It’s official: the gravitational pull of Mars has shifted.
In what industry insiders are calling one of the most consequential global media moves of the decade, Mars Incorporated has handed its US$1.7 billion global media account to Publicis Groupe, ending a long-standing relationship with WPP’s EssenceMediacom.
The news, confirmed by Adweek, marks not just a massive business win for Publicis, but a deepening crisis for WPP, whose year is already marred by high-profile losses and the impending exit of CEO Mark Read.
This wasn’t just a standard pitch.
It was a six-month global marathon involving the world’s largest holding companies – Publicis, Omnicom, and the incumbent WPP – as Mars sought to streamline its agency relationships following its US$35.9 billion acquisition of Kellanova (the snack foods arm of what was formerly Kellogg’s).
With that acquisition comes a slew of heritage brands including Pringles, Cheez-Its, and Pop-Tarts, which are likely to become part of Mars’ evolving portfolio and agency strategy.
OneMars to Rule Them All
Publicis, already entrenched in Mars’ commerce business through its 2024 acquisition of Mars United Commerce, will now also oversee media, production, commerce, paid social, and influencer marketing in more than 70 countries.
A bespoke unit named OneMars will lead the charge, supported by Publicis’ AI and data infrastructure – a clear signal that the CPG giant is betting big on integrated intelligence and personalisation at scale.
Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe, framed the win as the next frontier in “brand building” – one where human insight fuses with machine-led intelligence to move at the speed of culture.
For Mars, the shift reflects a new philosophy, as articulated by Gülen Bengi, Mars’ chief growth officer: staying iconic means staying in motion – with fans and communities “in the driver’s seat.”
It’s a philosophy tailor-made for today’s marketing era, where static brand narratives are no longer enough.
From Snickers to Royal Canin, M&Ms to Pedigree, Mars is turning to hyper-relevance, agility, and experiential storytelling to futureproof its brands.
IPG Takes the PR Crown
In a parallel but equally strategic move, Mars has appointed Interpublic Group (IPG)’s Weber Shandwick Collective as its lead global PR agency.
The agency, already embedded within the Mars ecosystem, will now formalise its role across Mars’ global brand comms.
This two-pronged split – media with Publicis, PR with IPG – is a clear departure from the one-holding-company-to-rule-them-all model.
Mars, it seems, is curating an ecosystem rather than buying a single package.
Trouble at WPP
For WPP, the loss stings deeply.
Mars’ global media brief, once secured after a ten-month review in 2022, is now the third major loss for WPP’s media arm in 2025 – following Coca-Cola’s US$700 million North America shift to Publicis in March, and Paramount’s shock exit earlier this month after two decades.
WPP had hoped to reverse its fortunes with the rebranding of WPP Media and a strategic pivot toward AI-led marketing.
But despite those ambitions, the cracks are showing. Revenue dipped 5% in Q1 2025, and forecasts remain flat.
The timing couldn’t be worse: just days ago, Mark Read announced he would step down as CEO by year-end, bringing to a close a seven-year tenure defined by consolidation, digital transformation, and a steadying hand after the exit of Sir Martin Sorrell.
Publicly, WPP insists it remains “well-positioned” for future opportunities.
But privately, morale is faltering.
Losing three legacy accounts in rapid succession – all to Publicis – is more than bad optics.
It calls into question whether WPP’s decentralised model and cost-saving strategies are still fit for today’s interconnected, omnichannel world.
After a few quiet years following its acquisition of Epsilon, it has roared back into the global spotlight.
The Mars win is both a financial and reputational coup, reinforcing its positioning as the agency network most attuned to the evolving demands of modern marketing.
It also begs a bigger question: is this the end of the era where holding companies could count on legacy relationships as shields against competitive reviews?
In 2025, no account – no matter how long-standing – is safe.
Not even when it spans chocolate bars, pet food, and generations of shared history.
As Mars boldly reshapes its agency ecosystem, one truth emerges for marketers in Malaysia and across the region: integration, intelligence, and agility are no longer optional.
They are the new price of entry.
The agency world is learning, fast, that the future belongs not to the biggest, but to the bravest. END (760 WORDS)
