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WPP has lost one of its biggest North American clients for media buying and planning, Coca-Cola, handing a win to French rival Publicis.
Publicis — which last year overtook WPP as the largest agency in the world based on revenues — has won Coke’s media business in the US and Canada following a competitive tender, according to three people familiar with the deal. Those close to the contract said that Coke spent close to $800mn every year in overall billings.
WPP will remain Coca-Cola’s global marketing partner, including for media buying and planning elsewhere in the world and will continue to handle the overall creative work for its advertising. The soft drinks business is expected to renew this global partnership with WPP, which accounts for the majority of the agency’s revenues.
WPP and Publicis declined to comment.
Coca-Cola said that WPP was its only “global marketing partner”, and confirmed that it was “in an advanced stage in the process of renewing its global partnership with WPP”.
“Over the course of more than three years, the partnership with WPP has delivered significant value to Coca-Cola,” said Manolo Arroyo, Coke’s global chief marketing officer. “After careful consideration, Coca-Cola is adding Publicis as a complementary partner for its US and Canada media business.”
On Friday, shares in WPP fell just under 2 per cent while Publicis shares were up 1.3 per cent in afternoon trading.
The London-listed advertising group’s stock fell to a four-year low last month after it warned that core revenues and profit margins would be flat at best this year given greater uncertainty in core markets such as the US and UK.
The group has committed to cost cutting measures and to spend more this year on AI-focused technology to help create better and more targeted marketing campaigns.
WPP has recently brought in new management at GroupM, its media buying arm, with Brian Lesser replacing Christian Juhl last summer as chief executive.
The group this year pledged to “improve the competitiveness of our media offer, globally, with a focus on the US” in its recent results.
WPP has also recently won other lucrative media accounts in North America, including for Johnson & Johnson’s US and Canadian business in December.
The US is WPP’s largest market, accounting for about 39 per cent of revenue. In its results last month, WPP said that the region had seen a slight decline in revenues in 2024, although media buying arm GroupM had registered growth in the period.
Publicis won a number of new media deals with clients last year that helped boost its full-year results. Chief executive Arthur Sadoun told the Financial Times last month that Publicis was “the largest media buyer — we’re buying every one dollar out of three” in the US advertising market.
