• Advertising Age, Thursday, February 26, 2009 9:30 AM

Video-game giant Activision Blizzard has put its $200 million global media-planning and media-buying account in review. The North American incumbent, Publicis's MediaVest, is competing against Omnicom's OMD, WPP's Mediaedge:cia, and independent Horizon, which is partnering with Columbus Media International, according to insiders.

Brad Jakeman, Activision chief creative officer, says the review grew from the $18 billion merger of Activision and Vivendi in December 2007. Vivendi owns Blizzard Entertainment, which publishes the game "World of Warcraft." Along with Activision's "Guitar Hero," the merged company houses two of the industry's most popular gaming titles under one roof.

MediaVest handles Activision's North American business while sibling Starcom MediaVest Group handles its international work. Blizzard "works with a number of agencies around the world" and has a "less centralized model," says Jakeman. Ark Advisors is consulting on the review, which covers both online and offline media duties.

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