Accenture

Introduction: Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and

outsourcing company with more than 190000 people serving clients in 120 countries. As a firm
that offers a large variety of services under the umbrella brand of Accenture, it needs to position
itself as a full service firm to serve all client needs along the range of possible advisory and
implementation services. Its services range from the strategy consulting to physical
implementation of the plans. Hence each project is seen as a potential source of repeat
business where there could be a continuous engagement with the client from its
conceptualization by the strategic advisory group, subsequent implementation and
improvement of the process by engagement with Accenture throughout the life cycle of the
project. This requires a great level of engagement through trust with the clients as well as its
employees.

Accenture serves a broad spectrum of industries like Automobiles, Aerospace & Defence
Contracts, Airlines, Border Management, Banking, Capital Markets, Building Material,
Chemicals, Consumer Goods and Services, Communications, Defence, Electronics and High
Tech, Energy, Financial Services, Forest Products, Freight and Logistics, Healthcare, Human
Services, Industrial Equipments, Infrastructure and Transportation, Life Sciences, Insurance,
Media and Entertainment, Metals, Mining, Non-Profit, Postal, Public Safety, Retail, Revenue,
Travel & Utilities. With such a diverse industry & business functions expertise,
comprehensive capability across industries round the globe and its extensive research on the
world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients across industries and
act as a catalyst to help improve their performance.

So, while Accenture needs to build awareness about it as a global brand that delivers results
not just strategies, it needs to convey the message to its target audience. The target audience
can be split across two segments.

1. Existing and Potential Clients: As they are source of revenues and the future
potential.

2. Potential Recruitments: Attracting talent is one the ongoing challenges and the
campaign need to target the best talent to deliver the high performance and
technological innovation that it promises.

In a B2B environment the marketing communication is focussed on developing a positioning

statement, developing the message, building a communication campaign and finally
measuring the results.

Message Strategy:

Positioning: The positioning statement for this campaign emphasizes Accenture to fit into
any type of organization. It also needs to highlight the fact that it delivers results on time.

Depending on the positioning statement a primary message has been developed which
conveys to its target audience on what it does and benefits it offers to them. The main
message is then supported by secondary messages which are industry specific and, ‘Latest
Thinking’ which in a nut shell gives a better picture of what Accenture is focussing on
delivering to its clients. The message while delivered that Accenture can provide expertise
and help businesses of all types it misses out on leveraging its leadership equity, its ability to
solve complex issues.

In the next level the real implementation in terms of what types of channel and what
advertisements will dictate the promotional campaign. Accenture has chosen the animal
metaphors to deliver its message which are simple yet effective in expressing the message.
But doubts have been raised about the effectiveness and image of Accenture in the long run
(Till the Tiger Woods fiasco in Dec 2009, Accenture had him as the brand mascot for six
years).

In the last stage of measuring the effectiveness and subsequently addressing the issues if any
arising from the analysis. In a B2B marketing the effectiveness can be measured by tying it
with the business results. So some metrics must be in place to measure the impact upon the
desired objectives, be it increase in volume of contracts, Cost per Lead or tangible changes in
customer perception.

In the era where more than half of the economic activities are accounted by companies,
government agencies, B2B marketing communication is great tool which can be leveraged to
increase the visibility and improve the perception of a firm.

[edit] What's driving growth in B2B Marketing?

The tremendous growth and change that business marketing is experiencing is due in large
part to three "revolutions" occurring around the world today, according to Morris, Pitt and
Honeycutt (2001).

First is the technological revolution. Technology is changing at an unprecedented pace, and

these changes are speeding up the pace of new product and service development. A large part
of that has to do with the Internet, which is discussed in more detail below.

Technology and business strategy go hand in hand. Both are correlated. While technology
supports forming organization strategy, the business strategy is also helpful in technology
development. Both play a great role in business marketing.
Second is the entrepreneurial revolution. To stay competitive, many companies have
downsized and reinvented themselves. Adaptability, flexibility, speed, aggressiveness and
innovativeness are the keys to remaining competitive today. Marketing is taking the
entrepreneurial lead by finding market segments, untapped needs and new uses for existing
products, and by creating new processes for sales, distribution and customer service.

The third revolution is one occurring within marketing itself. Companies are looking beyond
traditional assumptions and adopting new frameworks, theories, models and concepts.
They're also moving away from the mass market and the preoccupation with the transaction.
Relationships, partnerships and alliances are what define marketing today. The cookie-cutter
approach is out. Companies are customizing marketing programs to individual accounts.