‘League of War’ Maker Taps First Agency to Help It Compete With Mobile Gaming’s Biggest Names

Japan-based mobile game maker GREE International has named Goodby Silverstein & Partners as its first creative agency of record. GS&P beat out four competitors in a review.

GREE has produced such titles as War of Nations, Modern War and the recently released League of War: Mercenaries. The company sought an ad agency partner in anticipation of the release of a new, as-yet-untitled game.

"The mobile gaming market is changing dramatically, and while expertise in digital marketing remains critically important, building brand and establishing a strong franchise with consumers has become equally important," said GREE International vp of marketing Shawn Conly in a statement. "GS&P clearly excels in this area across the categories they've worked in including a deep history in the gaming industry with premiere companies."

Margaret Johnson, partner and ecd at Goodby Silverstein & Partners, said the agency looks forward to building the brand "in innovative ways." Associate partner and group account director Leslie Barrett added, "GREE International is the kind of brand we love to work with because they are re-inventing a category that is continuously on the cutting edge."

As the mobile gaming market explodes (and more marketers try to figure out how to make the most of the Pokemon Go phenomenon), GREE competes with rivals like Clash of Clans' developer Supercell, and Machine Zone, the company behind Game of War: Fire Age. According to Kantar Media, these companies spent a respective $48 million and $84 million on paid media promoting those properties in 2015.

The win marks Goodby Silverstein & Partners' first entry into the gaming space. The Omnicom agency has experience working with prominent technology brands such as Google, Nest, Twitter, Adobe, Cisco, eBay and StubHub.