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Nintendo promotes marketing leader amid digital spend increases (Score 53)

Nintendo in 2006 as business affairs and publisher relations EVP before being named interim sales, marketing and communications EVP in November 2021. She is now responsible for strategy and execution in the US and Canada and reports to Nintendo's US president, Doug Bowser. This promotion could present opportunities for you all because it will affect the company's marketing strategy and could lead to agency reviews. 

Per Pathmatics, Nintendo earned 5b impressions YTD through Facebook ads (50%), desktop video ads (27%), Instagram ads (20%), desktop display ads (2%) and Twitter ads (1%). It placed the majority (99%) of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, youtube.com, instagram.com, twitch.tv and twitter.com. It placed the remainder (1%) indirectly through Display & Video 360 and Playwire Media onto sites such as brainly.com, bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net, bulbagarden.net, refinery29.com and target.com. It spent approximately $47.3m on digital display ads YTD, a 37% increase from $34.6m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. Full-year spend jumped 74% from $42.7m in 2020 to $74.1m in 2021. 

According to iSpot, Nintendo spend around $8.5m on national TV ads YTD, just 51% of the $16.8m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. Full-year spend fell by 15% from $32.1m in 2020 to $27.3m in 2021. This year, it placed ads during programming such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Big City Greens, NBA Basketball, The Loud House and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. 

Sellers-- Nintendo mainly targets male Gen-Z gamers as well as millennial and Gen-X parents. The company focuses the majority of its marketing budget on national TV and digital display ads. Nintendo has been ramping up digital spend while decreasing national TV spend since the beginning of 2021. This indicates digital ads offer a better ROI for the company. It also invests in local broadcast TV ads, per Kantar. I do not expect Pritchard to make any radical changes considering how long she has been with Nintendo. However, I am sure she will at least make a few adjustments, so start reaching out to see what types of ad space you can offer. 

Agency & martech readers-- While promoted marketing DMs are less likely to conduct agency reviews than outside hires, this still looks like a great time to reach out to Nintendo. The company currently works with M&C Saatchi Performance (digital, social & programmatic). Get in touch with Pritchard soon to be top-of-mind.