Deloitte acquires Swedish digital agency Acne
Deloitte Digital, the creative arm of Big 4 firm, has acquired Stockholm-based ad agency Acne to strengthen its creative strategy
Deloitte Digital, the creative arm of Big 4 firm, has acquired Stockholm-based ad agency Acne to strengthen its creative strategy
Deloitte Digital, the creative arm of Big 4 firm, has acquired Stockholm-based ad agency Acne to strengthen its creative strategy.
The purchase makes Acne part of Deloitte North West Europe, which comprises of a series of regional Deloitte branches including its UK, Nordic and Scandinavian branches, and came into effect in June of this year.
The award-winning agency, founded in 1996, works on “storytelling for brands” and offers creative, strategic, digital, film and photography services to a range of clients. Notable past clients include IKEA, H&M and Spotify. Some of their more notable work includes a campaign with IKEA earlier this year in which they compared a nearly identical $2,145 Balenciaga bag with the iconic blue IKEA bag.
Acne’s executive chairman, Victor Press, and CEO David Olsson will retain their roles under the Acne name. Deloitte Digital will hire approximately 80 new employees, taking the number of Acne employees to 160. 40 of the new hires will be UK-based.
Paul Thompson, head of Deloitte Digital for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), commented: “The acquisition of Acne is an important move towards Deloitte Digital offering a full range of digital and creative services, with clients increasingly looking for a partner with multidisciplinary skills.”
“We aim to deliver our clients’ ambitions, whether that be launching a new strategy, product or service. By combining Deloitte’s deep data and technological expertise, with Acne’s exceptional creative experience, together we will help build brands for the digital age.”
Victor Press, executive chairman of Acne, said: “Our clients are asking for a combination of data analysis and creativity. Deloitte Digital are best in class when it comes to digital and data enabled solutions. By combining this knowledge with our storytelling capabilities we believe that we will bring a highly relevant offering to the market.”
Richard Houston, managing partner for consulting at Deloitte North West Europe, added: “Following the successful addition of Market Gravity in the UK, Heat to our US firm and Mobiento in the Nordics, by joining forces with Acne we have the ability to roll out a greater set of creative consulting services across Deloitte North West Europe.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Victor, David and the Acne team into the firm, and know our clients will be excited to start accessing the wealth of experience they have to offer.”
This move fits with Deloitte’s growth aspirations – both in terms of its European firm, as earlier this year it appointed 149 new partners across Deloitte North West Europe, as well as improving its position in the global digital transformation market.