LONDON — KFC has opted against changing its consumer PR support in the UK, despite a lengthy pitch process that ultimately featured four firms battling for the lucrative business.

The fastfood giant will continue to work with two-decade incumbent Freuds, which faced off against Kaper, Ogilvy and Unity in the final round of the pitch, which was overseen by AAR. The assignment, estimated at upwards of £3m, is considered one of the UK's largest consumer PR accounts.

"It was a rigorous process, and we were impressed by the quality of all the agencies that we saw, and the excitement and creativity that the brief generated," said Meghan Farren, CMO at KFC UK & Ireland. "We’ve had a relationship with Freuds for two decades, and the new ideas they bought to us are creative, bold and ambitious, and will redefine the way we approach earned media. We are genuinely excited about the next phase of our partnership."

The PR agency decision comes after KFC awarded its advertising duties to Mother last month, after 15 years with BBH. The company is understood to be keen on reshaping its communications strategy in line with changing media habits.

"We are incredibly excited by Meg and her team’s ambition for KFC," said Freud's consumer MD Caroline Wray. "We are looking forward to working together to create iconic and effective campaigns delivered by the breadth of expertise at Freuds from corporate, issues and crisis to creative content development, strategic partnerships, talent procurement and high impact media relations."