Accenture is set to release a new ad campaign before the end of the year, but don't expect a new tagline, said Teresa Poggenpohl, executive director-global image. Not only does Accenture's “High performance. Delivered” platform set it apart from its competitors, she said, but research shows the tagline is relevant and helps bolster the company's reputation as a partner in helping its clients achieve success.
“The key thing we are known for is high performance,” Poggenpohl said.
The upcoming campaign will be handled by Accenture's new creative agency, TBWA Worldwide, New York, and global production shop Tag Worldwide. (WPP Group's MEC continues to handle media.) Y&R formerly handled the creative account and created the current “High Performance” effort, which uses animal metaphors.
This year, Accenture has also focused on a major corporate social responsibility effort, called Skills to Succeed, which it kicked off last fall. “It's added a whole new dimension to our brand,” Poggenpohl said. By 2015, the outsourcing and consulting giant wants to help 250,000 people around the world acquire the skills to get a job or start a business. It hired a documentary filmmaker to shoot a 60-second commercial and Web footage highlighting people who've been helped in the U.S., Brazil, India and South Africa. The commercial ran during the Accenture Match Play PGA Championship.
While digital is a big part of Accenture's media mix, Poggenpohl said traditional media is still important, as is focusing on a handful of high-profile events.
The company continues to expand into new areas. In September it opened the Enterprise Social Media Innovation Center in California's Silicon Valley to provide specialized services to clients. From a marketing standpoint, social media is important on two fronts, Poggenpohl said. It's effective “as a new way of listening to and engaging with our target,” and is also useful for recruiting, she said.
Accenture has been successful in landing new work this year. It recently won a $16.5 million information technology servicing deal from the European Parliament, as well as other government and enterprise contracts. —P.R.
