Accenture buys marketing consultancy Brand Learning
Accenture has bought London-based marketing consultancy Brand Learning to work alongside digital operation Accenture Interactive. Brand Learning employs 120 people in London, New York and Singapore, working with more than 160 companies in 60 countries worldwide.
Accenture Customer & Channels head Laura Gurski says: “More than 90 percent of CMOs say marketing will undergo fundamental change in the next five years, driven by analytics, digital and mobile technologies. With increasing digital innovation and personalized customer engagement, the marketing and sales functions are now seen as the key driver of top-line growth.
“Brand Learning, with its impressive track record in building client capabilities in marketing and sales strategy and organization change will further enable us to help clients deliver more integrated customer experiences across the organization – to drive and manage that business growth.”
Brand Learning co-founder Mhairi McEwan (left) says: “Accenture is a leading global force in digital transformation and it is very exciting that we are coming together and that our talented team will also help contribute to the development of deeper consulting capabilities within Accenture. Being part of Accenture will allow our clients to benefit from a seamless service, building their marketing and sales capabilities to create the outstanding and connected customer experiences needed to drive growth.”
Advertising is one of the ways of creating such experiences, of course, and Accenture, which claims Accenture Interactive is the world’s biggest digital agency, has recently invested in creative agencies too, notably the UK’s Karmarama. Accenture as a whole is bigger than any of the advertising-based holding companies with 411,000 staff worldwide (WPP employs about 200,000, the others much less.)
The highly regarded Brand Learning will be a useful new weapon in its formidable armoury.
Good to see the business sold to a proper business. Hopefully Accenture cut back on the excess spending and inflated head count and really make it thrive.