The news of the pitch for Minute Maid Pulpy, which rivals Coca-Cola in terms of sales volume in China, was broken by Campaign Asia-Pacific in August.
Knocking out FCB and incumbent AOR Saatchi & Saatchi in the last round of pitching, Lowe is said to have won the business based on how well its proposed animatics tested in third-party research.
Minute Maid took the pitched creative work from the final agencies through ad pre-testing and validation by Millward Brown, the regular research agency used by Coca-Cola.
"Research determined the winning concept and therefore the winning agency," according to an insider close to the client.
According to industry sources, revenue for the above-the-line account is estimated at RMB10 million (US$1.56 million) per year.
Saatchi & Saatchi and FCB have not responded to requests for comment.