Accenture snaps up marketing and sales firm Brand Learning

Accenture has acquired marketing and sales consultancy Brand Learning, to help organisations drive sustained customer led growth by enhancing their marketing, sales, HR and leadership capabilities. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.The acquisition strengthens Accenture’s ability to drive end-to-end marketing and sales transformation for clients by creating a seamless service spanning marketing and sales strategy, organisational design and industry-specific consulting. It will also link with the digital design and engagement capabilities of Accenture Interactive.Headquartered in London with regional offices in New York and Singapore, Brand Learning employs approximately 120 people globally. Its experienced, high level advisory team will be combined with Accenture’s Customer and Channels management consulting and industry experts.The Singapore office first started up in 2014 and hired Sandeep Khanna, former vice president of corporate marketing APAC at LG Electronics and head of marketing at Nokia and Akzo Nobel ICI Paints to grow the office. A year later, board partner Harriet de Swiet was appointed managing director where she was responsible for global and regional clients and business development in the Asia Pacific region.“More than 90% of CMOs say marketing will undergo fundamental change in the next five years, driven by analytics, digital and mobile technologies,” said Laura Gurski, senior managing director and head of Accenture’s Customer & Channels practice for consumer goods and services, retail, travel, life sciences, automotive and industrial industries.Gurski added that with increasing digital innovation and personalised customer engagement, the marketing and sales functions are now seen as the key driver of top-line growth."Accenture’s acquisition of Brand Learning, with its impressive track record in building client capabilities in marketing and sales strategy and organization change will further enable us to help clients deliver more integrated customer experiences across the organisation – to drive and manage that business growth,” she said.Mhairi McEwan, executive president and co-founder of Brand Learning said being part of Accenture will allow its clients to benefit from a seamless service, building their marketing and sales capabilities to create the outstanding and connected customer experiences needed to drive growth.“Accenture is a leading global force in digital transformation and it is very exciting that we are coming together and that our talented team will also help contribute to the development of deeper consulting capabilities within Accenture,” said McEwan.Brand Learning has served leading organisations across consumer goods, retail, life sciences, automotive, resources and financial services industries and has capability experts in 16 countries.