Advertisers Drop Beauty Contests as Holdco Pitches Shrink

Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun says more clients now run tight pitches pitting one or two holding companies against each other, replacing the full-blown beauty contest that once defined top-of-market agency selection. His comment, made on Publicis' earnings call earlier this month, matches a pattern visible across this year's biggest account moves. The year-long, seven-figure review is losing its status as the default route to choosing a holdco (a holding company: the parent group that owns multiple agency networks).

What changed in the pitch market?

The recent record speaks for itself. Coca-Cola had two holdcos competing for its North American media dollars. PepsiCo moved its global media account in September without a pitch at all. Dyson assessed all three holdco heavyweights at the start of the year before settling on Omnicom. Jaguar Land Rover searched for a single holdco to build a bespoke, end-to-end unit covering creative, media and production under one roof.

On Havas' earnings call last week, CFO and COO François Laroze said the business is focused on more integrated pitches. Omnicom's John Wren talked about helping more clients extract value from their tech investments.

Why is the traditional review losing appeal?

The market itself has been rearranged. Omnicom swallowed IPG. Publicis has the momentum and makes sure everyone knows it. WPP is mid-rebuild. Dentsu and Havas have gone more regional, and independents finally get taken seriously. All of this makes the year-long beauty contest an increasingly expensive way to confirm a hunch.

Coca-Cola's North American media review is a case in point. The account came loose in September after Publicis took PepsiCo's global media, barely 18 months after winning Coca-Cola's North American business from WPP. WPP sat the review out, leaving Omnicom and Dentsu to fight over it. Omnicom won. A field that small means clients often know where they are leaning before the first meeting.

"We see an increasing number of clients who know exactly what they want for their business, and actually truly understand the difference between the three of us," Sadoun said.

David Muldoon, global managing director of marketing transformation at media management firm Ebiquity, said: "Clients are being proactive at thinking about what they want to own. We're working with clients three, four, sometimes even five, months in advance of a pitch process to ensure that they have that clarity before going to an agency."

What does a full review actually cost?

One media director ran a pitch earlier this year with every holdco in contention, and it consumed the best part of 12 months. Briefs had to be stage-gated, contracts sent over and a law firm brought in. Someone had to build a scorecard and referee the arguments over it. Just getting 10 people into one holdco meeting meant working around holidays and the school half term. "Like just life," the exec said.

After all that effort, the holdcos did not look all that different. "For me, they're really similar," the exec said. "It came down to fine margins." The decision came down to a short checklist:

• Commercial viability
• A service that stands apart from the rest
• Strong people on the account
• Real integration of media, creative and everything else, not just a shared logo

"Now what's changed is that clients are actually looking inside their own organizations and looking at two things: what do they want to own and how can they be more integrated and more set up for success themselves," Muldoon said.

Is the pitch dead?

No. A closed route saves less time than expected, Muldoon said, because the capability assessment is shorter but the "negotiation is just as long". Pitch management firms are busier than ever, and 2027 is shaping up to keep them that way, with a wave of launches expected as soon as the first quarter. A full review puts a price on the market, which big advertisers need to prove they got the best terms. It also works as a stick: advertisers with no plans to leave will still call a review to wring better terms from their incumbent.

In brief: the week's numbers

• 51% of U.S. digital shoppers have not bought products through an AI platform like ChatGPT or Google Gemini and are not interested in doing so.
• $2.7 billion is Netflix's revised full-year 2026 ad revenue forecast, down from its previous $3 billion target.
• $200 is the average purchase price of people using Meta's Muse for shopping.
• 306 million: total premium subscribers to Spotify in Q3 2026.

Elsewhere, Meta CFO Susan Li said on the company's earnings call: "I wouldn't rule out advertising. But, again, we are really focused on driving consumer adoption and getting the data flywheel going as our first priority" — referring to the Muse AI agent. Meta also plans to turn on in-app product browsing for live ads by default on October 28, right before Black Friday, per PPC Land. With consolidation narrowing the field to three global groups, the tighter pitch looks set to stay the norm at the top of the market.