CarlNelsonFranceAdvertising: Only Roster Shops Will Get a Crack at Coke’s U.S. Media Account

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Only Roster Shops Will Get a Crack at Coke’s U.S. Media Account

Like the media reviews of SC Johnson and Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola's U.S. contest is a roster-shops-only affair.

Incumbent Starcom is competing against three agencies that handle Coke business overseas: MediaCom, Carat and UM, according to sources. MediaCom, for example, works for the company in Mexico and the U.K.

Coke's U.S. media spending exceeded $400 million last year, according to Kantar Media.

The assignment in play encompasses media planning and buying across traditional and digital media.

SC Johnson's global media buying review pits Maxus, the incumbent on traditional media, against PHD, the incumbent on digital. That search is expected to conclude this month.

In Wells Fargo's review, the bank consolidated all U.S. planning and buying at OMD after a head-to-head battle with UM. Previously, OMD had handled traditional media, while UM handled digital.

Coke's search will stretch into the summer, according to sources. The Atlanta-based company could not immediately be reached for comment.

Starcom, a unit of Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group, has been a Coke roster shop for more than a decade, and the marketer consolidated its U.S. business at the agency in late 2003 after a review.