Skip to content

McDonald’s moves China media planning from OMD to Publicis Groupe

McDonald’s China has appointed Publicis Groupe as its media planning partner in Mainland China.

The incumbent for both planning and buying was Omnicom agency OMD, which has a strong and longstanding relationship with the client on a global level.

Omnicom declined to comment for this story. 

The pitch, which started in March and was run by Ebiquity, did not include the media buying function, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Campaign is unable to clarify what if anything is happening with the buying function at this point, and is seeking clarification from all parties. 

A ‘Power of One’ dedicated unit will handle strategic planning across all media channels, according to Publicis. The pitch also included a requirement for a partner with digital expertise to support McDonald’s CDP (customer data platform) development and application in media planning, according to Publicis Groupe.

Jane Lin-Baden, managing partner for APAC and CEO of North Asia with Publicis Groupe, said in a release:

McDonald’s China is an incredible brand with ambitious growth targets in China, and we are truly honored to have been awarded this account. McDonald’s was looking for more than a conventional media planning agency. We demonstrated our Power of One approach in assembling a cross functional team across media, ad-tech, data science and analytics, to drive media efficiency and effectiveness. We are ready to be a partner of growth for McDonald’s China.”

To read the article in Campaign, click here.

First Featured 21/05/2020

Ebiquity Insights

Equip yourself with the data, benchmarks, and strategic insights needed to navigate the evolving advertising landscape.

Codifying expertise: The key to unlocking AI’s full potential
November 25, 2025
research
The 2026 Media Budgets Report
Comcast’s Potential Acquisition of ITV’s Broadcast Business 
November 18, 2025
From data chaos to strategic clarity: the metrics that matter 
November 10, 2025
ERA26: The future of Effective and Responsible Advertising 
November 3, 2025
The model works. Does your story? Tim Harford’s rules for effective MMM storytelling 
November 3, 2025
Why Ebiquity is a Founding Member of the Ad Context Protocol
October 21, 2025
Have you been influenced yet? What the first IPA Influencer ROI study reveals 
October 16, 2025