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Ernst & Young is expanding its reach into the marketing world with a new business unit designed to unify its services in design, sales, customer experience, and marketing technology.
The firm on Tuesday unveiled EY Studio+, a consolidated group aimed at helping the company better compete for chief marketing officers’ attention and budgets. With this move, EY seeks to go head-to-head with rivals like Accenture’s (NYSE:ACN) Song division and Deloitte Digital, and further encroach on territory traditionally occupied by major advertising holding groups like WPP (NYSE:WPP) and Publicis Groupe.
The launch reflects a growing reality: CMOs and other growth-oriented executives are increasingly responsible for both branding campaigns and the tech backbone of customer experiences. These services range from app development to loyalty systems, and more recently, integrating AI into customer-facing operations.
EY sees this growing complexity as a business opportunity. Laurence Buchanan, a 13-year veteran of the firm and now global leader of Studio+, said the new group responds to a shift in digital transformation. AI is reshaping how companies interact with customers, manage operations and deliver services. In his view, this moment represents a turning point in how companies achieve more with fewer resources.
Over the past decade, EY has built toward this launch by acquiring 37 firms focused on design, marketing, and customer management. These include Australia’s Future Friendly and Sweden-based design agency Doberman.
While many of these firms operated under their own banners within EY, they will now be folded into the Studio+ identity. The new group will also draw on experts from EY’s sector-specific practices and AI teams.
Studio+ launches with about 7,000 employees and aims to grow its headcount by 10% to 20% in the next year. EY is also eyeing further acquisitions to expand the division, Pierre Beaufils, the firm’s global consulting lead, said to The Wall Street Journal.
Last year, EY rolled out a global advertising campaign meant to rebrand the company as a forward-thinking, full-service consulting partner, an effort to move past its legacy reputation as a staid accounting firm.
This campaign came on the heels of a failed attempt to split its auditing and consulting operations and amid flat consulting revenues, which held steady at $15.61 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.
Like many consulting giants, EY is grappling with slower growth in some service areas and political scrutiny over its role in public-sector contracts. Earlier this year, representatives from EY and other firms met with federal officials to defend their government engagements in the face of administrative pushback.
EY plans to formally introduce Studio+ to the marketing industry at the upcoming Cannes Lions Festival, one of the sector’s most high-profile events.