Coca-Cola’s chief marketing and customer commercial officer Manolo Arroyo revealed at ADWEEK’s annual Brandweek conference what traits he expects from his agency partners.
The beverage giant currently has its $4 billion global media, data, and tech account in review, with the North America portion also up for grabs in a separate pitch. While incumbent WPP is favored to win the global piece—especially with Publicis Groupe out of the picture—neither agency nor brand has confirmed it.
“We’ve had a phenomenal rise over the last five years with WPP,” said Arroyo in conversation with ADWEEK’s chief brand and community officer Jenny Rooney. The next level for Coca-Cola, he added, would require deeper integration with creators and influencers, retail media, and very strong capabilities around tying investment to sales.
“There will be a deep dive on the role of creators and influencers, a deep dive in the role of retail media and commerce, and finally, a huge understanding of alternative models on how you drive all of that into attribution in terms of sales and transactions,” Arroyo said. “We want to connect that with content creators, live experiences, retail experiences, and ensure that the majority of our investment drives actual consumption and sales.”
Integration drove Coca-Cola’s selection of WPP as its global agency partner back in 2020, when the holding company stood up a standalone full service agency called Open X that pulled talent from across its network to service the beverage giant.
While WPP seems to have the upper hand in winning the global account, Omnicom has invested heavily in assembling dedicated commerce capabilities and tying media spend to sales.
“I do not believe anymore in love”
The traits Arroyo is looking for in his next agency aligns with his marketing philosophy, which is that the best marketing isn’t about brand love; it influences activity and consumption.
