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Accenture

Running head: Marketing Spotlight - Accenture
Marketing Spotlight - Accenture

What have been the key success factors for Accenture?
One large success factor for Accenture has been its timing. "Accenture started life as the consulting arm of accounting firm Arthur Anderson…In 1989, Anderson Consulting separated from Arthur Anderson in order to position itself against its IT services competitors" (Keller & Kotler, 1994/2006, 366). Accenture was able to take advantage of its large parent company and use its massive support to concentrate on becoming an efficient and popular name in the consulting market. Leaving Arthur Anderson before the corruption with Enron became public may have saved the company the same fate of many organizations that suffered for their connections to the accounting firm.
By "piggy-backing" on Arthur Anderson at a fortunate time, Accenture was able to correctly view the tide of the consulting business and branch out into the staffing business. I doing so, Accenture has successfully filled a niche by being able to supply the staff needed to accomplish the innovative ideas it provides to its clients. Says Ian Watmore, Accenture's U.K. chief, "Unless you can provide both transformational consulting and outsourcing capability, you're not going to win" (Keller & Kotler, 1994/2006, 367).
Accenture's success has not gone unnoticed. "As this type of outsourcing is relatively straightforward…these are typically the areas where low-cost providers are moving in" (Ottink). While their competitors have been playing catch-up, Accenture has moved "up the food chain" and distanced itself from its competitors by handling "mission critical" processes, or the core processes of companies, where low-cost providers have no knowledge and experience.
Accenture has also benefited from strong advertising campaigns. Forced to remove the Anderson name from its title, Accenture launched an advertising campaign in 2000 to promote its new moniker. The result was a...