• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 29, 2011

The Martin Agency, Interpublic Group's Richmond, Va-based ad shop, won creative duties for Yum! Brands' Pizza Hut about 18 months ago. Later, the client added both digital and social media responsibilities to the assignment. 

Now Martin is going for media chores as well, through subsidiary Ingenuity Media. Sources said that Ingenuity is one of four finalists that the national food chain has selected to compete for its media buying and planning assignment.

Pizza Hut spent close to $220 million on ads last year, according to Kantar Media, the WPP research subsidiary that tracks the media expenditures of advertisers.

The incumbent on the account is MEC, a unit of GroupM, which is also a finalist in the review. MEC has had the account for more than a decade. When it first disclosed the review in June, the client stated it was doing so essentially to make sure it was availing itself of the best media practices available, while calling the incumbent a "trusted partner."

The agencies declined to comment or referred questions to the client. A client rep did not respond to a call by deadline.

Also in the mix, according to sources, is Publicis Groupe's Optimedia and Interpublic's Universal McCann.

Optimedia's big win so far this year came as a result of a team effort assembled by its parent VivaKi in pursuit of the Disney account. The team won a huge assignment that includes the movie studio, home entertainment and interactive divisions. Optimedia is handling the strategic planning piece for all.

For UM, a Pizza Hut win would help soften the blow from the loss of the estimated $1 billion domestic Microsoft account earlier this year.

After a modestly successful 2010, when same-store sales were up 8%, Pizza Hut has struggled a bit this year, per company reports. In the first quarter, same-store sales in the U.S. were down 3%; in the second quarter they dropped another 2%. Yum! Brands doesn't break out much financial detail for its individual brands, but said overall second-quarter operating profits were down a "very disappointing" 28%.

The review is being managed by search consultant Select Resources International. Final presentations are scheduled for late August. The client has said it expects to complete the process by early fall.