would help Publicis have a greater impact in shaping new media outcomes for clients, just as major studios and networks did by gaining seats on boards - and influencing digital video recorder marketers' business plans when TiVo materialized as a threat to their advertising models.

This initiative to influence the direction of new media in the hopes of keeping advertiser needs top-of-mind is already happening to some extent.

For example, Chief Innovation Officer of Publicis Media Groupe, Rishad Tobaccowala, is a member of the board of directors for behavioral marketing developer Revenue Science. Carat CEO David Verklin and former GM Mediaworks CEO Rick Servaitis have taken on roles with Invidi, a company working to develop an addressable advertising marketplace in the U.S. cable TV industry.