OMD China has won an expanded media mandate with Yili Group following a month-long pitch process that began in February, Campaign has learned. External consultants were not involved, the pitch was run internally.
The mandate covers digital media buying and monitoring across Sina and Baidu, with the addition of the Alibaba media ecosystem that covers 11 media platforms. COMvergence estimates the business to be worth around $100 million in billings.
Shunfeng Media, Gravity Media, Baifusi Advertising Co., and Yunrui Group were the other local competitors in the pitch, Campaign understands.
The agency’s partnership with Yili dates back to 2011, when it was first appointed to handle print and radio buying, before adding TV duties in 2012. OMD has since retained the business through multiple reviews, including a three-way pitch in 2015 against GroupM and Carat, which secured a two-year TV and content mandate worth an estimated $293 million (RMB 2 billion).
Media planning for Yili remains with Mindshare China, which has handled the business since 2008 across China and Southeast Asia. That remit was expanded in 2022 to include social KOL and entertainment planning.
The Yili expansion adds to a steady momentum for OMD China. In June 2025, the agency landed Under Armour's APAC media mandate, covering China, Korea and South APAC.
In China, on a group-level, Omincom Media Group ranked second in net new business in 2025, according to Equibity, after securing big wins like Volkswagen Anhui and Audi - together worth RMB2.36 billion ($330 million), as well as wins for Beijing Automotive, Skechers and Kimberly-Clark.
Source: Campaign Asia-Pacific
