- Andrew McMains and Kamau High

NEW YORK MDC Partners' Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami has landed a new global creative assignment from Microsoft following a review, the client confirmed today. Fallon in Minneapolis, a Publicis Groupe shop, was the runner-up, sources said.

Spending on the effort will likely be about $300 million, per sources.

Two other shops, WPP Group's JWT and Interpublic Group's McCann Erickson, both here, were cut in an earlier round.

The winning agency will develop a global campaign defining Microsoft to consumers in the context of its mobile, Vista and Live platforms.

"Crispin was chosen based on their strategic approach, the strength of their creative ideas and the passionate and diverse team of people at the agency," said a Microsoft representative. "We're looking forward to working together and will share more details on the campaign at the appropriate time."

In November, Microsoft confirmed that the company was "soliciting input from various agencies, including [lead agency] McCann Erickson, for a new upcoming consumer-oriented assignment." The company also said McCann and sister shop Universal McCann would remain lead creative and media agencies, respectively. In fact, UM will handle media duties for the new assignment.

Microsoft's domestic major media spending was approximately $325 million last year, down $25 million from 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.