McDonald's moved the business from Zenith Media, which had won the task in a pitch against Starcom at the end of 2002. The work is thought to involve media worth around Rmb 250 million (US$30 million), the bulk of McDonald's Chinese media investment, although the spend is expected to rise next year. The transfer follows similar moves in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore earlier this year in the wake of an announcement by the fast food chain that it was aligning media globally with OMD to spur efficiency and innovation.
The move consolidates OMD's ties with McDonald's in Asia-Pacific, leaving just one market, Indonesia -- where OMD has yet to establish a discrete operation -- where media is handled by another supplier. Maggie Choi, managing director of OMD Greater China, said that the expansion of the partnership was a result of the quality of OMD's work. "We are confident to take the business to a bigger success," she said.
McDonald's is resuming development in China, one of the restaurant's top 10 markets, after disappointing results forced it to rein in more ambitious plans two years ago. The higher cost of investing in China, where none of the chain's restaurants are franchised, is also inhibiting the company's Chinese expansion.
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McDonald's taps partner OMD for China business
Fast food giant McDonald's has extended its global media brief with OMD, handing the agency buying and planning duties for Central and Northern China at the beginning of the month.