Accenture Interactive to rebrand as Accenture Song; But creative agencies Droga5 and The Monkeys to retain their identities
Accenture today announced that Accenture Interactive will now go to market as Accenture Song. More than 40 acquisitions from over the past decade will begin to go to market as Accenture Song but Droga5 will continue to operate under its own brand name, as will (at least for now) Australasian-based The Monkeys.
Building on Accenture’s longstanding culture of change, the name Accenture Song conveys an enduring and universal form of human craft, connection, inspiration, technical prowess and experience —unleashing the imagination and ideas of its people to deliver tangible results.
“Accenture Song symbolizes the post pandemic growth journey we’re on with our clients,” said David Droga (pictured), CEO and creative chairman, Accenture Song. “Since its infancy, Accenture Interactive has helped clients build and grow their business by being experience-led. Today’s needs are strikingly different. To capture the next waves of growth, businesses now need to operate at the speed of life, perpetually demonstrating their relevance to their customers, their people and the world at-large.
We have the best talent in the business — people who will help shape the futures of many industries. Combining the forces of creativity and technology help us not only see problems differently, but also solve them with simplicity and scale. As Accenture Song, our opportunities are boundless, both for our clients and for our people,” added Droga.
Soon-to-be published research from Accenture Song found that nearly 90% of C-suite executives say that the current needs of customers and employees are changing faster than leaders can change their businesses, emphasizing the demand for new growth models.
“The pandemic fundamentally changed how B2C and B2B companies must engage with customers and employees; the speed at which they need to operate and innovate; and the opportunities to create new products, services and growth models,” said Julie Sweet, chairman and chief executive officer, Accenture.
“The companies that will lead in the next decade will undertake total enterprise reinvention, and Accenture Song is uniquely operating at the intersection of creativity, technology, intelligence and industry to help our clients reinvent connections and meaningful experiences, including in the metaverse continuum, sales, commerce, marketing and new business platforms. From idea to build to operate with strategic managed services, we are enabling our clients to access ideas, talent and results much faster.”
Accenture Song — which is projected to hit $14 billion in revenue by the end of FY22 (August 31, 2022) — works with future-facing brands including Coinbase, General Mills’ Blue Buffalo and Shiseido. Additionally, Accenture Song is teaming with Capri Holdings, a global fashion, luxury group consisting of the iconic brands Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors to translate its rich in-store luxury shopping experience to a digital experience that aligns with the unique desires of their customers and accelerate sustainable growth.
Accenture Song continues to be on the leading edge of harnessing the on-going technology revolution with its deep understanding of customers and enterprises to create new growth frontiers and opportunities. Most recently, it announced the Accenture Metaverse Continuum services — with deeply skilled professionals and market-leading capabilities to design, execute and operate clients’ metaverse journeys.
Mark Green (above), co-Founder Group CEO The Monkeys | Lead Accenture Interactive ANZ, sent the following message to the local team, explaining the situation:
Accenture Song is our new home. The ambition of Accenture Song is to be the go-to-destination for any business that has goals for sustained growth and customer relevance – from Fortune 50s to startups.
As Accenture Song, we bring to life the unlimited potential of imagination, technology, and intelligence. We deliver growth through relevance, at the speed of life. Success today for any organization, including ours, depends on how relevant you can be to your customers and employees at any given moment. The speed of life is our lens through which we examine the challenges inside a business and the opportunities in market and forces contributing to them.
From our own research, nearly 90% of C-Suites today say that the needs of customers and employees are changing faster than they can change their businesses, emphasizing the demand for a new growth model. Customer relevance and driving sustained growth is increasingly challenging for organizations. So our clients’ needs have shifted significantly – moving away from siloed marketing and customer experience needs, to a total convergence of the front office. This is a fundamental shift. Accenture Song is best positioned in the industry to help clients through this, but we needed to model the customer-centricity we advise.
Accenture Song is completely unique in what we offer clients, and we need to proactively offer clients that singular value proposition – and represent ourselves accordingly. With the opportunities in market, new integrated client offerings, and an operating model designed for collaboration, there is no better time than now to align under one name.
So what does this mean locally?
Accenture Interactive is now Accenture Song – internally and externally in the global market. Accenture Interactive as a name, will be sunset. Locally this means that Fjord will also transition to Accenture Song over the coming months. The journey for each acquisition will be different and at this moment The Monkeys will retain their name. We will continue to work with global, our clients and our people on this new stage for Accenture Song.
21 Comments
If Accenture needs a song I’m available to consult and compose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smpbcGt-urQ
The irony of Accenture ‘interactive’ was they are collectively very poor with delivering anything considered digital/creative. The Accenture ‘Song’ logo looks like it was designed by an accountant. Its very sad for our industry when our best are swallowed up by consultancies to make up numbers on a sheet. Then churn out awful spin and eventual mediocre work. To the clients out there, go with the indies.
The other news organisations have said the Monkeys is gone. They’ll rebrand.
Good old giant media conglomerates eh? Fuck em.
Accenture Hillsong. At the speed of life, of course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD34vTXkj7M
Marketing spin. Like ‘Lovemarks’ a decade or two ago at Saatchis. You have to marvel at the key players’ ability to sing from the same song sheet. Where on Earth do they find the enthusiasm?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g07Xxr20L9s
Either Accenture Song is the new branding for the integration of Accenture Digital and its various agency brands – or it’s not. Monkeys stays for now… but seriously facing threat of extinction.
To think where the Monkeys came from; two nice boys who left Saatchis and started an agency called Three Drunk Monkeys. Yes, they weren’t much good at arithmetic then, but one imagines they’re much better at it now.
And it’s easy to forget how far Droga has come since AWARD School.
Whenever there is take over and you get ‘X powered by X’ you know your brand portfolio strategy needs fixing
The leadership at The Monkeys know the brand is gone, within a matter of months. Time to front-up and be honest lads.
Australia is an island. As are other non-landlocked territories. Saying all names will fall under Sing is just the global PR piece for major markets.
Money is far more important at the extremities when it comes to global. Because its so little, but… impactful.
Remember Grey getting merged and defunct? Yet Grey still exists as a sole entity in some territories in APAC.
Monkeys will forever live on in Aus. Any good accenture accountant knows that.
I look forward to competing against them in every pitch. They’re damn good. Even if they’re forced to include the ‘a part of Accenture’ awkwardness on every slide.
I’ve always been a fan of The Monkeys and still am. But the work they do is just the same. Year in year out. I’ve heard it from people in the industry, and clients. Same lamb ads. Same type of work. Pre and post Accenture acquisition. Even when there were various ECDs and CCOs. It’s not a bad thing… but could be limiting within the Accenture Song era.
You all sing for me now.
Monkeys name will be gone within months.
Now that Accenture is a Song can we please skip them or turn them down. They’re like the acoustic stick music of the industry.
Aussie leadership always swinging the D
Where’s Jane Goodall when you need her?
Just call it Droga 5.
The most powerful agency brand in the world for a decade.
Monkeys means nothing outside of Sydney.
Droga 5 was a label the school-age Droga’s mum sewed onto his underpants. Maybe it’s time to move up to something more 2022, like Droga 6, or relevant to these Covid times, Droga 19.