IPG Mediabrands’ new bespoke business unit, Team Accelerate, has been named Yum! Brands’ Canadian media agency of record.

Team Accelerate will lead all media strategy, planning, buying and investment for Yum! and its KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands. Team Accelerate will work with the brand and its current agency, Wavemaker, in the transition to assume the entire media mandate as of January 1, 2025.

IPG said it had created the team to respond to Yum!’s specific business needs and focus its efforts on the success of the brand. The network would not share future plans until initiatives begin to roll out in the coming year.

“We know media is one of Yums! strongest levers to drive transaction-led growth and we have very ambitious goals,” said KFC Canada’s senior manager, media, Lauren Pottie. “Team Accelerate very clearly demonstrated that they have the strategic thinking and media firepower to unlock media’s full potential and re-ignite the power of the brands in Canada.”

IPG partners with Yum! after announcing an AI-led initiative in collaboration with Google Canada. As part of that initiative, IPG and Google’s data science teams will collaborate to develop and implement AI beta projects for select clients in IPG’s Canadian portfolio, including customized programs that drive campaign efficiency and find new uses for Google’s data and platform.