The news: Publicis Groupe has won PayPal’s global media business, building on the holding company’s winning streak and proving to rivals that its momentum in securing major accounts shows no signs of slowing.
- WPP Media previously handled PayPal’s media account but resigned the account in April, citing the need to “pursue other opportunities,” per Ad Age.
- PayPal’s CMO confirmed the decision, stating the company’s hopes to modernize and work with a partner that understands its future ambitions and “reflects where [PayPal is] headed as a brand.”
Publicis’ winning streak: The PayPal account comes on the back of a massively successful year for the holding company.
- Publicis won Coca-Cola’s North American media business in March, taking it from WPP in a major blow to its struggling rival.
- The company also won WPP’s $1.7 billion Mars global media account in June.
- Publicis capped off a successful Q2 by winning Paramount’s global media account—another loss for WPP.
- And Publicis is making acquisition moves: The company snagged influencer agency Captiv8, data management service Lotame, and sports marketing agency Adopt in recent months.
Why it matters: Publicis already controlled PayPal’s creative account through its BBH USA agency—so winning its global media business enables the company to consolidate both creative and media under one network, bringing an integrated approach that’s increasingly attractive to clients.
Consolidating creative and media allows Publicis to streamline strategic planning, ensure alignment between messaging and media placement, and accelerate campaign execution while showcasing its expertise in the retail media space.
Our take: Publicis’ win of PayPal’s global media business underscores a growing advertiser shift toward integrated partnerships, where creative, media, and retail strategies merge to unlock greater performance and monetization potential.
- Publicis’ ability to combine creative, media, and retail under a single framework offers clients a competitive advantage in personalization and cross-channel ROI—driving the growing preference for unified solutions that connect branding with performance.
- Publicis’ strategy is helping it pull ahead of competitors by delivering the kind of integrated, tech-enabled solutions that advertisers now view as essential, not optional.