Accenture Interactive Expands its Design & Innovation Capabilities through New Fjord Studios, Bigger Global Footprint, Growin...
July 28 2015 - 9:03AM
Business Wire
To meet increased demand, Accenture (NYSE:ACN) continues to
expand the capabilities of Fjord, the design and innovation unit
within Accenture Interactive. Two years following the acquisition
of Fjord, Accenture Interactive, part of Accenture Digital, has
integrated and expanded its Design and Innovation capabilities
under the Fjord banner and will be investing further in service
design that drives business outcomes through the innovative use of
digital technologies and elegant design across platforms including
smart devices, tablets and PCs.
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In the past two years, Accenture has invested approximately $200
million to build and strengthen Accenture Interactive’s design
capabilities, including the 2013 acquisition of Fjord and, more
recently, Chaotic Moon, a digital design and creative technology
studio based in Austin. Accenture plans to continue growing its
Fjord unit both organically and strategically through a large-scale
recruiting program for design professionals, training new and
existing design professionals, and the opening of more Fjord design
and innovation studios in the US and abroad.
“Acquiring Fjord into Accenture Interactive’s experience,
marketing, content, and commerce business in 2013 was a
game-changer for us and, in our industry, gave us a huge head-start
in the successful integration of Fjord’s service design expertise,”
said Brian Whipple, senior managing director, Accenture
Interactive. “While companies are only recently waking up to the
power of design for business, we’ve already established a
world-class design and innovation powerhouse and made it work. We
are committed to extending our lead through significant and long
term investment. By connecting service design to Accenture
Interactive’s broader suite of marketing services, we’re helping
our clients succeed in today’s experience-driven economy.”
The successful integration of Fjord has led to a period of
strong growth and high demand for the end-to-end services offered
by Accenture Interactive, giving Accenture the differentiated
ability to offer holistic services across experience design,
marketing, commerce, and content. Since the acquisition, Fjord
has:
- More than doubled the size of its
design team
- Increased its studios from nine to 17,
including recent openings in Milan and Sao Paulo
- Expanded its geographic reach from two
to four continents
- Brought design work to many of
Accenture’s largest clients
- Infused design-led thinking via its
Service Design Academy to improve collaboration across Accenture’s
own HR and IT processes – catalyzing a new Accenture employee
experience
- Launched ground-breaking thought
leadership in its Design and Innovation Trends 2015 and The Era of
Living Services reports
“We’re firm believers in the transformational potential of
design,” said Olof Schybergson, co-founder and chief executive
officer of Fjord. “As customer experience design rises rapidly to
the level of C-suite conversations, we’re leading the way in
showing how a design innovation approach can engender business
success in everything from superior customer experiences to
far-reaching organizational change. Combining our design experience
with the leading business operations and technology platforms and
capabilities of Accenture, we believe we’re a superior match for
companies looking to transform their businesses through design-led
innovation.”
One such company is Skoda, the Czech automobile manufacturer and
part of Volkswagen Group, a long-term client of Accenture
Interactive and, now, Fjord. Skoda chose Fjord as its digital
partner on many strategic initiatives across Skoda’s European
markets – from driving its digital strategy and designing its
business platforms, to helping define the future of the brand.
“Over the last two years, Fjord has been a key innovation and
digital collaborator to Skoda – helping us to significantly grow
our business platforms, while successfully bringing in fresh ideas
and initiatives across our markets and moving us closer to our
goal of becoming a digital leader in our field,“ said Michael Lamm,
global head of digital, Skoda.
In addition to working with category leaders, Fjord is also
collaborating with digital innovators and disrupters including
Fitbug, a pioneer in wearables and proactive health and wellness.
Fjord designed Kiqplan, the pioneer digital fitness service that
works in tandem with a variety of smartphones, smart watches and
activity trackers. The service gives users simple but
targeted 12-week plans, such as ‘Beer Belly Blaster’
or ‘Goodbye Baby Bump,’ which give people motivating,
tangible goals and personal coaching. The digital packages are
sold in retail stores such as Target and Amazon.
"Kiqplan was born out of a desire to move wearables on to the
next chapter, making the data they create work harder and help
people to achieve goals that are important to them,“ said Paul
Landal, chief executive officer, Fitbug. "Working with Fjord was
highly rewarding. They helped us to refine our thinking and
create a service proposition that puts the end user at the heart of
the experience. The project continues to be highly
collaborative with our teams breaking new ground and has an
important role to play in the digital health space.”
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with more than 336,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal
year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is
www.accenture.com.
Accenture Interactive, part of Accenture Digital, helps the
world’s leading brands drive superior marketing performance across
the full multichannel customer experience. Accenture Interactive
offers integrated, industrialized and industry-driven digital
transformation and marketing solutions. With recent 2015
acquisitions including Brightstep in Sweden, Reactive in Australia
and the PacificLink Group in Greater China, Accenture is expanding
its capabilities to bring its unique blend of digital design,
marketing, content and commerce services to clients around the
world. To learn more follow us @AccentureSocial and visit
www.accenture.com/interactive.
Copyright © 2015 Accenture. All rights reserved.
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AccentureDavid LaBar, +
1-646-456-4505david.labar@accenture.comorJens R. Derksen, +
49-175-576-1393jens.derksen@accenture.com
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