September 16, 2026  |  SIGN UP

Michael Bürgi
SENIOR EDITOR, MEDIA BUYING AND PLANNING

Publicis and Pepsico, two companies that found each other in the back halls of this business, may have a wonderful future together, but one unintentional result of their surprise hookup is loss of trust.

Trust is a word many companies love to throw around — how they value it, how they try to win it from customers. But what about how easily it can be lost, and its effect when that happens?

The dominant agency holding company in the world despite not being the biggest, Publicis may have just lost a bit of it in the eyes of potential clients. Given its switchout of Coca-Cola's North American media (and walking out of the review for Coke's global business) for Pepsi a few weeks ago, there's a decent chance there's a slow-burn fallout from it. Publicis comes off as a sort of corporate lothario, having woo'd Coke from WPP 19 months ago, and now ditching it for its next conquest. As much as this is just "business" in the Godfather sense, it leaves potential clients wondering if they're going to be left for a competitor.

All's fair in love and war is how many will see the change. But one rival CEO told me privately they would never employ such a playbook even if it meant winning at the pace Publicis has enjoyed. Whether Publicis cares or not is another whole topic as it laughs all the way to the bank. 

ADVERTISEMENT

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Media Buying Briefing: How Publicis keeps winning clients without pitches

PepsiCo and LVMH wins show Publicis has deliberately cultivated a habit of winning major media accounts outside the traditional review process.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Future of Marketing Briefing: One more helping, for gluttons still hungry for Publicis and PepsiCo takes

Yes, more thoughts on what it means, or doesn’t, that Publicis walked away from competing for Coca-Cola’s media dollars to grab PepsiCo’s instead.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM MOLOCO

How brands like Fetch are measuring true incrementality on CTV

CTV is growing fast, but many advertisers are still measuring it the wrong way — or not measuring it at all.

THE CREATOR ECONOMY

IAB Creator Upfront: Why a half-built infrastructure is holding back CFO buy-in

IAB's inaugural Creatorfronts sought to smooth-over some creator economy bumps to help get more CFOs on board. 

A MESSAGE FROM RAPTIVE

Live session: Revenue resilience strategies for publishers and building for what’s next

Join this virtual event on Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. ET to learn why publishers are focusing on the fundamentals – including simplifying workflows and technology – as they build more resilient and more profitable operating models.

Register for webinar

MANAGING THROUGH CRISIS

Marketers are using AI search concerns to argue for higher media budgets

Brands with long consideration journeys, like insurance and cars, are paying close attention to shifting search behaviors. They're using that concern to make their case for more media dollars.

MARKETING ON PLATFORMS

As more surfaces become ad inventory, the economics get complicated

Ads now invade fridges, dashboards and AI search, testing consumers’ tolerance and the value exchange. 

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM BLUEPEAR

How Otrium identified unauthorized brand bidding and improved business outcomes

Under growing pressure to prove marketing performance, many brands are taking a closer look at whether affiliate marketing is delivering the incremental growth it promises.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM ADOBE

More buyer signals don’t always lead to better decisions 

Forty-four percent of marketers said first-party data improves their customer insight, but 18% of marketers cited incomplete data as their biggest barrier to confident decision-making.

FROM DIGIDAY EVENTS