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Tag: Accenture

  • Citi selects Rituparna Ghosh as VP- strategic communications

    Citi selects Rituparna Ghosh as VP- strategic communications

    MUMBAI She’s landed in Citi. Former Linde head corporate communications south Asia, Asean, and CSR-Asean  Rituparna Ghosh has moved into the position vice-president -strategic communications at Citi.  

    Rituparna who’s dabbled in several fields from being a copywriter (Continental Advertising), instructional designer (Brainvisa Tech, Accenture and Unisys), business content solutions provider (Fidelity Business Services), and business and creative services (EY), finally found her mojo in the area of communications when she  signed a contract with Unilever as a strategic communications consultant.

    Since then, the MBA  in marketing   has stuck to basics, to the knitting. Her journey has been in the field of image management over  the past five years.

    And she appears to be doing  a good job, going by the way she was drafted from Linde by Citi for a super relevant post. 
     

  • Accenture launches Media Thrive Index for media and entertainment industry

    Accenture launches Media Thrive Index for media and entertainment industry

    Mumbai:  Accenture announced the launch of its Media Thrive Index to assess the impact of reinvention strategies on media and entertainment companies’ ability to succeed financially and strategically in an increasingly challenging industry.

    The Media Thrive Index is a response to the findings of Accenture’s third annual “Reinvent for Growth” global entertainment study, which surveyed 6,000 consumers across 10 countries including India about their media consumption behaviours. The study highlighted a complex landscape of challenges facing traditional media companies in which marginal strategies won’t restore them to economic or strategic health.

    “While the media industry is growing, the industry players are not. This essentially means that the value is shifting elsewhere. It is amply clear that incremental actions taken with a survivalist mentality will not help media companies thrive in the future,” said Neeraj Sharma, MD and Lead for Accenture’s Media industry in Growth Markets. “For media companies, the need of the hour is to place big bets, go where consumers want to be while exploring new avenues of growth, redefining new roles in the entertainment value chain, and tapping new sources of revenue.”

    The Media Thrive Index assessed 50 different strategic options for reinvention, identified from a range of initiatives launched by companies and Accenture’s strategic analysis. The assessment found most options so far are modest adjustments, which do not substantially alter a company’s economic profile. Only radical moves show a path for legacy media companies to secure the sound financial footing needed to thrive and sustain success.

    Caption: Accenture’s Media Thrive Index measures the extent to which a reinvention strategy positions a company to succeed by assessing its likely financial, growth, and strategic impact.

    Key findings from the study highlight some of the challenges facing media organizations:

    ●   Tired of Browsing – More than 35 per of consumers in India say they struggle to navigate between different entertainment services, apps and devices while 72 per cent say of recommended content does not match their interests.

    ●   Serial Churners – Nearly 65 per cent of consumers in India are cancelling and resubscribing to services based on the availability of desirable content. In 2023, 63 per cent of consumers in India cancelled more subscriptions than the previous year.

    ●   Shifting Preferences – Two-thirds of consumers in India consider user-generated content to be as entertaining as traditional forms of media. In all scenarios presented to consumers, such as “when I want something funny” or “when I want to relax,” social media and social video platforms were consistently picked over streaming video services as the media of choice.

    The study also found opportunities for media organisations to expand beyond traditional content offerings, including aggregation platforms and lifestyle bundles. A majority (89 per cent) of consumers in India said they would be inclined to use a single app to access all their digital services across both media and non-media categories. Additionally, Accenture projects lifestyle bundles to reach $3.5 trillion in consumer spending by 2030 with technology brands better positioned over traditional media brands to be the creators of these bundles.

    Research Methodology
    Accenture researched to gain an understanding of consumers’ preferences, beliefs and behaviours on their online entertainment experiences. The online survey of 6,000 consumers aged 18+ in 10 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.) was designed to assess the impact of shifting media consumption habits on company strategies and offer suggestions for brands across the media spectrum to adapt their models to be more relevant and successful with customers. Fieldwork was conducted between November and December 2023. Oxford Economics assisted in developing the survey, carrying out fieldwork, analyzing the data, and deriving key insights.

  • McDonald’s and Accenture expand tech partnership for enhanced experiences

    McDonald’s and Accenture expand tech partnership for enhanced experiences

    Mumbai: McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced an expansion of their strategic partnership to help execute McDonald’s strategy to leverage the latest edge technology and apply generative AI solutions across its restaurants worldwide to improve operations as well as customer and crew experience. Through this work, McDonald’s also will enhance the digital capabilities of its employees.

    This partnership will help support McDonald’s technology strategy which aims to leverage scale and unlock greater speed and efficiency for customers, restaurant teams, and employees. This includes the acceleration of automation innovation from equipment manufacturers, allowing restaurant general managers to quickly spot and enact solutions to reduce business disruptions, ultimately reducing complexity for restaurant crew and leading to customer benefits such as hotter, fresher food.

    This phase of innovation is also designed to build an even stronger technology team at McDonald’s. Accenture will help train and support McDonald’s global workforce by using Accenture’s learning and development programs, online training courses and boot camps for emerging talent to ensure the workforce has the AI, data and edge computing skills needed in the digital era.

    McDonald’s executive vice president and global chief information officer Brian Rice said, “In order to unlock the opportunity in our ongoing digital investments, we chose Accenture, our long-time partner who has helped us build our digital foundation, to work with us on this next phase of innovation. Accenture’s deep understanding of our business, our industry, and of course technology, will allow us to leverage the full potential of the cloud and generative AI solutions by implementing advanced practices to quickly leverage those technologies as well as to nurture and empower the talent within our organization. Lifelong learning and digital upskilling are at the heart of our culture and long-term growth plans – and embedding this across our workforce will enable greater business agility and performance.”

    Accenture chair and CEO Julie Sweet said, “We are incredibly proud to continue to partner with McDonald’s as they reinvent the customer experience, stay ahead of their customers’ changing needs and reimagine what a restaurant can be. This new work will be a leading example across industries of innovating with tech data and AI at the core, across the cloud continuum, all the way to the edge. And doing so in a way that keeps their people in the forefront, building the skills they need to meet and delight their customers in new ways every day.”

  • Unilever and Accenture collaborate on next generation AI

    Unilever and Accenture collaborate on next generation AI

    Mumbai: Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is joining forces with Unilever, the consumer goods multinational —whose 400+ brands are used by 3.4 billion people every day— as part of a strategic initiative to leverage Unilever’s AI research and implementation of technologies that enhance productivity, drive efficiencies, and accelerate disruptive and AI-powered innovations at scale.

    The work will kick-off from Unilever’s global AI Lab “Horizon3 Labs”, recently opened in Toronto — a city recognized for its concentration of AI expertise and home to one of Accenture’s six Gen AI studios in North America.

    The two companies will explore new applications to scale generative AI; for example, assets from Accenture’s AI Navigator or its proprietary “switchboard,” which allows a user to select a combination of models to address the unique business context.

    “This collaboration builds on our relationship of more than three decades with Unilever, which continues to raise the bar as a digital powerhouse and industry leader,” said Accenture CEO & chair Julie Sweet. “The combination of Horizon3Labs’ disruptive innovation with Accenture’s deep expertise and strong ecosystem partnerships will help Unilever scale AI and generative AI more rapidly and responsibly across its business and discover new pathways to value.”

    “We are excited about building on our long-standing partnership with Accenture to step up our innovation agenda and drive value for our consumers, retailers, and distributors. Horizon3 Labs is a unique platform for collaboration and co-creation, and we look forward to working with Accenture and other partners to take our investment in AI to a new level,” said Unilever chief enterprise & technology officer Steve McCrystal.

    This initiative will leverage the industry solutions and accelerators within Accenture’s previously announced $3 billion investment in data and AI. As part of these efforts, Accenture will connect Unilever with its top data and AI experts, and help capitalize on Accenture’s ecosystem partnerships, ventures, and strategic investments within its Center for Advanced AI, which includes more than 1,450 pending and issued patents in Accenture’s AI solutions and learnings from more than 300 generative AI projects. 

  • Accenture Song to drive content production transformation for Accor

    Accenture Song to drive content production transformation for Accor

    Mumbai: Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been appointed by global hospitality group Accor to support its content production capability, driving scale and establishing consistency in local and global marketing communications across its hotel brands, tailored to guests’ evolving needs.

    Accenture Song, Accenture’s tech-powered creative group, created the ‘Content Atelier’, a new data-driven content supply chain model that aims to create personalized, flexible, efficient and high-quality marketing and communications content across every customer touchpoint, whilst reducing costs.

    Accenture Song will support content production for all Accor brands

    Spanning both physical and digital communications, the ‘Content Atelier’ will be available to all Accor marketing professionals worldwide, enabling content production management from the initial brief to performance measurement and content optimization. The service has been developed with leading design principles and utilizes Accenture’s SynOps platform for marketing and content operations, whilst being integrated into Accor’s infrastructure.

    Against a backdrop of changing guest expectations and global macroeconomic shifts, the ‘Content Atelier’ uses a data-led approach to enable Accor brand marketers to focus on their most important activities, whilst aiming to increase the effectiveness of its digital marketing programs, drive more traffic to its branded website, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

    Technological innovation is key to the design of the service, with generative AI part of the strategic content production roadmap. In support of Accor’s commitment to shape the future of travel, sustainability sits at the core of all content production activities through brand and marketing strategy to marketing content activation.

    The ‘Content Atelier’ supports Accor marketers deliver exceptional customer experiences.

    Accor VP digital marketing & eCommerce, premium, midscale & economy brands Stéphanie Jaffré  said, “Accor is committed to extending hospitality and inspiring new opportunities and experiences for our guests. So, it is crucial we have the right framework in place to reach our guests in the right way at the right time on the right channels, to inspire and support their travel needs and desires. Consumer attention is not agnostic, it spreads across multiple digital channels and we need be able to communicate with our guests on all relevant platforms, particularly at the research and inspiration stage of the customer journey. Hospitality is all about connecting with people and through our new digital content strategy we can better connect with, inspire and serve our guests.”

    Accenture Song managing director Martial Viudes said, “Together with Accor, we have redesigned the experience for Accor marketing professionals, aiming to optimize efficiency on a global level and ensure locally relevant, ultra-personalized experiences for its guests. We are proud to support Accor in creating a new generation of content production, harnessing our deep industry, creative and technical expertise. The development of the ‘Content Atelier’ serves each brand within the group according to their marketing ambitions, delivering bespoke and creative points of delight worldwide.”

    Accenture Song, which has been working with Accor’s marketing and content teams for almost four years, is already producing the Group’s content in multiple countries in Europe.

     

  • Amid an era of volatility “The Resilient Consumer” is adapting to change: Accenture survey

    Amid an era of volatility “The Resilient Consumer” is adapting to change: Accenture survey

    Mumbai: More than half (65 per cent) of consumers in India believe they are currently living with uncertainty, and one in ten expect it to last at least five years, according to new research from Accenture. The research is the latest in a series of consumer surveys that Accenture has been conducting to test the pulse of consumer outlook and sentiment since the start of the pandemic that has propelled an “Era of Volatility”, where an ongoing state of uncertainty is spurring people to change behaviours suddenly and often in unexpected or contradictory ways.

    “The Resilient Consumer”

    The survey – of more than 10,000 consumers in 16 countries including India — found that despite lasting uncertainty, the “resilient consumer” is adjusting to continued disruption by seeking out ways to protect and control what’s important to them. In addition, the majority appear bullish about their financial situation, with 88 per cent of consumers in India expecting their disposable income to stay the same or improve in the next 12 months.

    Resilient spend categories

    A strong indication of consumer resilience is their intention to spend more. When asked how their expected spend will change over the next six to 12 months, respondents in India said they plan to spend more across 11 of 15 categories – such as wellness, clothing and apparel, beauty, and essentials like healthcare and groceries.

    Accenture in India managing director and lead – strategy & consulting Vineet R Ahuja said, “Our survey reiterates the optimism of Indian consumers that is reflected in their purchase decisions across categories. To stay relevant and in step with evolving consumer demands, companies need to effectively use data and analytics to provide meaningful personalised offerings in real-time especially in an era of volatility. This consumer-centric approach requires a continuous reinvention strategy to stay agile and build forward-looking capabilities.”

    Health is a top priority for Indian consumers and 79 per cent intend to maintain or increase spend on wellness in the next one year. 94 per cent of consumers in India are willing to provide their personal data with at least one kind of company in exchange for meaningful health and wellness products and services with 87 per cent of consumers interested in personalised offerings.

    After a year of strong growth for the travel industry, 70 per cent of consumers in India plan to sustain or increase their current spending on leisure travel in the next year, with 76 per cent planning leisure travel and nearly half (46 per cent) planning two or more leisure trips in the coming year. This signals that consumers still see travel as an essential part of their lives.

    Companies must anticipate and proactively prepare for sharp and sudden shifts

    A separate Accenture macroeconomic analysis warns that the persistence of inflation, high interest rates, and growing income and employment uncertainty, could further test the resilience of consumer spending in the coming months.

    The consumer pulse survey highlights that consumers with resilience are not naïve about the state of the world. 67 per cent in India say that challenges in recent years have created opportunities for them, and 77 per cent are trying new experiences or adopting new habits to improve their lives.

    Resilient consumers, resilient values

    The environment is a top concern for Indian consumers with 57 per cent saying they are more or equally concerned about the environment than they are about their personal finances. The survey also shows nearly all consumers in India (90 per cent) have increased sustainable shopping behaviours in the last 12 months, such as only buying what they need, taking their own bags to the store, buying better quality goods that last longer, repairing or upcycling what they have, and buying reusable or refillable products.

  • Bizongo ropes in Tushar Kamat as Chief Business Officer

    Bizongo ropes in Tushar Kamat as Chief Business Officer

    Mumbai: Bizongo, India’s leading supply chain automation platform, has announced the appointment of former Accenture managing director & Airtel business CEO Tushar Kamat as chief business officer. In his new role, Kamat will be responsible for business strategies, partnerships, marketing, monetization, growth and global expansion at Bizongo.

    Kamat’s appointment comes at a critical juncture as Bizongo looks at entering the unicorn club in early 2023. An accomplished veteran across technology domains, he has more than 25 years of experience in sales leadership, scaling business growth, and enabling business transformation by developing go-to-market strategies for generating revenue.

    Kamat has been associated with leading technology organizations including SAP, Accenture, Airtel, and TCS. In his most recent role as field operating unit head for the India business at Automation Anywhere, he drove hyper-scale business growth by 250 per cent during the covid era.

    Bizongo chief operating officer Aniket Deb said, “Kamat joins us at a very exciting juncture in our growth journey. We are confident that his strategic outlook and growth mindset will help us achieve profitable business growth and create value for our customers & vendors. His ability to deliver large-scale impact will enable us to scale our vision faster and digitally transform vendor management and the entire supply chain for MSMEs.”

    Commenting on his appointment, Kamat said, “I am very excited to join Bizongo during this hyper-growth phase. I am confident to leverage my diverse experience to transform and grow Bizongo’s business in India and globally.”

    Kamat is also co-founder & non-executive partner of Nyaasah Care LLP, a social start-up aimed at providing care with empathy for senior citizens leading a lonely life in India.

  • Accenture pledges $25 million for Covid relief in India

    Accenture pledges $25 million for Covid relief in India

    KERALA: Software giant Accenture has pledged $25 million (about Rs 185 crore) to support the Covid relief efforts in India. Additionally, the company will also give access to Covid vaccines for over two lakh eligible employees and their families in India. 

    “Safety and well-being of our people continue to be our top priority and we are providing care, support, and access to vaccines for our eligible people in India who are facing an unprecedented challenge,” Accenture said in a statement. 

    The Ireland-based MNC will also provide PPE kits to frontline workers, and food and home care kits to the poor people in the nation. The company is also working closely with the government to support vaccination camps and provide local language call-centre support. 

    Accenture India chairperson & senior managing director Rekha M Menon said that the company stands in solidarity with India. 

    “We have made a fresh pledge of $25 million for pandemic relief efforts in addition to the ongoing investments in our people and communities. The local and global efforts include providing ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and medical kits,” wrote Menon on her Linkedin page. 

    A few days ago, Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF), the philanthropic arm of Hyundai Motor India, had also announced Rs 20 crore relief package in the midst of the raging second wave of the pandemic in the country. After announcing the relief package, Hyundai Motor India said that the funds will be used to deploy resources to set up oxygen generating plants in hospitals, to aid critical patients, and help hospitals become self-sufficient in oxygen. 

  • Accenture launches experience activation network to power growth for World’s leading brands

    Accenture launches experience activation network to power growth for World’s leading brands

    MUMBAI: Accenture has opened a center in Mumbai that serves as the centerpiece of its new “experience activation network,” a collection of state-of-the-art sites worldwide that are dedicated to powering brand experiences that deliver marketing-led growth.

    The experience activation network is part of Accenture Interactive Operations — the marketing managed services arm of Accenture Interactive— which harnesses talent, technology, and process innovation through SynOps for Marketing, to deliver dynamic brand experiences across all consumer touchpoints and channels. 

    Occupying two floors of its Intelligent Operations Center in Mumbai, Accenture’s new experience activation center includes dedicated design thinking spaces, immersive demonstration zones and interactive digital surfaces, as well as open collaboration zones for clients to co-create alongside industry-specialized teams. 

    Among those at the center’s opening today were executives from a number of marketing pioneers — including GlaxoSmithKline, Radisson Hotel Group, Shell and others — that have embarked on bold marketing transformations with Accenture, using emerging technology, a global shared services model and process innovation to drive experiential-led growth.

    “With the customer experience increasingly a driver of competitive advantage and sustained growth, the marketing function is emerging as a new organizational superpower,” said Debbie Polishook, group chief executive of Accenture Operations. “Our experience activation network is helping clients stay one step ahead of the convergence of the front and back office by enabling CMOs to transform their operating models and capitalize on the growth opportunity ahead of them.”

    Key targets for the new center include chief marketing officers and other marketing executives, many of whom are struggling to meet the rapidly evolving needs of consumers. In fact, recent research from Accenture found while only one-sixth (17%) of nearly 1,000 CMOs surveyed know how to transform their operating models to deliver hyper-relevant customer experiences at a global scale, organizations that do deliver such experiences generate shareholder returns 11% higher than those of their industry peers.

    Beyond the Mumbai location, the global experience activation network includes similar centers in Turin, Italy;  Malaga, Spain; Warsaw, Poland; Dalian, China; and Costa Rica. These centers are connected to more than 100 Accenture locations worldwide to seamlessly bring the best of the company’s investments in innovation to clients anywhere in the world.

    In addition, the experience activation network is among the world’s largest concentration of marketing activation experts, bringing together tens of thousands of professionals worldwide that include data scientists, graphic designers, platform practitioners, content production specialists, programmatic experts and ecommerce experts.

    “We have built a model for a new generation of marketers who must deliver a meaningful and connected customer experience across all touchpoints and channels,” said Nikki Mendonça, president of Accenture Interactive Operations. “Our experience activation network powers a marketing-led growth agenda by harnessing all the skills, assets and capabilities our clients need to activate, operate and scale customer experiences with greater speed, scale and agility.”

    The experience activation network will take full advantage of the latest managed services from Accenture Interactive Operations, which include:

    Next-generation content services to amplify content at scale and drive dynamic personalized experiences using the latest techniques and technologies.
    Digital marketing services to activate digital channels dynamically to grow marketing-led revenue, using proprietary algorithms and machine-learning intelligence, and deliver personalized, seamless brand experiences.
    Programmatic media services to drive growth by executing multi-platform paid media activity programmatically and with full transparency to improve top and bottom-line results.
    eCommerce services to boost digital sales by enabling customers to discover what they want, find what they are searching for, and buy what they want the way they want it.

  • Accenture finds 82% consumers prefer companies with shared purpose

    Accenture finds 82% consumers prefer companies with shared purpose

    MUMBAI: Accenture released its fourteenth annual ‘Accenture Strategy Global Consumer Pulse Research’ report. The ‘From Me to We: The Rise of the Purpose-led Brand’ revealed that 82 per cent Indian consumers prefer to buy goods and services from companies that stand for a shared purpose that reflects their personal values and beliefs, and are ditching those that don’t, according to new research from Accenture. The report has been created after conducting a survey on nearly 30,000 consumers from around the world, including 660 Indian consumers, to gauge their expectations of brands and companies today.

    Accenture India geographic unit and country senior managing director Anindya Basu said, “Technology and media have empowered consumers to take a stand on their opinions and beliefs, and this has had a profound impact on how they evaluate their brand associations. Price, product quality and customer experience continue to be important considerations but a brand’s purpose beyond profit has emerged as a clear differentiator.”

    Basu added, “This shift in expectations from ‘give me what I want’ to ‘support the ideals we believe in’ provides brands the opportunity to create stronger and more resilient customer relationships which generate more sales and greater customer lifetime value.”

    Other pointers highlighted by the report include that 81 per cent of Indian consumers want companies to take a stand on the social, cultural, environmental and political issues close to their hearts while 84 per cent say their purchasing decisions are influenced by the words, values and actions of a company’s leaders. Consumers are attracted to organisations that are committed to using good quality ingredients (84 per cent), treat employees well (70 per cent), and believe in reducing plastics and improving the environment (74 per cent).

    Furthermore, 84 per cent crave greater transparency in how companies source their products, ensure safe working conditions and their stance on important issues such as animal testing. 84 per cent of consumers believe their individual protest actions, such as boycotting a company or speaking out on social media, can make a difference in how companies behave. Forty-eight percent have been disappointed by how a company acted which betrayed consumers’ belief in what the company stands for, and 59 per cent have stopped doing business with the company as a result.

    Accenture Strategy managing director, customer insight and growth strategy Vineet R Ahuja said, “Understanding how to instill a sense of ‘brand belonging’ through a clear and relevant purpose is quickly becoming a prerequisite to stay relevant in today’s hyper-competitive world. To usher in the next era of engagement, companies need to focus on creating a community of loyal, engaged and valuable brand proponents. Involving customers, employees and the larger ecosystem of stakeholders to identify and shape shared values will be key.”