Carat tipped to win Amway TV buying pitch in China

Mindshare won a shorter contract from January through April. OMD, the long-term media incumbent, did not take part in the pitch.

Mindshare has handled media planning for Amway’s Artistry brand since 2012 and also took over Amway’s Nutrilite media planning in 2013.

Two other OMD China clients, Pepsi and Yili, have also called media pitches recently. An OMD China spokesperson confirmed to Campaign Asia-Pacific that the agency did not join the Pepsi pitch but is defending the Yili account against Mindshare and Carat. The pitch meeting took place in late February.

According to R3, the monitored adspend for Amway in China is about US$130 million (RMB800 million), Pepsi is about US$98 million (RMB600m) and Yili is about US$244 million (RMB1.5 billion).

OMD China CEO SiewPing Lim resigned in January, and Omnicom Media Group promoted Arlene Ang, most recently CEO for digital at OMG China, to replace her.

Adil Zaim, CEO of Carat China declined to comment on the new account win. Amway did not respond to a request for comment.

Update, 2 pm: An Amway spokesperson has confirmed the news.