Accenture to Expand Marketing Sciences and Data Services Capabilities with Acquisition of Media Audits
LONDON and NEW YORK; Nov. 3, 2005 - Accenture (NYSE:ACN) plans to expand its Marketing Sciences practice through the acquisition of Media Audits, a leader in the measurement of return on advertising investment. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in 30 to 60 days.
With the acquisition, Accenture’s global Marketing Sciences practice will comprise more than 200 professionals providing clients with a broad range of services that help them continuously measure, evaluate and optimize their marketing and media investments globally.
Jeffery Merrihue, who currently leads Accenture’s Marketing Sciences practice, has assumed the newly created position of chief executive officer of the practice. Julian Spooner, currently the CEO of Media Audits, will assume the newly created role of chief operating officer of Accenture Marketing Sciences.
"With the addition of Media Audits’ people, assets and methodologies, Accenture will be even better positioned to help clients more effectively manage their marketing spend," said Mr. Merrihue. "The fragmentation of communication channels has made it harder and more expensive to reach elusive target audiences. Our expanded Marketing Sciences practice will offer an ’industrial strength’ service globally to clients who want to accelerate growth and ensure greater transparency of their marketing investments in an increasingly cross-border world."
Industry analysts predict that by 2008, 40 to 60 percent of marketers will use analytics to help them improve their marketing programs and measure their returns on investment. Accenture’s Marketing Sciences practice will marshal the resources of its expanded organization to capture this growing market.
The acquisition of Media Audits - whose clients are among the top advertisers in the automotive, leisure, telecommunications and consumer goods sectors - will enable Accenture’s Marketing Sciences practice to offer marketing and media optimization services that allow marketers to track their investments, as well as those of their competitors, on a monthly basis with Web-enabled dashboards that include easy-to-access point-and-click capabilities.
"Under increasing pressure to generate demonstrable results from their marketing investments, chief marketing officers around the world need tools that help them evaluate their progress globally," said Spooner. "By joining Accenture, we will give clients access to more of the services they require to plan and evaluate the effectiveness of their media buys throughout the world."
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 123,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$15.55 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2005. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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Barbara Hohbach
+1 (703) 947 1838
barbara.d.hohbach@accenture.com
Kirsty Whitehead
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