McDonald’s China is shaking up its media account, awarding media planning in Mainland China to Publicis Groupe, while Omnicom Group’s OMD retains media buying in the major market.

Publicis says the work will be handled by its so-called “Power of One” solution. The work includes strategic planning across media channels, and digital work to support McDonald's customer data platform development and application in media planning, Publicis said.

The agency switch comes as McDonald’s China tries to win back customers after seeing sharp sales declines in early 2020 due to COVID-19.

“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,” Jane Lin-Baden, managing partner APAC and CEO of North Asia, Publicis Groupe, said in a statement. 

The pitch, which began in March, was run by Ebiquity, Publicis said. It followed a massive global media review that began in 2017 and included OMD retaining the business in China.

An Omnicom Group spokeswoman confirmed that OMD retains media buying in China in the latest review.

Publicis’ Leo Burnett has held McDonald’s China’s creative account for more than a decade.

Publicis’ Starcom handles McDonald’s media planning and buying in other markets including Russia, France, eight countries in Latin America, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries which include Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among others.

In 2019, China represented about 5 percent of McDonald’s total system-wide sales. McDonald’s sold its business in China and Hong Kong in 2017 to CITIC and the Carlyle Group, while retaining a 20 percent stake in the business.