PepsiCo India ends 30 years of partnership with WPP

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Created: Wednesday, 06 April 2022 10:25

PepsiCo India is changing its entire network of WPP Group-owned ad and media buying agencies including Wunderman Thompson and Mindshare, following rival Coca-Cola signing on WPP as its global partner. This brings to an end a close to three decades of association between the world’s largest advertising group WPP and Pepsi India.
India is among the few countries where WPP Group agencies represent PepsiCo.
A PepsiCo India spokesperson confirmed the upcoming change in an email. “PepsiCo India follows a re-pitching cycle every few years for agencies and partners working on our brand mandates. This year Wunderman Thompson and Mindshare will not be participating in the process.”
Last year in November, Coca-Cola named WPP as its global marketing network partner for its $4 billion business.
Coca-Cola at that time said WPP will be its “global marketing network partner” operating under a bespoke unit called OpenX, and added that the WPP team will manage creative, media, data and marketing technology across Coca-Cola’s entire portfolio of brands and its global ventures, including Costa coffee. “While previously there was a possibility that India could be an exception, it later was clear that PepsiCo would need to change its agencies,” an industry executive close to the developments said.
Despite the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, consumption habits have altered and driving in-home consumption is equally significant as out-of-home, which means advertising has to be oriented to both, the executive mentioned above said.

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