MUMBAI: Group M agencies Mediaedge:CIA and MindShare have joined with North America's leading out-of-home (OOH) company Poster Publicity to form Kinetic, which will be the largest OOH company in North America.

The new company will be headed by chairman John Miller, formerly managing partner for OOH at Mediaedge:CIA Steve Ridley, formerly president at Poster Publicity, was named CEO.

 
Kinetic, based in New York and with an additional office in Miami, launched with 26 employees. The company expects to have 50 employees, plus a West Coast office, by year's end. The roll out of the Kinetic network will be undertaken in stages ultimately leading to the employment of more than 300 professionals across offices in over 35 countries. This first stage will see the launch of Kinetic in the US, UK, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia. Other major markets will be in place before the end of 2005.
 
 
"By combining the tools and analytics for out-of-home media with our roster of leading clients, we've created the region's premier OOH agency. Synonymous with movement and energy Kinetic will benefit world brands in their quest to co-ordinate regional campaigns and increase the value they get from the OOH medium. Our global footprint enables us to mirror the geographic reach of the major outdoor vendors such as Clear Channel, JC Decaux and Viacom," said Miller.
 
 
Ridley added, "Kinetic offers our clients flexibility and the confidence that we can deliver domestic and regional campaigns over and above our competitors. Kinetic does this with personality and professionalism always bringing with it a fresh approach. Kinetic is without doubt a strong and independent choice."