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Business on the Move Mergers and Acquisitions Marketing

Accenture adds Meredith digital agency MXM as both companies continue to remold themselves

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By Bennett Bennett | Staff writer

March 29, 2018 | 4 min read

Accenture has agreed to acquire New York-based digital agency, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing (MXM), from media conglomerate Meredith.

Accenture, Wire Stone

Accenture continues to gobble up, adding Meredith's content agency MXM

The acquisition will bolster the capabilities of Accenture Interactive in creative services, data-led marketing execution, content strategy and digital marketing.

MXM combines content creation and strong customer engagement capabilities in direct-to-consumer marketing, particularly in the automotive, consumer brands and financial services industries. It’s done work for a list of brands including Barilla, Bob Evans Restaurants, Kraft Heinz, Lowe’s, Volkswagen and WebMD.

Former parent company Meredith Corporation, has been shedding pieces of its business after acquiring Time Inc earlier this year. Last week, Meredith announced the cutting of 1,200 jobs during the rest of the year. MXM’s 450 employees now join Accenture, which has been acquiring many a company over the past five years to rival the capabilities of advertising holding companies. As one of Accenture’s Interactive studios, MXM now joins locations in Dallas, Des Moines, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC.

Jeannine Falcone, marketing offering lead, North America, Accenture Interactive, said in a statement: “This is an exceptional opportunity for Accenture Interactive to add market-leading talent and capabilities.” She added, “Combined with other acquisitions, MXM adds creative, digital marketing, content strategy and marketing execution heft to our North America business. There is a clear strategic alignment around insight-led digital marketing and content strategy, where we each have had proven success in executing integrated programs for our clients.”

Brian Whipple, head of Accenture Interactive, added: “The acquisition of MXM reflects our commitment to build on our existing capabilities in marketing services by bolstering our data and content offerings. The blend of MXM with our current capabilities and robust marketing intelligence platforms will set us apart as a leader to design, build and run the best customer experiences on the planet.”

Said Georgine Anton, president at MXM: “We are thrilled to be joining the Accenture Interactive family. The combination of Accenture Interactive and MXM will be powerful in the market, plus the depth of their offerings will deepen our capabilities, enabling us to better serve both existing and new clients. Accenture Interactive will provide MXM with a home where it can offer clients best-in-class, single sourced, integrated solutions – this is a clear competitive advantage for Accenture Interactive and, now, MXM.”

As more traditional holding companies like WPP remain skeptical, at best, of Accenture — and Deloitte — positioning themselves to compete for business, Accenture continues to grab properties to diversify its offerings. Disney gave a show of faith for the business consultancy by adding it as a founding member of Disney innovation complex Studio Lab. In January, it acquired Macklevision, the CGI studio behind Game of Thrones, soon after the Vatican gave Accenture Interactive its blessing to unify its communications strategy.

Meanwhile, Meredith has continued its 'aggressive execution' of integrating its newly acquired Time Inc assets. Since agreeing to acquire the publisher in December, adtech offering Viant was sold off, as lifestyle brand Sunset was purchased by Regent, while African American-focused Essence magazine jumped ship to regain its independence. Time in the UK soon splintered off, joining Epiris. Last week's announcement stated that the company was exploring the sale of Time US, as well as Sports Illustrated, Money and Fortune.

Business on the Move Mergers and Acquisitions Marketing

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