Four Shops Square Off Over Pizza Hut

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MEC, the media agency for Pizza Hut, must fend off competition from two rival holding companies to keep the business.

The WPP Group shop's competitors for the account are Interpublic Group units Universal McCann and Ingenuity Media Group and Publicis Groupe's Optimedia. Ingeunuity is the media arm of The Martin Agency, Pizza Hut's lead creative shop since late 2009.

Media spending on the brand totaled nearly $230 million last year, up 7 percent from more than $215 million in 2009, according to Nielsen. Those figures don't include online spending.

Final presentations in the media review will take place next week at the pizza chain's headquarters in Dallas. Select Resources International in Santa Monica, Calif., is managing the process. 

A Pizza Hut representative confirmed the finalists and said a decision was expected next week.