Why big brands are turning agency reviews into quiet affairs

These days, everything is getting quieter. Employees check out in silence — quiet quitting. Companies nudge them out just as discreetly — quiet firing. And now, even the high-stakes theater of ad agency reviews has been muted. Advertisers are ditching the bloated pageantry of requests for proposals in favor of something more understated: no press, no pomp, just quiet deals behind closed doors.

Look at Coca-Cola. Its North America media review unfolded in near silence. Publicis Media looks like its close securing the win, and only then did word get out. Now, Coca-Cola is ironing out the transition from GroupM, according to a source with direct knowledge of the process.

For some CMOs, this is the new playbook. The era of milking an agency review is fading. Now, discretion is the name of the game.

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