Accenture Interactive names first global creative chief to sharpen brand-building offer

Dive Brief:

Accenture Interactive appointed Neil Heymann as its first global chief creative officer (CCO), according to news shared in an email with Marketing Dive.
Joining the marketing services unit of Accenture from Publicis Groupe's Le Truc, Heymann will step into the role in mid-February 2022. He is tasked with amplifying a creative focus across Accenture Interactive's creative and brand agencies. Heymann was a founding partner at Le Truc, a New York-based shop unveiled in February that combines creative and production talent from Publicis, Digitas, Razorfish, Rokkan, Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Media.
Before his brief stint with Le Truc, Heymann served as CCO of Droga5, which Accenture Interactive acquired in 2019. The move reunites him with agency namesake David Droga, who was made Accenture Interactive's CEO and creative chairman in August. It's another sign that Accenture Interactive, now one of the largest digital agency networks in the world, wants to hone its brand-building skills after years of investing in technology expertise.

Dive Insight:

When Accenture Interactive acquired Droga5 two years ago, the deal was seen as a significant bet that more creative know-how would prove important to future growth. The appointment of Heymann as the network's first CCO — a bit of news that closely follows David Droga getting bumped up to CEO — lends additional credence to that theory, all during an intense period of transformation for marketing.

Marketing services investments have broadly shifted to the technology end of the business in recent years, with the pandemic accelerating needs around areas like e-commerce and performance media. Meanwhile, data-driven capabilities continue to receive a premium as marketers contend with Apple's changes to user tracking and the pending deprecation of third-party cookies. Given these trends, traditional creative agencies have lost some of their favor and even seen client rosters dwindle (prior to getting snapped up, Droga5 went through several rounds of layoffs).

Accenture Interactive built its reputation through an aggressive approach to M&A that helped shore up its consultative backbone and focus on technology integration. Creative and brand-building were more closely associated with traditional ad-holding groups, but the network's recent investments have marked an attempt to close that gap and provide a more holistic strategy.

Heymann carries more than 20 years of experience in the business and helped design campaigns such as the Prudential Challenge Lab, Toyota's launch of its Mirai model and a rebrand for Huggies. The diaper marketer's owner, Kimberly-Clark, was one of the first major clients to sign on with Droga5 following the Accenture acquisition.

Accenture Interactive has continued to add to its client list in 2021 with Jaguar Land Rover, Petco, L'Oreal Middle East and Molson Coors joining the fold. There have been some bumps in the road as well. Accenture Interactive was eliminated from Coca-Cola's closely watched agency review earlier this year, with agency executives indicating the decision boiled down to its lack of international reach, Ad Age reported. WPP came out on top.