Pepsi has appointed Firstborn as its digital agency following a review, AdAge reports. The publication also confirmed our earlier report that the brand would be handling social media in-house going forward.
Firstborn takes over for Cheil Worldwide-owned incumbent The Barbarian Group.
The news follows a series of major changes at The Barbarian Group. Last December Sophie Kelly left the agency and was replaced by Peter Kim. Less than nine months later, Kim also left the agency, replaced by interim CEO Aaorn Lau. In March, co-founder and chairman Benjamin Palmer left the agency after 14 years and CSO Ian Daly was part of a wave of executive departures just two months later. That same month, owner/CXO Keith Butters, CCO Edu Pou, head of talent/HR Michelle Prota and head of account management Sherri Chambers also left the agency. Barbarian co-founder Rick Webb told Digiday in an August interview that the agency is “literally being run into the ground.” In June, VML won creative AOR duties on Pepsi’s Brisk brand, following a review.
Firstborn has handled Pepsi’s SoBe brand since being selected over agencies including The Barbarian Group and Big Spaceship in a 2009 review. Earlier this year, Firstborn was selected to handle digital duties for Vonage. Last year, Firstborn founder and CEO Michael Ferdman left the agency and claimed to be done with advertising completely.