Coca-Cola retains WPP, appoints Omnicom in North America

Coca-Cola has retained WPP Open X as its global media partner outside North America, Japan, and South Korea, while appointing Omnicom to handle its North American media business after reviewing its global marketing operations.

WPP Open X will also remain Coca-Cola’s global creative partner. That remit was outside the review, as were Dentsu’s media duties in Japan and South Korea.

The new structure will be introduced in phases from 1 December, with Omnicom working closely with WPP StudioX in North America.

WPP holds global media and creative roles

Coca-Cola’s executive vice president and chief marketing and customer commercial officer, Manolo Arroyo, said the review examined the company’s partners, capabilities and operating model.

“We began this process with a clear objective: ensure we have the right partners, capabilities and operating model to continue to lead in a rapidly changing marketing landscape,” Arroyo said.

“The outcome reinforces our confidence in the strength of our global marketing ecosystem and positions us to accelerate growth through deeper consumer understanding, greater agility and the responsible application of emerging technologies.”

WPP has worked on Coca-Cola’s marketing across more than 200 countries and territories since Open X was established in 2021.

“WPP delivered a stellar performance during the reviews, demonstrating their strong, modern media, tech and data capabilities,” Arroyo said.

“Their data solution Open Intelligence builds on proven results from our FIFA World Cup 2026 activation across the world.”

Coca-Cola also pointed to WPP’s capabilities across creators, commerce and retail media, supported by its WPP Open platform, which integrates data, technology and AI.

Omnicom takes North America

The North American appointment will bring media, data, customer relationship management, loyalty and creators together under Omnicom’s remit.

Coca-Cola said the arrangement was designed to connect those activities more closely and move its North American business beyond execution organised around individual channels.

“Our review was about designing the future of our marketing organisation,” Arroyo said.

“The best marketing systems are built when you combine the best marketing talent with the right partnerships. We are confident that this combination of global scale, local expertise, innovation and collaboration gives us exactly that.”

Implementation of the revised agency arrangements will begin on 1 December.