Another advertising/marketing giant is throwing its hat into the mobile marketing ring: Interpublic is forming a joint venture with mobile technology company Velti called Ansible. 

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The new firm will be a part of the Futures Media Group but operate as a standalone company working on mobile initiatives with different divisions of Interpublic—these include McCann Erikson, Weber Shandwick, Deutsch, FutureBrand and Jack Morton, among others. release

The group will be led by Vladimir Edelman, who most recently was CEO of Soapbox Mobile and before that was the GM and a VP at the high-profile, well-intentioned but ultimately-failed Disney MVNO ESPN Mobile. That was quick exit for Edelman, who joined Sopabox in October last year. The other co-founder is President Larry Harris, who led interactive functions at IPG-owned Draftfcb and most recently oversaw IPG relations with Facebook.

ClickZ: Ansible will offer a broad spectrum of mobile services, including creative, messaging, content development offerings, and media planning and buying. At launch, the firm will operate in North America, Asia and Europe, while “aspiring to a global footprint,” Harris said. Its initial staff will consist of 17 to 20 staffers in its New York headquarters.