Coca-Cola Co. moves North America media business from WPP to Publicis

Coca-Cola Co. has shifted its North America media account from WPP to rival Publicis Groupe following a closed review, Ad Age has learned. Publicis will oversee media and data in the U.S. and Canada. WPP won the beverage giant’s creative, media, data and marketing technology business spanning more than 200 countries in 2021. The ad giant formed a bespoke team called Open X to service the account, which includes some 200 brands including sodas such as Coke and Sprite, as well as sports drinks, juices, coffee, tea and plant-based drinks. WPP retains the rest of Coca-Cola’s global business. Coke confirmed the shift in a statement, referring to Publicis as a "complementary partner for its U.S. and Canada media business." The company added that "no other changes are expected, and Coca-Cola is in an advanced stage in the process of renewing its global partnership with WPP." Publicis declined to comment. WPP did not provide comment on the review, which Ad Age first reported last week. Publicis was the runner-up in the 2021 review, which led to WPP taking 90% of Coca-Cola’s media and Dentsu handling the rest. At the time, Manolo Arroyo, Coca-Cola’s global chief marketing officer, indicated WPP’s global scale tipped the scales in its favor, but he conceded that Publicis was strong in North America. In hiring Publicis, Coca-Cola. has separated creative and media in the all-important U.S. market. When WPP was hired, Arroyo emphasized creating an agency model that was “consumer-centric and silo-free,” noting that consumers “don’t separate the message from the medium.” Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here The U.S. account change is a blow to WPP, which last month reported weaker-than-anticipated results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2024. The holding company said it expects adjusted sales, excluding pass-through costs, to be flat or shrink as much as 2% for 2025. Coca-Cola spent an estimated $1.8 billion on U.S. advertising in 2023, up roughly 17% from 2022, according to Ad Age Datacenter. It ranked 28th on Ad Age’s Leading National Advertisers 2024. The company had measured U.S. media spending of $409 million through the first nine months of 2024 and $621 million in 2023, per MediaRadar. MediaSense supported Coca-Cola with the closed review. Publicis handles media for Coca-Cola rival PepsiCo in China, India and Southeast Asia. It wasn’t immediately clear if there would be changes to those relationships. When WPP won Coca-Cola’s global business in 2021, the holding company then resigned its PepsiCo contracts. Asked about the Publicis relationships earlier this week, a PepsiCo spokesperson said the company is “not making any changes at this time.” This story has been updated with a comment from Coca-Cola Co.

Coca-Cola Co. moves North America media business from WPP to Publicis

Featured Stories