McDonald’s global media going for pitch

McDonald’s is planning to review its global US$2 billion media buying account, which is about RM40 million locally.
Currently OMD Malaysia, an Omnicom agency, handles their media business in Malaysia.
The fastfood giant, which hasn’t done a formal global media review in about 14 years, is looking to find more efficient ways to spend its ad dollars, according to reports.
McDonald’s vice-president of global media and customer relationship management Bob Rupczynski told AdNews, “As part of our journey to build a better McDonald’s, we are striving to make our marketing dollars work harder – through more efficient  media spending and better connections with our customers.”
In Malaysia, Gerbang Alaf Restaurants Sdn Bhd, the local operator of McDonald’s, says this review is still at a preliminary stage and Malaysia will not be one of the first markets to change agencies.
Melati Abdul Hai, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at Gerbang Alaf Restaurants, told MARKETING, “We aim to move from a single global media agency to a small roster of preferred agency brands, with the intention of ensuring best-in-class media services and capabilities for all markets. Our long-term relationship with OMD remains strong, and they will be participating in this process as well.”
Earlier this year, McDonald’s Malaysia said they were committing RM1.4 billion for a nine year expansion plan to almost double their number of outlets to 450.
McDonald’s marked its 35th Anniversary in Malaysia this year, and their first restaurant in the country opened at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur in 1982.