Coca-Cola has chosen Omnicom to handle its giant North America media account while WPP, which handled North America before the business went to Publicis, has retained media globally.
Which shouldn’t surprise anyone very much as Coke didn’t have much choice once Publicis had landed rival Pepsico without a pitch, effectively resigning Coke. Publicis has therefore done its two main rivals a big favour by pulling out of Coke. Omnicom was the big loser with Pepsico while WPP, which doesn’t seem to gelled with Coke NA at all, retains global although Publicis was the hot favourite to win this when the pitch was originally called.
Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun will be philosophical about this. He’s snaffled Pepsico, which seems far less addicted to pitches than Coke, and it bears out his theory that a global agency marketplace dominated by three holdcos not four, since Omnicom bought IPG, is good for business.
The mighty Coca-Cola looks rather left on the shelf in all this. Does it really rate WPP Media as much as Publicis? We’ll see in due course no doubt.
Update
Omnicom has posted impressive Q3 2026 numbers with organic growth of 7.2% ahead of Publicis’ 5%. Omnicom, though, includes so-called pass-through costs in growth figures.
Omnicom has been boosted substantially by IPG business and profit-wise by a number of closures and redundancies. It has, though, seen something of a talent drain on the creative side with McCann boss Tyler Tunbull exiting for WPP and, this week, AMV BBDO group CEO Xavier Rees leaving.
CEO John Wren professes to be unfazed by this, telling Campaign: “You have to step back and realise that the new Omnicom has over 100,000 people, and no individual, starting with me, is critical to the mission we are trying to accomplish. Everybody’s replaceable.”
Is Wren? The veteran leader certainly has staying power.
