Accenture to launch big effort to advertise its new identity

http://www.suntimes.com:80/output/business/ander16.html

BY SANDRA GUY BUSINESS REPORTER

If you’re a fan of college football bowl games, get ready for a heavy dose of “Accenture.”

On Jan. 1, Accenture becomes the new name of Andersen Consulting, the $10 billion global technology and consulting firm that will spend $175 million from January through March to advertise its new identity and its separation from Chicago-based accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Andersen Consulting normally spends $75 million a year on advertising.

In what appears to be a trend, the new name–remember Leo Burnett’s parent company name, BCom3?–is not to be mistaken for such down-to-earth subjects as football.

Accenture is meant to convey an accent on the future and to sound like adventure, said James E. Murphy, global managing director for marketing and communications for Andersen Consulting. In the logo, there’s a “greater than” symbol above the “t”.

The “greater than” sign is a “wordmark” that “illustrates the firm’s intention to point the way forward and bring solutions to clients that exceed their expectations,” Joe W. Forehand, Andersen Consulting managing partner, said in a statement.

The ad budget, believed to be unprecedented in the business-to-business world, will buy space in business newspapers and journals in major media markets on six continents. Plus, the firm will air more than 6,000 TV commercial spots in eight countries.

The TV ads will be broadcast during several college football bowl games and in four 30-second spots during the Super Bowl.

The new campaign also allows for a tripling of spending for Web advertising, Murphy said.

The various re-branding activities require that the company train more than 100 other firms, such as ad agencies, printers and Web designers, on how to use the new word mark and logo.