Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has agreed to acquire Romp, a brand and experience agency in Indonesia renowned for its creative talent and innovative services across branding, creative and performance marketing. The move will strengthen Accenture Song’s (formerly Accenture Interactive) ability to deliver creative and tech-driven brand experiences for clients across Southeast Asia.
Ranked as one of Indonesia’s top three creative and most inclusive agencies in 2021, Romp boasts strong local knowledge and expertise in brand communications, design and digital operations. It has successfully transformed brands of all sizes and across industries, including Telkomsel, Indofood, Danone, Kimberly-Clarke Softex, Grab, Google and Godrej.
The intent to acquire Romp will enhance Accenture Song’s brand and marketing expertise, reinforcing its ability to help clients embrace new frontiers such as the metaverse and become relevant, experience-led organizations. It also strategically aligns with Accenture’s business strategy to help businesses in Indonesia capture opportunities in a post-pandemic economy that’s poised for substantial growth – its digital advertising market is the fastest growing in Southeast Asia and its e-commerce market is estimated to reach $53.8 billion in 2025.
Thomas Mouritzen, Accenture Song’s Southeast Asia lead, said: “Accenture Song aims to be our clients’ go-to partner as they reimagine their business to achieve long-term growth. Our deep understanding of consumers and businesses, combined with Romp’s outstanding brand capabilities, will broaden our ability to harness the ongoing technology revolution for consumers and brands. This is a powerful proposition for our clients seeking to win with innovative thinking and connected capabilities in Southeast Asia.”
Divyesh Vithlani, senior managing director and Southeast Asia market unit lead at Accenture, said: “The growth of the digital economy in Southeast Asia is pushing brands to create meaningful experiences to meet customers’ needs. Companies are increasingly looking to tap artificial intelligence, data and technology to drive creative content. Romp’s expertise with Accenture’s scale will enable us to deliver this excellence in a way that’s unique to the region.”
Founded in 2019, Romp’s team of more than 150 people is behind breakthrough brand campaigns including Telkomsel’s “Kuota Ketengan: Salute to Ketengers” that bagged a Best Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix at YouTube Works Awards 2021, Indofood/Indomie’s “Where’s the Noodle” that claimed a Gold award for Indonesia Cross-Channel Integration at SMARTIES 2021 and Bebelac’s “Happy Trio” that cliched Campaign of the Year at the FMCG Asia Awards 2021. The award-winning team will join Accenture Song in Jakarta to jointly serve clients across consumer goods & services, telecoms and financial services industries and family-owned conglomerates.
Joseph Tan, Romp’s chief executive officer, said: “We have always believed in harnessing the power of creativity and helping clients build strong and long-lasting relationships with their customers. We also constantly elevate ourselves through new thinking methods and approaches. Joining Accenture Song will fully converge the brand storytelling that we love with Accenture’s tech innovation, enabling us to help our clients truly deliver against limitless opportunities with global impact.”
Accenture continues to invest in capabilities to help its clients drive growth through relevance. Last year, Accenture Song acquired Kuala Lumpur-based creative agency, Entropia, to deepen its capabilities in customer experience, design and creative communications.
Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and Romp will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties’ ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture; Accenture’s results of operations have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and political conditions, including the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the related sanctions and other measures that have been and continue to be imposed in response to this conflict, as well as the current inflationary environment, and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture faces legal, reputational and financial risks from any failure to protect client and/or company data from security incidents or cyberattacks; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if Accenture is unable to match people and skills with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Accenture’s business and operations, and the extent to which it will continue to do so and its impact on the company’s future financial results are uncertain; the markets in which Accenture operates are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with key alliance partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies or fail to satisfy certain agreed-upon targets or specific service levels; 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