Karmarama tipped to win £13m Nintendo account

Nintendo is poised to appoint Karmarama to its £13m advertising account following a four-way pitch. The review was called in May after incumbent Leo Burnett resigned the account.

The agency is believed to be in final negotiations with the Japanese console company following a pitch against agencies thought to include Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest (VCCP), Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy (MCBD) and CDP.

Leo Burnett handled the account for seven years and oversaw the advertising for the launch of Nintendo’s Wii console. Nintendo reappointed Leo Burnett last July after a pitch against Wieden & Kennedy, Grey and United. At the time, it moved its media from Starcom to Mediaedge:cia.

Nintendo increased its media spend from £5m to about £13m last year to support the launch of Wii. More than 5 million consoles have been sold globally since its launch nine months ago. It is thought that the Wii has sold just a million fewer consoles than the Xbox 360, which was released a year earlier.