In a press release, global professional services company Accenture, announced that it would be launching a new company arm called “Accenture Interactive Programmatic Services.” This new division will give brand marketers three new core services: programmatic consulting and in-housing, media strategy, planning, and activation, and ad tech implementation and support.
According to Brian Whipple, global CEO of Accenture Interactive,
“As their experience agency, our clients have been asking us to help them drive greater efficiencies with their programmatic media spend, specifically digital media.
Consistent with our mission to create, build and run the best customer experiences on the planet, we are enhancing Accenture Interactive Programmatic Services to complement our full suite of experience services.”
Per the press release, this new division will help marketers drive transparency in media buying and planning. Additionally, marketers can expect to regain ownership of data and design audience-driven campaigns.
Accenture Interactive is collaborating with Accenture Operations on this new arm. The partnership will make media investment more efficient for big name clients like HP, Radisson Hotel Group, and Melia Hotels.
Accenture also partnered with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) on a research piece entitled “Programmatic In-Housing: Benefits, Challenges, and Key Steps to Building Internal Capabilities.” In it, they discovered that 65 percent of companies have chosen to buy programmatic media capabilities in-house. The company also found that,
“Programmatic ad spend will account for three of four (74%) digital video ad dollars invested this year and programmatic share of total digital display spending is expected to rise to 86.2% by 2020.”
Accenture will continue to collaborate with IAB to develop new transparent media models and conduct research on programmatic capabilities.
This new operation marks the third major Accenture acquisition or expansion this year. Back in April, the company acquired Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, a content agency focused on integrated marketing, creative execution, and direct-to-consumer marketing in an attempt to bolster their data and content offerings.
In January, they teamed up with Mackevision, the German creative company behind Game of Thrones’ visual effects among others, to elevate their mixed reality 3D visual and animation capabilities.
Over the past 5 years, Accenture Interactive, the company’s marketing subsidiary, has made a mind-boggling 15 acquisitions. Both cementing themselves as a player in the marketing world and emerging as a threat to Madison Avenue agencies.
The marketing world is changing and advertisers are constantly seeking lower-cost ad options and more simplified marketing solutions. IT and consulting companies have noticed this and many of them, are becoming well versed in the language of marketing. By opening up their own advertising divisions, they help brands cut their ad spend.
Accenture Interactive’s numerous acquisitions reflect their desire to become a go-to ad consultancy for brands. So far their partnerships have paid off.
They serve three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500, have appeared on Fortune’s ‘World’s Most Admired Companies’ list 15 consecutive times, and were named the world’s largest digital agency in the latest Ad Age Agency report.
Accenture continues to dominate the advertising and marketing space. It’s likely we will see more acquisitions and more offerings added to their already massive suite of solutions.
We may also see them becoming a do-it-all alternative to major ad holding companies like WPP, Omnicom, and Dentsu. In a nutshell, Accenture shows no signs of stopping. If holding companies want to survive, they’ll need to become more transparent.
What do you think of “Accenture Interactive Programmatic Services”? Do you think the age of traditional ad agencies is coming to an end? Share your thoughts in the comments.
