Coca-Cola puts North American media into review after Publicis wins PepsiCo

Coca-Cola has put its North American media account into review, Campaign reported on 10 September 2026. Three agency networks are understood to be pitching for work that Publicis has held since 2025.

Three networks pitch for Coca-Cola media in the US and Canada

The account covers media planning, buying and data work in the United States and Canada. Publicis took it from WPP in 2025. WPP had run it since 2021 through a team built only for this client, called Open X. Marketing Dive puts Coca-Cola spending on US media at about 785 million dollars in the year before that switch.

A second, larger review is running at the same time. Coca-Cola is looking again at its global media, worth roughly four billion dollars. That pitch is run by MediaSense, a consultancy that organises agency contests for advertisers. WPP still handles most of the global business.

Publicis won PepsiCo global media on 2 September

The trigger sits one week back. On 2 September Publicis won PepsiCo global media after 25 years of Omnicom, ending a long run for the OMD network in the United States and Britain. PepsiCo spent 5.4 billion dollars on marketing in 2025, of which 3.4 billion went on advertising, Adweek reported. Days later Publicis withdrew from the Coca-Cola global pitch.

No agency group plans media for the two biggest soft drink makers at once. The people who buy space for one would see prices, plans and sales figures for the other. So the PepsiCo win turned the Coca-Cola work into a problem Publicis had to hand back.

Omnicom lost PepsiCo soon after changing advertising leadership

Omnicom sits on the other side of the same week. The group changed the head of Omnicom Advertising in early September, with Andrew Robertson taking over from Troy Ruhanen. Losing PepsiCo removes one of its oldest client relationships at the same moment.

Exchange4media reported that North America had been left outside the wider Coca-Cola global review. That is no longer true. One decision at PepsiCo has now moved both parts of the Coca-Cola business into a pitch.

One PepsiCo win moved two Coca-Cola accounts into pitch

For anyone signing with a media network, there is a practical lesson here. Ask which rival accounts the group already holds in your category. Ask what happens to your team if the group wins a bigger one. Conflict clauses decide who gets moved off your business, and they usually favour the larger client. It is worth agreeing in advance how much notice you get, and who owns the data your agency has gathered on your buyers.