Karmarama sells to Accenture

The agency’s executive chairman Jon Wilkins, chief executive Ben Bilboul, chief strategy officer Sid McGrath and chief creative officer Nik Studzinski will continue in their current roles and take on additional leadership positions in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.

“We believe this is a genuinely game-changing moment for clients and for our team, who will now have even greater opportunity to work with leading global brands across international markets,” said Bilboul.

Accenture has been snapping up a creative and digital agencies for a number of years as part of a plan to “create a new breed of agency – experience architects – which helps brands connect disconnected experiences and shares accountability with clients for their business outcomes.”

In April this year, it acquired a majority stake in IMJ Corporation (IMJ), a full-service digital agency in Japan. Prior to that, it added AD.Dialeto, an independent Brazilian digital agency; Pacific Link, a set of independent digital agencies serving Hong Kong and Greater China; Chaotic Moon, a Texas-based creative technology studio; and Brightstep, a Swedish provider of digital content and commerce solutions.

“Karmarama is a pioneer of modern creativity that CMOs want – a big ideas agency with a deep understanding of how to connect people with brands,” said Anatoly Roytman, head of Accenture Interactive in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America (EALA).

“Together, we have created a new industry powerhouse and one of the largest homes for digital creativity in the UK. This acquisition will help Accenture Interactive to meet growing client demand in the UK market and beyond, and will enable us more than ever to push the boundaries when it comes to creating remarkable brand experiences.”

Following the announcement, The Drum spoke to Joydeep Bhattacharya, managing director of Accenture Interactive and Karmarama chief executive Ben Bilboul to find out more about the acquisition. Read the interview here.