Nintendo starts review of global advertising and media business

Nintendo, the video games developer and publisher, is understood to have started a review of its multimillion-pound global advertising and media arrangements.

It currently uses the Publicis Groupe for all its creative and media work. Incumbents in the UK include Leo Burnett, which works on the creative account, and Starcom, which handles media planning and buying. In the US, sister agencies Leo Burnett Chicago and Starcom work on the account.

It is understood that a long-list of agencies has already been drawn up.

The company spent 5.5m on advertising in the UK last year, but it refuses to disclose its total global ad spend.

Nintendo European marketing director Laurent Fischer admits Nintendo is “working intensely on marketing strategy” but denies any review will affect agency arrangements. He says: “Each local market has a pool of local agencies and it is up to them who to appoint.” But he adds that a central marketing push is being implemented from Japan and filtered out to various markets, stressing Nintendo does not have a global advertising strategy or network in the traditional sense. He says the launch of Nin

tendo brand Touch Generations (MW June 1) is part of the strategic shift in the games company’s marketing focus to broaden its customer base.

Nintendo dominates the children’s games sector but recently has turned its attentions to other demographic segments, such as women and older people. It is also facing stiffer competition as Disney ramps up its efforts in the video games sector, while PlayStation has entered the handheld sector and Microsoft moots the possibility of rolling out a handheld device of its own.