Accenture Interactive to Acquire Ad-Tech Firm Adaptly
13 December 2018 - 4:07AM
Dow Jones News
By Lara O'Reilly
Accenture Interactive is continuing its push into digital media
buying with an agreement to acquire New York City-based Adaptly, an
ad-tech company that helps marketers buy targeted ads across online
platforms including Amazon, Google and Facebook.
Adaptly was founded in 2010 and has nearly 150 employees across
offices in New York City, London, Chicago and Los Angeles. It has
raised over $13 million in funding, according to funding-data
provider Crunchbase. Terms of the Accenture deal weren't
disclosed.
Accenture Interactive, the marketing services arm of Accenture,
last May announced the introduction of its Programmatic Services
practice, positioning its offering as an alternative to those of
established advertising holding companies such as WPP PLC and
Omnicom Group Inc.
The division has worked for clients including Radisson Hotel
Group and HP Inc. to assist them with the planning, buying and
management of their digital media. Sprint, Prudential and Mazda are
among the brands in Adaptly's client roster.
The Adaptly acquisition will help Accenture Interactive "enable
workflow, improve quality assurance and really just operate better
and faster and more effectively for clients," said Scott Tieman,
global head of programmatic services at Accenture Interactive.
Accenture Interactive has been acquiring marketing-related
businesses -- from traditional ad agencies to design firms -- as
its parent company looks to expand the services it can offer to the
marketing portion of the C-suite. Other consulting firms, including
Deloitte and PwC, have embarked on similar strategies, although
Accenture has pushed furthest into the area of media buying so
far.
In a presentation to investors in London Tuesday, WPP, the
world's largest ad firm, listed competition from consultants in the
areas of technology and talent as one of the key challenges the
advertising industry faces. That has put pressure on traditional
Madison Avenue firms to counter by broadening the consulting
services they offer marketers.
Accenture Interactive has faced criticism for creating a
media-buying division. The 4A's ad-agency trade group said in May
that the new unit was "a clear conflict of interest" because
Accenture, the parent company, also has an auditing division
"responsible for auditing the trading results and processes of its
competitors."
Nikki Mendonça, president of Accenture Interactive Operations,
where Adaptly will sit once the acquisition is complete, said the
company is "very strict" about adhering to confidentiality
protocols. The auditing side of the business is housed within
Accenture's procurement arm, "a completely separate division" from
Accenture Interactive's operations, she said.
Write to Lara O'Reilly at lara.oreilly@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 12, 2018 11:52 ET (16:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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