Accenture Interactive seeks tighter integration with launch of London locale
Aimed at bringing together design, advertising and technology talent obtained via numerous recent acquisitions by Accenture Interactive, the consultancy’s design wing has opened a new office in London. The facility is designed to integrate the diverse talents now accommodated by Accenture’s famous agency, as it bids to offer a holistic end-to-end design service, and win business from long-term advertising market incumbents.
In a recent report from Accenture, the multifaceted consulting firm found that the digital M&A deal trend is likely to continue over the next year as UK businesses increasingly look to buy-in the latest digital technologies and talent. However, while ‘buy over build’ strategies are useful for helping companies to accelerate change and drive competitive advantage, Accenture found that many UK businesses are struggling to extract the full value of acquisitions, due to their inability to integrate diverse company cultures. Having spent more than $1 billion on acquisitions in the design space last year, Accenture itself looks determined to buck this trend, with the announcement of its new combined Accenture Interactive office in London.
Accenture Interactive has grown substantially, and is presently ranked as the world’s largest digital agency in the latest Ad Age Agency Report. While this is something hotly disputed by design market incumbents such as WPP, further acquisitions in 2018, coupled with a growing client portfolio, have led the digital design wing of the international consultancy to consolidate its UK forces into an, expanded, state of the art base in the UK capital.
The 30 Farringdon Road location will host up to 100 employees, and enables Accenture to move its design, advertising and technology talent together, marking a new step in the firm’s approach to blending the diverse businesses and teams that it has acquired, allowing them to collaborate more closely with clients. Symbolic of this drive for integration is the fact that the Farringdon studio is in the same building as Karmarama, a London-based design agency that Accenture acquired in 2016, which already occupies one of the other floors.
The new facility will house the firm’s new Fjord studio – a design advisory firm acquired by Accenture in 2013 – as well as being home to space for all key parts of the Accenture Interactive business. Taking cues from the Scandinavian heritage of Fjord, the office will act as a blank canvas and fully flexible work environment. The multi-layered and functional design gives teams the ability to create effective work spaces to suit each of the projects they are working on. It is also aimed at allowing teams to create on site alongside clients in a dedicated client area. By bringing all elements of each project together such as marketing, media, creative and product/service design, project teams can co-create and help clients bring end-to-end experiences to life. This model plays to a key aspect of Accenture Interactive’s core values – with the group aiming to foster a culture of collaboration, co-creation and experimentation.
Abbie Walsh, group director, Fjord UKI, said, “As the founding studio in the Fjord network, Fjord London takes pride in continuing a legacy as a lighthouse for the organisation. This new, design-led space will encourage collaboration, cultivate creativity and bring breakthrough services to life. We’ve also designed the space with our clients in mind, encouraging them to come and create experiences with us.”
Joy Bhattacharya, head of Accenture Interactive for UK and Ireland, added, “We constantly encourage, and take proactive steps, to allow every part of Accenture Interactive to collaborate. Our philosophy is that we are a culture of cultures, working better together. Doing so physically is another step in this journey as we create and deliver the greatest customer experiences on the planet.”
Accenture Interactive’s global workload has seen a number of notable additions recently, including a partnership as the innovation partner of global media conglomerate The Walt Disney Studios, which sought the firm’s help to found StudioLAB. Disney is the latest of a host of high profile clients of Accenture Interactive, also featuring Maserati, which chose the firm to maximise investments in supporting and enhancing the end-to-end customer journey, US chocolatier Hershey’s, the Canadian Government, and the Vatican.
