• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 7, 2015

Hey, if that headline sounds familiar -- yeah, it is. It was used when Starcom lost the Mars account earlier this month. No -- Omnicom hasn't exactly lost an account but they did just receive a bit of a snubbing from Pepsi, which eschewed the agency for two independent shops for some of the brand's "Live for Now" global campaign work.

The two new shops are New York-based Lloyd & Co. and New York-based Moondog. The agencies have created four new ads, which will run globally and will focus on "friends coming together and turning what could otherwise be an ordinary moment into something extraordinary," according to the brand.

Of the selection of the two smaller shops for the work, PepsiCo CMO Kristin Patrick said, "we have a very deep, long-going relationship with Omnicom and we are using them for many aspects of our 2015 campaign. But having said that, we want to find creative talent around the world that really suits whatever project we are working on. And for this one, we really wanted small, super-creative, nimble, fast agencies and a different spirit."

Hmm, well, if that isn't a GIGANTIC "wake up and smell the coffee" warning to Omnicom, I don't know what could be more clear.