As reported in NMA this week, PR agency Fishburn Hedges Group has today launched a digital creative agency spin-off called Brew, which – on top of keeping tabs on the online space – will also advise brands on how to interact, as well as provide the content to spark conversations.

This is an interesting development that comes just days after we discussed the trend that seems to be developing for communications agencies to launch in-house monitoring tools to compliment other services they provide. Brew takes this one step further, creating not only a separate entity to tap into what people are saying online, but also adding elements of design, build and planning.

“It’s fairly well established now to use monitoring tools to help react to online conversations. We actively listen to what people are saying online to plan and create content and channels to help our clients generate their own conversations online. At the same time we fully expect what we create to evolve through audience participation, and so we’re constantly monitoring what people are saying to track and adapt campaigns as we go,” said director, Chris Reed.

This move also throws a cat among the pigeons in terms of ‘ownership’ over digital activity. Where agencies have previously debated whether digital and social media should be handled by creative or communications teams, Brew is now aiming to provide the entire package. A range of experience provides the grounding for with with senior staff including a former creative director for the likes of Agency.com and Crayon, a user experience specialist from LBi, former head of planning for MRM Worldwide and of course, Reed’s own communications insight.