HP Hands Global Media to Publicis, Ending Omnicom’s 17-Year Run

HP has named Publicis Media as its global media agency of record, ending a 17-year relationship with Omnicom Media Group. The decision followed a closed pitch between Publicis and Omnicom that concluded earlier this spring, with the account put at an estimated $250 million. PHD, the Omnicom agency that has handled HP since 2009, will pass the work to Publicis.

HP, Publicis Groupe, and Omnicom did not publicly detail the reasons for the switch. Adweek reported that Publicis and HP did not respond to requests for comment, while Omnicom declined. The new arrangement is the first major marketing decision made under HP’s interim leadership. The laptop and printer maker has reshaped its top marketing ranks in recent months, with the company also building out a new ad-placement business on its own PCs.

The Switch at HP

HP’s global media account covers strategy, planning, and buying across the laptop and printer maker’s footprint, with the bulk of digital media handled in-house at HP. Adweek reported that HP spent $194 million on media globally in 2023, with 69% of that spend flowing to digital channels, citing data from COMvergence. The 2025 spend is closer to $250 million. That figure is also the estimated value of the new account, per Adweek.

The spring decision followed a closed competitive pitch, with only Publicis and Omnicom on the final shortlist, per Adweek. Publicis and HP did not respond to Adweek’s request for comment, and Omnicom declined. The Omnicom tenure ranks among the longest in major consumer-tech media assignments.

Publicis Media now takes over the global account that PHD has held since 2009. The decision makes the agency the central media partner for one of the world’s largest computer and printer makers, with HP generating around $53.6 billion in 2025 revenue. HP also runs HP Media Network, the ad-placement business it launched on its own PCs to compete with smart-TV ad inventory from Vizio, Samsung, and LG. Adweek reported that HP’s creative work sits outside the media remit, with Wieden+Kennedy Portland and Accenture Song handling creative alongside HP’s in-house team.

How a 17-Year Run Came to an End

The HP-Omnicom relationship ran through four distinct phases over 17 years. Publicis inherits an account that expanded gradually across media channels and geographies before landing at the centre of a two-horse pitch this spring. The transitions map to a decade-plus shift in how global advertisers structure their media work.

• 2009: PHD won HP’s global traditional media business.
• 2017: PHD added global digital media duties.
• 2024: PHD retained the business, leading strategy, planning, and buying.
• Spring 2026: Closed pitch between Publicis and Omnicom; Publicis wins.

Long agency tenures are now rare. COMvergence found the 2025 overall retention rate was 21%, the lowest in eight years. The firm assessed more than 4,400 media account moves and retentions across 49 countries in 2025, totalling $37.4 billion in account value. The US accounted for 34% of total spend reviewed, followed by the UK at 10% and China at 8%.

The HP-Omnicom relationship sat well outside the median tenure the data describes. Most consumer-tech media accounts are re-pitched within five to seven years. Single-agency continuity beyond a decade is unusual in a market that re-pitches regularly. The US accounts-review base is broad, with COMvergence’s $37.4 billion sample covering more than 4,000 individual account moves. A relationship of that length, on a single global media remit, is unusual in the COMvergence sample.

Publicis came into the spring pitch on a streak. The agency’s 2025 US media new business came in at over $5 billion, the largest of any holding company, per COMvergence data. The HP account adds another marquee name to a list that already included Coca-Cola, Kenvue, Mars, PayPal, and TJX Cos.

HP’s Marketing House Is in Motion

The agency switch lands inside a turbulent stretch for HP’s marketing leadership. Three senior marketing roles have changed since February. HP has not said publicly when a permanent CMO will be named. The brief is the first major marketing decision made under the new interim team.

• Bruce Broussard was appointed interim CEO in February 2026.
• Longtime CMO Antonio Lucio departed for PayPal in April.
• John Koller is serving as interim CMO.

The change also fits how HP runs creative. Instead of a single agency of record, the company’s in-house team works alongside creative shops that include Wieden+Kennedy Portland and Accenture Song.

Accenture Song recently helped the brand recreate the iconic printer-smashing scene from the 1995 movie Office Space, with Ron Livingston returning as Peter Gibbons, to promote HP’s print subscription business. The work shows HP’s appetite for nostalgia marketing, with the brand now pushing connected and AI-powered devices. HP has also been promoting its subscription offerings in its largest markets, including the U.S. and EMEA, per Adweek.

HP is also a media seller in its own right. Last summer, the company rolled out HP Media Network to sell ad placements on its personal computers, per Adweek. The network competes for media dollars against smart-TV ad inventory from Walmart-owned Vizio, Samsung, and LG. HP runs the network as a separate business from its paid-media buying for product marketing.

HP generated around $53.6 billion in 2025 revenue, per Adweek. The Publicis arrangement lands as the company continues to operate under its interim leadership team.

The Holding-Company Map Tilts

Publicis’s 2025 dominance stretches well beyond the US. The Groupe’s total media new business for the year, including wins, losses, and retentions, came in at nearly $10.5 billion, COMvergence reported, dwarfing all competition. WPP Media ended 2025 with a net loss of $1.77 billion in new business, even as WPP Media’s India leaders cool the AI hype and bet on performance basics.

The HP loss lands inside the first full quarter of the new Omnicom-IPG, the combined group formed by Omnicom’s late-November 2025 close of the IPG acquisition, per COMvergence. HP’s $250 million is a small slice of the combined group’s business, and Omnicom’s roster of clients is broad enough that the loss is unlikely to move the combined group’s numbers. The HP loss is one of several notable account moves in the past quarter, with Omnicom landing IBM’s media account in April, per Adweek. The two account moves on opposite sides of the table, with HP leaving and IBM joining, give the combined group an even quarter on marquee tech accounts.

Where the $250 Million Goes

The figure is sourced from 2025 spending data per COMvergence, replacing an earlier 2023 baseline of $194 million when 69% of HP’s media spend went to digital channels. That puts HP in the same dollar band as Lenovo, which Publicis also consolidated globally inside a single dedicated unit directed by Performics and Spark Foundry. R3 consultancy co-founder Greg Paull estimated Lenovo’s paid media spend at around $200 million per year, with the dedicated Publicis unit covering the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa across both B2B and B2C brands.

Publicis Media’s brief for HP will inherit the same global media planning, buying, and strategy remit that PHD held since 2009, alongside the bulk of HP’s in-house digital operations. HP also runs HP Media Network, the ad-placement business it launched on its own PCs to compete with smart-TV ad inventory from Vizio, Samsung, and LG. HP sells to many of the same media buyers it now buys from, with the new agency as the connective layer. The 2009 starting remit covered only traditional media, and Publicis now takes over a mandate that has since expanded to include digital, HP’s subscription business, and HP Media Network.

On the metrics, the relationship is a major one for Publicis Media. The HP account is among the largest in Publicis’s 2025 US new-business class, which COMvergence put at over $5 billion. The long Omnicom tenure that just ended is a useful counterpoint to the industry churn COMvergence found, with the research firm putting the 2025 retention rate at 21%, the lowest in eight years.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HP’s new media agency?

Publicis Media takes over HP’s global media account, ending a 17-year Omnicom Media Group relationship that began in 2009. The decision followed a closed competitive pitch this spring, per Adweek.

What was the HP-Omnicom account worth?

The account is estimated to be worth around $250 million, based on 2025 spending data per COMvergence. HP spent $194 million on media globally in 2023, with 69% of that spend going to digital channels.

Who is now leading HP’s marketing?

HP is operating with an interim leadership team following the departure of longtime CMO Antonio Lucio to PayPal in April. Broussard took the interim CEO role in February 2026, with Koller filling the interim CMO seat. The agency switch is the first major marketing decision made under the new team.

How does this fit the wider holding-company picture?

Publicis’s 2025 US media new business totalled over $5 billion, per COMvergence, the largest of any group. Omnicom and IPG closed their merger in late November 2025, and Omnicom also won IBM’s media account in April, per Adweek.