• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 15, 2013

London-based social media agency We Are Social has hired David Gilbert, former sales and client services director at TBG Digital, to head up a new paid media offering.
 
Per the new initiative, what’s most important is that “media buying … operate in real-time and in synergy with always-on social content creation and community management,” said Robin Grant, global managing director at We Are Social.
 
While social media can no longer be considered an emerging channel, brands and agencies are still struggling to balance their paid, owned and earned media. To further complicate matters, leading platforms like Facebook and Twitter are increasingly asking brands to pay to promote their social content rather than buy conventional display advertising.
 
“We’ve designed our new paid media offering from the bottom up to solve this problem for brands,” Grant added. The offering will provide planning and buying media across relevant social platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr.
 
Gilbert has spent the past seven years helping TBG Digital become a top Facebook media buyer. Now, he will work with We Are Social's media analysts to embed the new offering within the agency's existing social content and community management teams worldwide, according to Grant.
 
A central team will handle stand-alone media clients and social display advertising, using micro-segmentation and optimization techniques to improve effectiveness.
 
Opening its first U.S. outpost in New York last year, We Are Social has already assembled an enviable client list, including Adidas and DeBeers Diamond Jewelry. Additional clients include Heinz, Unilever, Heineken, eBay, Jaguar, Intel, Moët & Chandon and Expedia.
 
Late last year, Lenovo named We Are Social as its global agency of record. The shop formed its regional hub in Singapore in 2011, which likely helped it win the Chinese computer maker’s business.
 
In a similar partnership, We Are Social was recently appointed by Tiger Beer to work with its in-house team to develop a global social media strategy.