Billions of dollars in ad budgets are about to change hands — and the terms attached to them are shifting. Reporting this week frames 2026 as the opening phase of a major media-account review supercycle, with the real volume expected in 2027. Coca-Cola’s global media is in review, and accounts have already moved for Microsoft, Adidas, IBM, Dyson, Estée Lauder, Heineken, Honda Europe, Jaguar Land Rover, and Kenvue. The pressure is structural: at least 27 of the top 100 advertisers haven’t reviewed their media in 7+ years, and those deferred reviews are now colliding with contract cycles.
01The numbers behind the wave
The scale: roughly $13 billion in concluded 2026 account moves, about $11 billion more under review, and $30–32 billion expected in total 2026 activity — though that’s actually down from $37.5 billion in 2025, with the bigger surge forecast for 2027. What’s new isn’t just the volume but the terms. Ebiquity CEO Ruben Schreurs said “all clients… are now in active consideration,” and MediaSense’s Ryan Kangisser put the motive plainly: “they want transformation.” Two negotiation points recur — outcome-based remuneration (paying agencies on results, not just fees) and AI governance (rules for how AI is used in planning, buying, and creative).
02Why marketers should care
| The terms you set now govern the next three years | With Coca-Cola's global media in review and accounts already moved for Microsoft, Adidas, IBM, Dyson, Estée Lauder and Heineken, 2026 is the opening phase and 2027 carries the volume. Whatever definitions go into the contract are what you will be arguing from until the next review. |
|---|---|
| Outcome-based remuneration moves risk, and moves it to whoever defines the outcome | Tying pay to results only works if both sides agree what a result is, measured how, by whom. Left vague, it becomes a dispute in year two. |
| AI governance is becoming a contract clause rather than a conversation | Brands writing AI rules into agency agreements are setting them once, for everything downstream. Silence in the contract is also a decision. |
The account-review supercycle is a quiet but massive force: tens of billions in budget shifting agencies, and with them, media strategies and publisher relationships.
03What marketers should do
04The bottom line
The account-review supercycle is a quiet but massive force: tens of billions in budget shifting agencies, and with them, media strategies and publisher relationships. The volume peaks in 2027, but the terms are being set now — outcomes and AI governance are the new price of entry. Publishers who track the moves, prove outcomes, and get their AI house in order will be positioned to win budget as it changes hands, not just watch it move.