Coca-Cola keeps WPP globally and moves North America media to Omnicom.
Coca-Cola has finished its marketing review, keeping WPP Open X as global media partner and naming Omnicom for media in North America. Dentsu keeps Japan and South Korea, which were not part of the review.
WPP Open X stays as Coca-Cola's global creative partner too, which was also outside the review. Omnicom will work with WPP StudioX in North America, and the new set-up rolls out in phases from 1 December. Coca-Cola said the North America appointment is about bringing media, data, CRM, loyalty and creators into one system rather than buying by channel. Chief marketing officer Manolo Arroyo said the outcome gives the company global scale with local specialists.
The North America pitch came after PepsiCo moved its global media to Publicis in September. Publicis had been Coca-Cola's incumbent in the region; Reel 360 reports that WPP did not take part in that pitch, leaving Omnicom and Dentsu. Omnicom had handled PepsiCo media for about three decades and still works with PepsiCo on creative, PR and sports marketing, so it now serves both rivals in the US. Ad Age's 2026 Brand Report put Coca-Cola's estimated US ad spend at $2.2bn in 2025.
Neither company has given the value of the new contracts or said whether staff will move from Publicis. Coca-Cola has not said how the WPP and Omnicom teams will split creator and retail media work in North America.
For the Gulf, the headline is continuity. WPP Open X keeps Coca-Cola's media outside North America, Japan and South Korea, so the Middle East business stays where it is. Agencies in the region will be watching how WPP's Open Intelligence data product, which Arroyo credited in the World Cup 2026 work, shapes local planning.
Why it matters
The biggest cola accounts have now both moved in North America, while Coca-Cola's Middle East media stays with WPP.
Related trends.
Deliveroo hands paid social content to We Are Social, Dubai included
Deliveroo has appointed We Are Social to run its paid social performance content and some campaigns across seven markets. The account will be handled by teams in the UK, Italy, France and Dubai.
Why it mattersAnother big brand is centralising social content in one agency hub, with a Dubai team inside it rather than a separate local roster.
GASTAT: 59.9% of adults in Saudi Arabia get 150 active minutes weekly
The General Authority for Statistics says 59.9% of adults in Saudi Arabia do at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week. Its 2026 physical activity bulletin, released on 22 October, shows men well ahead of women, at 63.4% against 52.9%.
Why it mattersOfficial data shows clear activity gaps for women and girls in Saudi Arabia. Sports, fitness and wellness brands now have a national baseline to plan campaigns and sponsorships against.
HYVE opens in Dubai and Riyadh with an AI-run media model
A new media agency, HYVE, has launched with full operations in both Dubai and Riyadh. It runs paid and organic media, data and customer experience on its own AI platform, Honeycomb.
Why it mattersAnother AI-first independent is betting Saudi brands want media tied to business results, and it is building in Riyadh from day one rather than serving it from Dubai.
