WPP Media Australia and New Zealand has retained Coca-Cola’s media account as the soft drink giant reshuffles its global agency arrangements.
The bespoke OpenX unit, housed within EssenceMediacom in Australia and New Zealand, will continue to service the account locally.
Globally, WPP will retain its partnership with Coca-Cola on an account understood to be worth $7.5 billion, operating through its WPP Open X model.
In North America, Coca-Cola has appointed Omnicom as its media partner, with the holding company set to work closely with WPP StudioX.
Meanwhile, Dentsu will continue to handle media duties in Japan and South Korea, markets that were not included in the latest review.
“We’re proud to build on our partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and the trust they’ve placed in us to help drive their next chapter of growth,” WPP CEO Cindy Rose said in a statement.
“Our focus is on earning that trust every day – pairing WPP Media’s scale with Open Intelligence to bring a human dimension to data, so our partners understand not just who their consumers are, but what drives them. That’s a responsibility we take seriously, and one we’re excited to build on together.”
Manolo Arroyo, executive vice president and chief marketing and customer commercial officer of The Coca-Cola Company shed some light on the global re-shuffle.
“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,” said Arroyo. “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 currently holds the global account, having beaten out Publicis Groupe to win the business in late 2021.
To service the account, WPP stood up a dedicated unit called OpenX, which took responsibility for Coca-Cola’s media, creative and production needs across more than 200 countries.
Since the creation of Open X in 2021, WPP has played a central role in helping Coca-Cola modernise its marketing approach across more than 200 countries and territories.
“WPP delivered a stellar performance during the reviews, demonstrating their strong, modern media, tech and data capabilities,” added Arroyo. “Their data solution Open Intelligence builds on proven results from our FIFA World Cup 2026 activation across the world.”
The appointment of Omnicom in North America reflects Coca-Cola’s commitment to aligning specialised capabilities with market-specific opportunities. By bringing media, data, CRM, loyalty and creators together within one connected ecosystem, the North America operating unit can move beyond channel-based execution toward more integrated consumer experiences. This evolution will further accelerate NAOU’s marketing transformation and strengthen the ability to create meaningful connections that drive growth.
“Our review was about designing the future of our marketing organization,” continued Arroyo. “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.”
WPP Open X will continue to serve as Coca-Cola’s global creative partner, which was not part of the current review.
The new structure will be implemented in phases beginning Dec. 1.
