McDonald's moves China media planning from OMD to Publicis Groupe

McDonald’s China has appointed Publicis Groupe as its media planning partner in Mainland China.

The incumbent for both planning and buying was Omnicom agency OMD, which has a strong and longstanding relationship with the client on a global level.

Omnicom declined to comment for this story. 

The pitch, which started in March and was run by Ebiquity, did not include the media buying function, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Campaign is unable to clarify what if anything is happening with the buying function at this point, and is seeking clarification from all parties. 

A 'Power of One' dedicated unit will handle strategic planning across all media channels, according to Publicis. The pitch also included a requirement for a partner with digital expertise to support McDonald’s CDP (customer data platform) development and application in media planning, according to Publicis Groupe.

“McDonald’s China is an incredible brand with ambitious growth targets in China, and we are truly honored to have been awarded this account," Jane Lin-Baden, managing partner ifor APAC and CEO of North Asia with Publicis Groupe, said in a release. "McDonald’s was looking for more than a conventional media planning agency. We demonstrated our Power of One approach in assembling a cross functional team across media, ad-tech, data science and analytics, to drive media efficiency and effectiveness. We are ready to be a partner of growth for McDonald’s China.”