Dive Brief:

• Accounting firm EY is bringing its suite of creative services, including design, sales, marketing and customer experience practices, under one umbrella called EY Studio+, per a company announcement. The firm was known as Ernst & Young before a 2013 name change.
• The EY Studio+ practice is positioned to capitalize on AI tech and the combination of organically grown businesses with 37 specialist acquisitions, including Blackdot, Digital Detox, Doberman, Fabernovel, Freshworks, Future Friendly, Seren and Zilker.
• The move comes as independent agencies, holding companies and other marketing services providers grapple with the rise of generative artificial intelligence, fragmenting media, aversion to traditional advertising in general media and shifting client budgets. 

Dive Insight:

The EY news follows a tough year for the big-four accounting firm, which had its weakest year for revenue growth in over a decade. By integrating its creative and customer service operations, EY Studio+ could look a lot like Accenture’s Song, which unifies all of the consultant’s creative, design, AI and marketing practices under one roof. Last year, Song claimed $19 billion in revenues, calling itself the “world’s largest tech-powered creative company.” David Droga, who headed Song during a period of transformation, recently announced his intention to leave at the end of the fiscal year.

EY Studio+ seems eager to follow a similar model with hopes of leveraging its capabilities and experience to develop a “transformative experience” that can “shape markets at scale,” according to press details. The practice plans to do this by working with clients to shape customer experience, create empathetic and valuable connections with consumers, help ideate, design and launch new products and services as well as transform marketing operations, sales and service to enable efficiency and effectiveness. 

The unit has already worked with several clients across industries, including using technology to transform customer experience for a global retailer, supporting business-to-business growth for a major communications network and creating experiences for one of the world’s biggest banks. 

Pointing to the significant upheaval businesses today face across numerous fronts for businesses, including consumer sentiment and global unrest, an EY executive underscored the need to embrace change. 

“Business leaders are grappling with tremendous uncertainty driven by geopolitical tensions, hyper-inflation of customer expectations, digital disruption and more,” said Jad Shimaly, EY global managing partner of client service, in a release. “Organizations that anchor in the rapidly changing needs of their customers can continue to deliver distinctive experiences while helping to ensure high-stakes investments in transformation drive critical outcomes.”