WPP's MediaCom has been awarded the planning and buying assignment for the adult-targeted game category from the large and rapidly growing Canadian toy maker Spin Master. The client is based in
Toronto and MediaCom will handle the account out of its Burbank office, near Spin Master's Los Angeles operation. According to Kantar Media, Spin Master spends about $75 million annually on ads,
although only a portion of that is earmarked for the adult-themed game segment that MediaCom will handle. And it was not clear how much of the client's budget is directed at that segment right now.
Still, the account win is a foot in the door of a company whose executives have publicly stated they hope to dominate the toy business some day. The privately held company, established in 1994, has
grown rapidly in recent years. Estimated revenues are now said exceed $1 billion, up from $650 million just two years ago. The WPP shop has had an opening in the toy category since March, when it lost
the $115 million Hasbro account to Interpublic's Initiative after a review. Hasbro had been a MediaCom client for more than 10 years. Tied to that account was the Hasbro-Discovery joint venture kids
network The Hub, which also went to Initiative. Among Spin Master's biggest sellers are the boy-targeted Bakugan Battle Brawlers action figures and Air Hogs model air planes. The company recently
took on Mattel's iconic Barbie franchise with its own girl-targeted Liv Dolls.