PepsiCo global media goes to Publicis after 25 years with Omnicom

PepsiCo global media buying is moving to Publicis Groupe. The drinks and snacks company confirmed the change on 2 September 2026. Omnicom had handled the work in most large markets, including the United States and the United Kingdom, for more than 25 years. Campaign put PepsiCo’s yearly global media spend at 1.9 billion dollars and the UK part at 101 million dollars. Mediaweek reported the account as worth 1.7 billion dollars across more than 200 markets, covering brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade and Lay’s.

PepsiCo chose Publicis without running a pitch

There was no open contest. PepsiCo ran what it called a review of media capabilities and then handed the work over. Publicis already bought media for the company in Eastern Europe and in ten Asian markets, among them China, India and South Korea. The new deal joins all of that into one arrangement that PepsiCo calls the One PepsiCo model. The company says the model brings media planning, buying, data and technology together, and that data and AI will guide where the money goes. That is PepsiCo’s own description, not a tested result.

Omnicom keeps creative, sport and public relations work

Omnicom does not lose the client. PepsiCo says the group stays on for creative work, sport and public relations. Both holding companies declined to comment when Campaign asked. The two groups have been trading big accounts for a while, and the pressure on them keeps growing. WPP is meanwhile fighting a whistleblower case in New York.

Publicis drops out of the Coca-Cola media review

A day later Publicis pulled out of the Coca-Cola global media review, which is run by the consultancy MediaSense. Publicis had been lined up against the current holder, WPP, in several large international markets. Leaving that contest makes it easier for WPP to keep the business. It also removes the awkward job of buying media for both of the world’s biggest soft drink rivals.

Omnicom shares fell about 5 percent after the news

Mediaweek reported that Omnicom stock dropped by roughly 5 percent once the appointment became public. Losing a client of this size after 25 years is a visible dent, even for a group of that scale. Agency networks in Europe are already reshaping around fewer, larger regional hubs, as Havas showed when it made Warsaw its base for Central and Eastern Europe.

For marketers on the client side, the useful lesson is about process. A review of capabilities took the place of a pitch here, and it moved close to two billion dollars of spend. Many advertisers still run long, costly pitches for far smaller budgets. So it may be worth asking whether your next media decision really needs one.

Publicis drops out of the Coca-Cola pitch and leaves WPP on its own

Update, 3 September 2026. Hours after the PepsiCo appointment, Publicis pulled out of the race for Coca-Cola’s global media account, Campaign reported. Coca-Cola started that review in July 2026 and the first pitch meetings took place in the past two weeks. WPP, which has held most of the business through its Open X unit since 2020, is now the only group left in the process. Campaign puts Coca-Cola’s global media spending at about 2.6 billion dollars, inside total advertising costs of 5.4 billion dollars in 2025. Publicis, WPP and Coca-Cola all declined to comment.