• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 18, 2018

OMD has retained the McDonald’s media agency assignment in China, sources confirm.

The fast food giant has been conducting a global review of its media agency assignments since last fall. It spends an estimated $2 billion on measured media annually.

The Omnicom Media Group shop out-dueled Publicis Media's Starcom for the business in China, which currently is the company’s third largest market, behind the U.S. and Japan.  

But it is also McDonald’s fastest growing market and is expected to surpass Japan for the number-two slot within a few years amid plans for another estimated 2,000 restaurants in the country.

Earlier this year the two agencies went head-to-head in several other markets. OMD prevailed in Germany and Starcom won in France, while the two agencies each won pieces of business in Latin America.

No word yet on when the U.S. (where OMD is the incumbent) will be decided, but sources indicate that a selection here does not appear to be imminent.