Why Accenture Interactive CEO David Droga rebranded the company Accenture Song

Accenture Interactive will now go by Accenture Song as the consulting company consolidates over 40 marketing, communications, and consulting companies under one name and P&L. Accenture Song, which includes global agencies such as Karmarama, King James, Bow & Arrow, The Monkeys, Fjord, SinnerSchrader and Rothco, is projected to hit $14 billion in revenue by the end of this year. It works with clients such as Coinbase, General Mills’ Blue Buffalo and Shiseido. “Most” of the over 40 agencies will transition "pretty quickly" to the Accenture Song name, with a few taking longer to transition due to “cultural nuances and differences,” according to David Droga, CEO and creative chairman of the newly named group. He said the move was necessary to create a simpler model that clients could understand while also expanding the type of clients agencies are able to work on. “We are obviously not going to take any clients out of agencies or out of companies, but they're part of this bigger ecosystem now that opens doors for a client that was maybe in Spain [who] now may want to talk to us in Italy or vice versa,” Droga said. “It's more transparent about how we unite our resources so people aren't defending individual personalities or cultures," he added. "For clients it's much easier for them to understand that. Now when we show up it's as a united front from a geography and capabilities [standpoint].” Said Droga: "You either grow into the future or you're shrinking into the past." See all of the 2022 Ad Age Creativity Awards winners here Droga5 remains Noticeably absent from the consolidation is Droga5, which will continue to operate under its own name. Droga justified its preservation, saying, “It’s the only global brand agency that we have, it’s recognized by clients and talent everywhere." When asked whether there’s a possibility for his company’s name to be subsumed into Song, Droga said, “If it was for the better for the company? Yes." The move comes ahead of the three-year anniversary of Accenture Interactive’s acquisition of Droga5, marking its largest-ever acquisition by price, revenue and headcount. The move had reflected “an evolution in Accenture Interactive's journey to build a new agency model—one with the power to engineer transformative brand experiences and infuse those experiences with the emotional and inspirational power of brand thinking and creativity,” said a company statement at the time. Now, as the world emerges from the pandemic and as the company continues to see impressive growth, Droga sees a ripe opportunity for the consolidation and rebrand. “I’m not a person who comes in to sustain things, and I feel like when things are going well, it’s a chance to make the boldest moves, to do it from a position of strength as opposed to reacting to make up for shortcomings,” Droga said. According to Ad Age’s 2022 Agency Report, released this week, Accenture Interactive’s 2021 U.S. revenue jumped 27% to $5.9 billion, which is double the overall 13.5% U.S. growth rate for all the agencies in the report. Its 2021 worldwide revenue rose 17% to $12.5 billion. The company is ranked as the world’s fourth-largest agency company—behind WPP, Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe. Accenture Interactive “was an appropriate name at a certain time and place, but it morphed into something that was more generic, didn’t really have a personality,” Droga said. “It was like an ingredient as opposed to a culture.” Something bigger The name “Song,” he said, “has a certain soul to it” and reflects a “combination of humanity and technology. I want something that distinguishes who we are and where we are, but is not too tricky.” The rebrand reflects the long-term mission of what the company aims to become. The name Accenture Song intends to help shape and define that culture going forward. The companies that have become part of the Accenture Interactive family “had their own great brands that they built, a great history, but they signed up to be part of something bigger,” Droga said. It’s a rallying cry that “all the people that I'm asking to be part of this feel that they can put their own personality into it.” Accenture Song’s offerings now span creative, data, design intelligence, business transformation, customer experience, e-commerce and technology—including the metaverse, with the recently announced Metaverse Continuum, a practice dedicated to helping clients understand and apply various metaverse technologies and ideologies across their businesses. See all of Ad Age's A-List 2022 winners here. “All clients want us to transform for them. And transformation is one of those words that may be a bit overplayed, but you can't be in the business of transformation if you don't have the capabilities to show it. Even though I came from a world at Droga5 where I always thought the solution to everything was to repeat a bold idea in a marketing campaign and advertising campaign that's just part of it now. The idea [now is] maybe about how we set up some loyalty scheme and make them [a client] a digital company as opposed to just a product company or create a solution that unifies all their disparate things...I'm so proud of what Droga5 does and is. It’s the tip of the spear on so many other things, but it's one answer, it's not the whole ecosystem, and Song is going to bring all those things together.” Changes at the top The consolidation and rebrand arrive following a series of big leadership appointments the company has made since Droga stepped into the CEO post. In January, Droga5’s CEO Sarah Thompson became Accenture Interactives's global lead for communications and content. Former Droga5 Global Chief Creative Officer Neil Heymann rejoined his former boss Droga by year’s end as Accenture Interactive's first global creative chief, following a stint at Publicis’ Le Truc. In April, Droga5 London CEO Bill Scott was named a managing director for Accenture Interactive in the U.K. and Ireland. Beyond the Droga5 executives joining the Accenture ranks, the agency itself has also seen its fair share of executive changes lately. Droga5 London Chief Creative Officer David Kolbusz confirmed he was departing the agency earlier this month and was succeeded by Shelley Smoler. In February, Felix Richter, co-chief creative officer at Droga5 New York, departed the agency to join Mother London, while Droga5 Executive Creative Director Scott Bell was promoted to take his place. In January, former Apple exec Nick Law joined Accenture Song as global lead for design and creative tech. In November, Susie Nam was promoted to CEO of the Americas of Droga5, while Dan Gonda was named president of Droga5 New York and Sean Lackey to global chief marketing officer. The rebranded entity will also team up with Capri Holdings, a global fashion, luxury group consisting of notable 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,” according to a statement by Accenture. David Droga said he recognizes that combining the agencies under one name isn’t immediately an easy pill to swallow for some companies involved. “There'll be some hiccups that some people [at agencies] will probably be freaked out at the moment because they're so used to their own brands,” Droga said. “I expect all of that, but I just have to give them something that's more optimistic and collective that I think they can all buy into. That's what I feel is really important. At the end of the day clients don't care what you call yourself. They just care that you are delivering for them because they're all sort of desperate to get to a point where you can solve their problems. Their problems and their opportunities are coming at them faster than they ever had. So if we are the people who can run the gamut from solving with emotional, impactful, memorable things, all the way up to scalable, repeatable, and measurable, that's great. And if I can put that all under one umbrella or flag, why wouldn't I?” Contributing: Bradley Johnson

Why Accenture Interactive CEO David Droga rebranded the company Accenture Song

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