Accenture has acquired independent U.K.-based creative agency Karmarama as consultancies and ad agencies continue to tread on each other’s turf.
The creative shop, comprised of over 200 people, touts clients like the BBC, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever.
Karmarama, which was founded in 2000 and received backing from Phoenix Equity Partners in 2011, is the latest in a series of acquisitions that Accenture has made “to rapidly scale” its “customer experience” offerings, the company said in a statement.
Accenture recently acquired a majority stake in IMJ Corporation, a digital agency in Japan; AD.Dialeto, a Brazilian digital agency; Pacific Link, a network of digital shops serving Hong Kong and Greater China; and Chaotic Moon, an Austin, Texas-based creative technology agency. Accenture also acquired U.K.-based design shop Fjord in 2013.
Agency services is an obvious add-on to consultancies that specialize in technology and systems integration, as well as broader strategic business consulting, especially since digital commerce and technology have blurred the lines that once separated marketing from other parts of a business. For example, the same online behavioral data can now be gleaned and used to inform both commerce and marketing strategy.
Accenture is among a flurry of consultancies that have had the same idea, including IBM, which bought mid-sized agency Resource/Ammirati early this year, and Deloitte, which also recently acquired creative agency Heat.
Consultancies continue to crowd an already competitive environment for agencies, which now also includes publishers and tech companies, but agencies aren’t rolling over just yet. For years, shops like Ogilvy and R/GA also have invested in consulting services, and Publicis a few years ago bet much of its future on consulting with the acquisition of Sapient.