The trades called it: Coke and Pepsi really did swap media agencies

Previously on the cola wars

On 2 September, PepsiCo moved its global media to Publicis. Mediaweek reported that the appointment followed a media capabilities review rather than a traditional competitive pitch, ending Omnicom’s run of around 30 years on the business. Omnicom kept PepsiCo’s creative, PR and sports marketing work.

That created a conflict for Publicis, which had won Coca-Cola’s US and Canadian media from WPP in 2025. Publicis stepped away from Coke’s North American business and pulled out of the pitch for Coke’s global media, where it had been up against WPP. From that point, it was giving musical chairs, with roughly $800 million of North American media looking for a new seat.

The season finale: what Coca-Cola announced on 22 October

Coca-Cola said it had finished a review of what it calls its global marketing operating system. The outcome splits its media between three holding companies, with the new structure rolling out in phases from 1 December. Digiday estimates the North American account at $700 million to $800 million a year. The review was run by the consultancy MediaSense.

• Omnicom: new media partner for North America, working alongside WPP’s StudioX. Coca-Cola says Omnicom will bring media, data, CRM, loyalty and creators together “within one connected ecosystem”.
• WPP Open X: keeps Coke’s global media everywhere except North America, Japan and South Korea, and stays global creative partner. Creative was not part of the review.
• Dentsu: keeps media in Japan and South Korea, which were not reviewed.

The predictions scorecard: the trades mostly ate

Seven weeks is a long time in agency gossip, so we went back to what the trade press was saying in September and checked it against what happened. Spoiler: the takes aged well.

• “Publicis can’t keep both.” On 7 September, More About Advertising wrote that persuading both Coke and Pepsi to stay at Publicis would be “a stretch”. Came true: Publicis left Coke’s North American media and its global pitch.
• “Will Coke bring in Omnicom?” The same piece wondered whether Coke would add Omnicom to its pitch list, even though Omnicom still works for PepsiCo. Came true, at least for North America: Digiday reports Omnicom went in as the favourite and Dentsu was its only serious rival.
• “WPP won’t go back for North America.” On 17 September, Digiday reported that WPP would not pitch to win back the US and Canadian business it lost in 2025. Came true: WPP sat it out.
• “Publicis may have done WPP a favour.” More About Advertising suggested Publicis leaving the global pitch could help its rival. Came true: WPP kept Coke’s media in most of the world.

Why the ending matters more than the memes

Most agencies will never pitch for a cola brand. But the way these two accounts moved shows how big clients now choose partners, and those habits tend to trickle down to everyone else.

Pitches are becoming optional. PepsiCo moved one of the largest media accounts in the world after a capabilities review, and Marketing Dive notes that Publicis increasingly wins large accounts without a traditional pitch. If a client can move without an RFP, the decision is made in the months of conversations before anyone writes one.

Conflicts are strategy now. Publicis gave up a North American account it had won only last year because a bigger rival client came calling. Every win can quietly cost you another client in the same category.

Clients are buying systems, not channels. Coca-Cola wants media, data, CRM, loyalty and creators in one connected setup. PepsiCo’s brief brings strategy, planning, activation, data, connected identity and technology into one global model. The math isn’t mathing for agencies that can only talk about their own channel.

And the team matters. Digiday reports that Omnicom closed its pitch in a meeting with Coke’s senior marketing team that included CEO John Wren, and promised a team built for Coke with “no hand-me-downs from the PepsiCo account”. In a category this sensitive, dedicated people and clear separation are the pitch. Coca-Cola’s chief marketing officer, Manolo Arroyo, also told the ANA’s Masters of Marketing conference on 21 October that digital’s share of Coke’s media spend went from under 30% in 2019 to about 70% expected by the end of 2026.

What account and new-business teams can do now

You don’t need a new strategy by Friday. But a few habits will help you understand the assignment whether you are winning, keeping or handing over business.

• Map your conflicts. List your clients by category and work out which new wins would put an existing relationship at risk. Decide your position before a prospect asks, not in the middle of a pitch.
• Keep a capabilities story ready at all times. If big clients can appoint without a pitch, your case needs to be clear long before an RFP lands: what you do, the results you can prove and who would actually work on the account.
• Talk in systems. Show how your work connects to the client’s data, CRM, retail and creator plans, even if you only own one piece. Partnering openly with the client’s other agencies is a green flag.
• Name the team. Clients in competitive categories want to know who is on their business and how it is kept separate from rivals. Put real names and roles in your proposals.
• Plan handovers properly. Coke’s changes start on 1 December, in the middle of the festive season. Whether you are gaining or losing an account, agree what gets handed over, by whom and by when, so campaigns in flight don’t get dropped somewhere between two agencies’ inboxes.

What’s still unclear, and the vibe check

Some details are not public. The account values are estimates from reporting, not figures from the companies. Coca-Cola has not said how the phased rollout will work or how work will be split day to day between Omnicom and WPP in North America. Omnicom referred questions about Coke to the client, and nobody has said how its work for both cola rivals will be kept apart beyond the promise of a dedicated team.

So yes, the memes came true. But the real plot twist is how quietly it all happened: no big pitch from PepsiCo, a rival bowing out and a decision closed in a room with the CEO. The agencies that come out ahead will be the ones that already had the relationship, the proof and the plan before the brief ever went out. No cap, that applies whether you have a cola account or not.