Why Accenture Is Buying VanBerlo

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 26, 2020
  • Accenture recently announced it is buying product design and innovation agency VanBerlo. These are the details about the deal.

Accenture recently announced it is buying product design and innovation agency VanBerlo — which is headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The terms of the deal were undisclosed. This acquisition is going to strengthen Accenture’s capabilities in helping clients benefit from the merging of physical products and digital services.

VanBerlo is known for innovating products and services for companies in many industries, including consumer goods, mobility, healthcare, banking and high-tech. And the agency’s smart connected solutions combine physical objects with digital services using technologies like Internet of Things sensors, AI, and data analytics. And these solutions can provide more personalized offerings and convenience to users while offering companies new ways to expand their businesses.

Ever since VanBerlo was founded in 1982, the company has collected over 150 awards, including from iF, Red Dot and Good Design. And in 2017, Erasmus University and Dutch TV and radio broadcaster AvroTros named it the Netherlands’ most innovative company.

VanBerlo currently has a team of over 90 professionals working from studios in Eindhoven and The Hague. And they have deep experience in innovation and product strategy, product, software and user experience design, and prototyping with a focus on sustainable solutions.

The VanBerlo team will join Accenture Industry X.0 — which is the part of Accenture that uses digital technologies to improve how companies design, engineer and manufacture products and services, and operate industrial facilities. This acquisition of VanBerlo will complement Accenture’s acquisition of innovation agency Happen in October 2019 — which has a team in Amsterdam.

Accenture combines experience and specialized skills over 40 industries and all business functions. With 505,000 people serving clients in over 120 countries, Accenture is driving innovation to improve the way the world works.

Some of the other acquisitions Accenture has made to strengthen its Industry X.0 business include US product innovation and engineering company Nytec, German technology consultancy Zielpuls, and German strategic design agency designaffairs.

Key Quotes:

“The exponential growth in martech has resulted in siloed platforms and massive amounts of data to support marketers in identifying, targeting, and tracking prospects and customers. We are here to provide clarity with strategic technology connections that aligns people and teams with intelligent data.”

“Advancing our platform with this acquisition brings to market a true customer intelligence platform that automates data movement between applications, normalizes and enriches data, and provides valuable insights based on data you can trust.”

– Matt Klepac, CEO of Vertify

“The number of smart connected products is increasing rapidly and the speed of digitization is challenging our clients’ design and development processes. Both call for a new approach to innovation. Bringing VanBerlo’s creative team into our Industry X.0 practice will enable us to help our clients develop new business models and generate new revenues from smart connected products and services.”

– Frank Rennings, managing director and Accenture Digital Lead in the Netherlands

“Our multidisciplinary team is passionate about creating forward-looking solutions that meet humans’ needs and generate growth for clients. We are looking forward to joining Accenture Industry X.0 and driving innovation for global clients.”

– Thomas Paulen, CEO of VanBerlo