Nike is poised to appoint MindShare to its European media planning and buying business, having put the pounds 60 million centralised account up for review in June.
MindShare is believed to have clinched the account following a pitch against Zenith Media and Manning Gottlieb Media/OMD. The pitchlist included around nine agency networks, with Nike keen to work with an agency that has a strong global presence.
Until now, Nike has split its media into local markets. MGM has been in possession of the pounds 12 million UK account since 1990. CIA International held the largest slice of the business in Europe, while Media Planning and MediaCom TMB were also incumbents in Europe.
The sports giant decided to kick off a review because it wanted to increase efficiency through using a single media network. Nike held up to 20 pitches across the European markets, with Duncan Mills, Nike's European media director, overseeing them.
Sources suggest that while MGM has produced strong work for Nike in the UK, Nike was less comfortable with OMD's European network.
Nike's rationalisation of its media agency roster follows on from the consolidation of its global creative account. Last November, the company dropped the San Francisco-based creative shop Goodby Silverstein from its roster, leaving Wieden & Kennedy as its sole agency.
In the UK, Nike has spent about two-thirds of its advertising on big-budget TV commercials that use famous sports stars such as the golf supremo Tiger Woods, the basketball player Michael Jordon and the Brazilian footballer Ronaldo.
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