‘Cagencies’ is a new word to enter into your business vocabulary. The new buzzword is coined by Anatoly Roytman (Accenture’s Managing Director for Europe, Africa and Latin America) to describe consultancies moving rapidly into the ad agency space. This new business battleground is seen as a substantial growth area for consultancies such as Accenture as they rapidly and successfully compete for ad agency dollars globally.
The marketplace, according to Roytman, needs businesses aiming to occupy the middle ground between more typical responsive creativity of ad agencies and traditional consultancies. This could lead for a wider engagement from end customers, by being more immersive and engaging as a result of being able to bolster market insights from tech giants whilst being edgy and creative in a way that only dedicated agencies can be.
Accenture is well placed for this, especially considering their technology consulting market share and Roytman’s most recent plan of attack, which has seen the acquisition of companies like the Fjord, Rothco, Karmarama and the Monkies. Fjord, for example, had previously brought us some memorable campaigns for brands such as Unilever, Velux and Save the Children. Post-acquisition, Fjord have opened a new studio in Farringdon and landed a huge new deal with Maserati. These successes could be, in part due, to Roytman’s leadership giving that ‘joined-up approach’ that the market has previously been lacking.
‘Cagencies’ could solidify Ireland as the next stop for creativity with a business know-how and technology background that only an established consultancy giant can provide. With Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PWC also hosting large offices in close proximity to Accenture’s in the Irish capital, this could be a new foray into tech and advertising innovation that we have not yet seen.
Accenture’s Centre for Innovation called “The Dock” is based in Silicon Docks in Dublin. Fjord have also opened a studio within the centre. Accenture also purchased RothCo, another world-class creative agency based in Ireland. Accenture also has much of its IP stored in Ireland as well as a Global Business Processing Centre making it the ideal destination for scaling and operating a global cagency model.
The market for such a business proposition as a ‘cagency’ is likely to grow; the financial and reputational security, technology infrastructure and business knowledge of an established professional services business placed alongside the creativity and agility of an agency that has proven that it knows what it is doing should be a pull for any client. Looking geographically, Accenture’s Centre for Innovation in Ireland is also surrounded by other technology businesses, including Facebook and Google, making it well placed to position as a global hub for Accenture’s cagency rollout. Whilst the invention of the term cagency lies firmly with Accenture and the aims of Anatoly Roytman, other powerhouses of tech and business could soon see the benefit to their clients and develop a new offering.
It is uncertain whether the buzzword ‘cagency’ itself will catch on and become commonplace in offices around the globe, but it will certainly be interesting to see what the increasing tie-up between ad agencies and consulting tech could mean for both the advertising world and more broadly for Ireland.
