Let’s be clear, you don’t spend millions on management consultants when things are going well. You probably should, but you don’t
The big bucks are spent when you see a problem coming over the horizon or, worst case scenario, when you’re desperate for a solution to save your business. That’s when the likes of Accenture is called in to find a new path.
Traditionally such path finding has involved business analysis, readjustment of objectives and some inevitable cost cutting. It’s been a process that’s focused on the balance sheet and the business plan – a matter for the chief financial officer and maybe the CTO in digital businesses.
Accenture’s recent acquisition of Karmarama shows that times are changing. A rumoured £50 million was paid for the advertising and marketing agency that will become part of Accenture Interactive.
Brian Whipple, head of Accenture Interactive, told campaignlive.co.uk that the move would “help us reshape how brands imagine, create and deliver customer experience”.
Whipple said the goal was to create a new breed of agency “which helps brands connect disconnected experiences and shares accountability with clients for their business outcomes”.
Joined-up marketing
Connection and accountability are the key words here. Too many businesses adopt a piecemeal approach to the development of their brands, running short-term campaigns or using a variety of different marketing approaches that lack unity or properly shared goals.
And, when it comes to a consultancy service like Accenture, accountability is all. The move creates a one-stop shop where the problem can be diagnosed and solved, rather than passed down the line for someone else to fix.
The fact that Accenture is investing so much into its Interactive division shows how key this area is to the success of a wide range of businesses. It’s impossible to operate in a digital-free environment and Accenture is positioning itself strongly against its own competition.
Leviathan or experience architects?
Accenture Interactive says that the newly ingested agency will become ‘experience architects’, connecting people with brands.
But will this new operation be able to act with the agility and freedom needed to keep up with the pace of digital innovation, or will it be weighed down by the scale and scope of its ambition and parent company?
Whatever the case, the fact remains that the effective, connected digital brand experience has never been more important.
