• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, March 28, 2016

From content creation to media buying, big publishers are bulking up agency-type services to diversify their businesses and capture a bigger chunk of advertisers’ budgets.

Time Inc. is launching a new digital media strategy and services, called Harpoon, as part of the publisher’s MNI Target Media Inc. division, which provides media planning and buying services with a geographic focus.

Harpoon will provide a range of services spanning creation, targeting and execution for digital media campaigns, including real-time delivery and reporting on performance. Clients will be able to draw on Harpoon’s proprietary data analytics system, which incorporates Viant, a recently acquired company with an identity management platform.

At launch, the company already works with a number of advertising agencies and clients, many with a regional geographic focus, including BVK Advertising, M2 The Agency, Paradise Advertising, Evok Advertising, Bulldog Media, Tinsley Advertising and Conquer Media.

As noted, a number of publishers have moved to offer more digital marketing services in recent years. Earlier this month, The New York Times Co. acquired HelloSociety, a digital marketing agency focused on social media influencers and mobile channels, from Science Inc.

In December, Postmedia, the Canadian publisher which owns newspapers, including the National Post, Vancouver Sun, and Montreal Gazette, unveiled an expanded portfolio of digital marketing capabilities for small and mid-sized businesses across Canada.

Also last year, Dallas Morning News publisher A.H. Belo acquired three marketing outfits spanning digital and print: Distribion, specializing in local digital marketing automation; Vertical Nerve, focused on search engine marketing and optimization to help business build Web traffic and online conversions; and Marketing FX, for direct mail and promotional marketing company.