OMD wins Lindt & Sprüngli media account in China

OMD Shanghai is enjoying a sweet victory after winning a competitive pitch for the media account of Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli AG (Lindt) in China. 

As media agency of record, OMD will be tasked with media planning and buying responsibilities in China for all Lindt brands, including Lindor and Excellence. Campaign Asia-Pacific understands estimated account billings are valued at roughly RMB30 million (US$4.2 million), though this could not be confirmed with Lindt or OMD. 

The chocolate brand parted ways with a local agency incumbent, citing OMD's technology and market knowledge advantage. 

“We were impressed with OMD's proprietary end-to-end process and operating system," said Gonçalo Vilarinho, Lindt's general manager in China. "Coupled with their solid grasp of China's complex digital ecosystem, we are convinced OMD is the right partner to help us connect with new audiences in China through better and informed decisions.” 

Campaign understands that the pitch was led by R3 and involved a number of media and digital agencies including Vizeum and Initiative. 

The win is welcome news for OMD China which lost its key McDonald's account last month. 

"This win is a testament to OMD’s expertise in helping brands successfully navigate China’s increasingly complex digital ecosystem and our ability to drive a direct and measurable impact on performance conversion,” said Linda Wang, managing director of OMD Shanghai. “It is a great honour to partner Lindt & Sprüngli AG and we are confident that our passion, capabilities and caliber of talent will help our client reinforce its pole position in this dynamic market,” she added.