Publicis Groupe has snagged The Coca-Cola Company’s media and data business in the U.S. and Canada from incumbent WPP, two sources with knowledge of the matter told ADWEEK.
The result came after the beverage company held a competitive closed door review with both holding companies, which ADWEEK reported on last week.
It means a crucial piece of The Coca-Cola Company’s business will move to WPP’s rival three and a half years after the British holding company won the beverage giant’s roughly $4 billion integrated global business in a historic review. Publicis was the runner-up at the time.
The current review focused on the company’s media planning and buying business in the U.S. only, where it spent an estimated $785 million on media in 2024, per COMvergence.
Publicis declined to comment. WPP and MediaSense did not reply to requests for comment in time for publication.
“The Coca-Cola Company is committed to the ongoing transformation of its marketing model to ensure the company is best positioned to connect with the evolving consumer marketplace around the world,” the company said in a statement, adding that “WPP is the only global marketing partner of The Coca-Cola Company.”
“After careful consideration, Coca-Cola is adding Publicis as a complementary partner for its U.S. and Canada media business. No other changes are expected, and Coca-Cola is in an advanced stage in the process of renewing its global partnership with WPP,” the spokesperson continued.
For Publicis Groupe, the win is another notch in its belt in the media space, where the holding company has been on a tear with recent wins including Pfizer and Hershey’s. Media success prompted it to increase its earnings guidance for 2024 twice throughout the year.
Though the majority of WPP’s Coca-Cola business is in the creative and production space, the loss is still a blow for the holding company, which is looking to media network GroupM to revive its fortunes. WPP’s shares went tumbling in late February after it reported weaker than expected results for 2024 and a flat to negative outlook for 2025.
WPP won The Coca-Cola Company’s integrated global business in 2020 and set up a bespoke agency called Open X to service the account across 200 countries.
At the time, Dentsu was also brought on as a “complementary” media partner to offer “differentiated capabilities” at a local level within a few select markets in Asia. Coca-Cola also set up an “open-source strategic roster” that it said at the time would account for one-third of all marketing work, and includes Publicis and IPG agencies.
“Over the course of more than three years, the partnership with WPP has delivered significant value to Coca-Cola,” said Manolo Arroyo, global chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Company, in a statement shared with ADWEEK. “This includes Coke being named Creative Brand of the Year at the Cannes Lions in 2024 and stepped-up capabilities such as Studio X.”
According to its Form 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, The Coca-Cola Company spent $5.15 billion on advertising globally in 2024, up from $5 billion in 2023 and $4.32 billion in 2022.
Coca-Cola reported net revenue of $47.1 billion in 2024, up 3% from the previous year, and it expects organic revenue growth of 5% to 6% in 2025.
This story has been updated to reflect that WPP has held the Coca-Cola business for three-and-a-half years, not five as previously stated, and that the win counts U.S. and Canada. It has also been updated with a statement from Coca-Cola.
link