Coca-Cola is reportedly reassessing its North American media relationship following Publicis Groupe’s major global media win with PepsiCo.
The Coca-Cola Company is reportedly preparing to reassess its North American media account following a major shakeup in the advertising world: Publicis Groupe’s blockbuster win of PepsiCo’s global media business.
The development potentially creates one of the advertising industry’s biggest conflicts — and could trigger another enormous agency battle involving Coca-Cola, WPP, Omnicom and Dentsu.
According to Ad Age’s reporting shared Tuesday, Coca-Cola is readying a review of its North American media account after Publicis agreed to take over global media responsibilities for longtime rival PepsiCo.
It is the latest domino to fall from a stunning agency move that has reshaped billions of dollars in global advertising business.
PepsiCo Makes a Massive Move to Publicis
PepsiCo confirmed last week that it was shifting its global media duties to Publicis Groupe, ending Omnicom’s decades-long run handling much of the company’s media business.
The account is enormous.
Industry estimates put PepsiCo’s annual media spending associated with the assignment at roughly $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion. Publicis will serve as PepsiCo’s lead global media partner across more than 200 markets, consolidating strategy, planning, activation, data, identity and technology into what PepsiCo calls its “One PepsiCo” model.
Perhaps even more surprising, the change happened without a traditional competitive pitch. Instead, PepsiCo conducted a capabilities review before selecting Publicis.
The decision immediately created questions about Coca-Cola.
Publicis Had Become a Major Coca-Cola Partner
Publicis won Coca-Cola’s North American media business from WPP in 2025. The account has been estimated at approximately $800 million.
That victory made Publicis an increasingly important player inside Coca-Cola’s marketing operation.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola launched another review earlier this year covering much of its international media, data science and technology operations. WPP and Publicis were originally positioned as the primary competitors.
North America was specifically excluded from that earlier global review because Publicis had only recently won the business. Japan and Korea were also excluded because Dentsu handles those markets.
Then PepsiCo changed everything.
Coke vs. Pepsi Creates an Awkward Agency Situation
Publicis becoming PepsiCo’s lead global media partner creates an obvious competitive complication.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo aren’t simply two large consumer brands. They are arguably the most famous corporate rivals in the beverage industry, competing for consumers, advertising inventory, sponsorships, retail positioning and cultural relevance around the world.
Publicis subsequently stepped away from Coca-Cola’s international media review following the PepsiCo win, according to multiple industry reports.
Now Coca-Cola’s North American relationship with Publicis appears to be coming under scrutiny as well.
The Ad Age report says Coca-Cola has been in discussions with WPP, Omnicom and Dentsu regarding its North American media business.
That could open another major advertising contest just a year after Publicis took the account from WPP.
WPP Could Suddenly Have an Opening
Few companies may benefit more from the PepsiCo-Publicis deal than WPP.
Earlier this year, Coca-Cola confirmed that its international review would pit its two primary incumbents — WPP and Publicis — against each other. WPP has maintained a broad relationship with Coca-Cola through its dedicated Open X operation.
Publicis’ withdrawal dramatically changes that competition.
WPP is now in a stronger position to retain Coca-Cola’s international media responsibilities, while the potential reopening of North America gives it another opportunity to regain territory it lost only last year.
Omnicom could also become an intriguing contender.
After losing PepsiCo’s global media assignment, the agency holding company suddenly has both capacity and motivation to compete aggressively for another enormous beverage account.
Billions of Advertising Dollars Are Moving
What makes this story bigger than Coke versus Pepsi is the sheer amount of money involved.
PepsiCo’s global media account is estimated at approximately $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion annually. Coca-Cola reported $5.4 billion in total advertising spending during 2025, while COMvergence estimated the portion of Coca-Cola’s media spend outside North America at roughly $1.715 billion.
These aren’t simply agency changes.
They represent enormous shifts in where some of the world’s biggest brands place their advertising dollars — and who controls the data and technology behind those investments.
AI Is Becoming Part of the Agency War
There’s another important layer to the story: artificial intelligence.
When Coca-Cola announced its international agency review earlier this year, the company specifically described its marketing evolution as moving toward a “digital-first marketing operating system.”
Coca-Cola said that includes moving beyond traditional media planning toward new methods of reaching consumers through technology, including agentic tools.
PepsiCo is making a similar push.
Its new Publicis arrangement combines media strategy, buying, data, connected identity and technology under a unified global structure increasingly powered by AI and data.
That means the competition between Coke and Pepsi isn’t happening only on grocery-store shelves anymore.
Increasingly, it’s happening inside data platforms, AI systems and advertising technology.
The Bigger Picture
One decision by PepsiCo may have triggered a chain reaction across the global advertising industry.
PepsiCo moved its massive media operation from Omnicom to Publicis. Publicis then stepped away from Coca-Cola’s international media competition. Now Coca-Cola is reportedly examining the future of its North American media account.
WPP suddenly has an opportunity to strengthen its Coca-Cola relationship. Omnicom has an opportunity to replace some of the business it lost from PepsiCo. Dentsu could potentially expand beyond its existing Coca-Cola responsibilities in Japan and Korea.
And Publicis has made perhaps the biggest strategic bet of all — trading the opportunity for more Coca-Cola business for a massive global relationship with PepsiCo.
The Coke-versus-Pepsi rivalry has always been one of marketing’s greatest battles.
Now the agencies behind the advertising are fighting their own version of it.
About the Author
