This is surely a lump of coal in Coca-Cola’s media and creative agencies. The beverage giant announced today Wednesday that it has launched a global agency review of all partners.
The review is said to include creative, production management, shopper and experiential marketing, services that require “significant investment from our brands,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said told Campaign.
“We have decided to undergo a complete redesign of our media and creative agency models in an effort to align the strategic, operational and commercial needs of our new, networked organization,” a company spokesperson added. “This will necessitate a full review of our media and creative planning and buying practices, as well as our media and creative agency appointments and commercial relationships around the world.”
Coca-Cola is planning to conduct separate but coordinated reviews for media and creative starting in Q1 of next year, led by marketing and procurement. The company plans to have a “consolidated roster” of agencies in place across both media and creative by Q3 2021 and January 2022, respectively.
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Creative agencies participating in the review are unnamed, but global incumbents on the media side including WPP GroupM’s MediaCom, Interpublic Group’s UM, Publicis Groupe’s Starcom and Dentsu’s Carat will participate.
The review is beginning as Coca-Cola is on a journey to “fundamentally transform and dramatically improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing investments,” the spokesperson noted. The new agency structure will be a “crucial component of our ongoing digital transformation journey to drive our business.”
The announcement follows an October decision that Coke plans to eliminate 200 brands from its roster thus cutting its brands in half.
Coca-Cola spend Coca-Cola spends $4 billion on measured media globally. The company has struggled during the pandemic, with revenue down 9% in Q3.
Stay tuned…
