Deal marks major expansion into creator economy for Accenture Song

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has agreed to acquire Whalar, a leading creator and social agency, from Whalar Group. Whalar will become part of Accenture Song—adding scaled creator and influencer engagement to its customer growth capabilities. This is a pivotal shift in the evolution of the creator economy on a global scale. By connecting real‑time insights, social commerce and AI-driven discovery, Accenture Song will help creators move from one-off brand activations to becoming a more deeply integrated part of customer experiences.

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Left to right: Whalar Co-CEO Emma Harman, Accenture Song CEO Ndidi Oteh, Whalar Co-CEO Jo Cronk

Social has become the primary engine of cultural relevance and commerce, where brands are increasingly built, discovered, and experienced. According to the IAB, ad spend in the U.S. creator economy is among the fastest-growing sectors in all of media and expected to reach $43.9 billion in 2026. Creators sit at the center of this shift, shaping how audiences engage, what they trust, and ultimately what they buy. Accenture Song has long helped clients navigate this transformation, bringing together strategy, creativity, technology, marketing, and commerce—powered by data and AI—to drive growth in a social-first world.

"Accenture Song exists to help the world's most ambitious companies grow—and today, growth is inseparable from relevance," said Ndidi Oteh, CEO of Accenture Song. "Social is where brands are discovered, where modern commerce is happening and where consumer habits tell us what products and services are going to win next. Whalar brings a creator capability that strengthens how we drive meaningful impact and growth for clients."

Whalar's strength lies in its deep understanding of creators. Through more than $600 million in creator campaigns and tens of thousands of collaborations across over 40 countries and 15 languages, the agency has developed an unmatched understanding of creators and how the landscape continues to evolve. Operating at scale across global, multi-market campaigns and always-on programs, Whalar delivers thousands of creator activations annually, generating billions of engagements and measurable business impact for leading brands. Its work spans all major platforms and is supported by advanced measurement capabilities, including integration into media mix modeling and third-party research.

"The creator economy demands a new kind of expertise, one that blends authentic creator relationships, deep platform knowledge, and the technology to activate both at enterprise scale," said Dimitri Maex, global marketing practice lead at Accenture Song. "Bringing Whalar into Accenture Song lets us pair creator authenticity with the intelligence and scale to deliver work that's not just produced but felt. Because as the agentic economy grows, what wins won't be the most content—it will be what is most original and the most human."

Whalar has helped build and define the creator economy, evolving the space from early influencer marketing into a sophisticated, data-driven discipline. Today, it stands as the most awarded agency in social and creator marketing, recognized for both its creative excellence and its ability to deliver measurable business outcomes for brands. The agency has earned industry honors including Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, Adweek's Creator Agency of the Year, Campaign UK's Agency of the Year, Campaign Global's Social Agency of the Year, and Ad Age's A-List Social/Influencer Agency of the Year.

"We're incredibly proud of what the team has built over the past decade," said Neil Waller and James Street, co-founders & co-CEOs of Whalar Group. "Accenture Song operates at a level of scale and ambition that is truly unique, and we believe there is no better partner to take Whalar agency to its next phase of growth."

Whalar Group will continue to operate as is, with its remaining companies Sixteenth, Foam, Moby Ventures, The Lighthouse, and The Business of Creativity unchanged, under co-founders Neil Waller and James Street. Whalar Group will enter a three-year strategic partnership with Accenture Song focused on driving innovation in the creator economy and granting access to the wider Whalar Group.

"This is a special moment for our remarkable team and us," said Whalar co-CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk. "We are immensely proud of what we have built over the past decade in partnership with our clients, partners, and the creator community. Joining Accenture Song allows us to build on our unrivaled foundation and accelerate our ambition for the next chapter in the creator revolution."

Whalar's co-CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk will continue in their roles, joining Accenture Song through the acquisition, along with Whalar's team of over 170 people across the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany, and Spain.

This acquisition is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions aimed at scaling Accenture Song's creator and social capabilities, including Superdigital in 2025 and Unlimited in 2024.

Terms of the investment were not 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," "aspires," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook," "goal," "target" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance nor promises that goals or targets will be met, and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks include, without limitation, that Accenture and Whalar 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 and the partnership might not achieve its anticipated benefits and risks and uncertainties related to the development and use of AI could harm our business, damage our reputation or give rise to legal or regulatory action, as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations.

About Accenture

Accenture helps the world's leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed for organizations across industries. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and lead in the safe, widespread adoption of AI, and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work in the world. We bring together the talent of our approximately 786,000 people with proprietary assets and platforms, deep process and industry expertise, and leading ecosystem relationships to deliver end-to-end solutions and measurable outcomes at scale. Through our Reinvention Services, we offer broad expertise across Cybersecurity, Digital Core, Finance, Industry and Enterprise, Song, Supply Chain and Engineering, and Talent, with advanced capabilities in AI and Data, Industry and Process, and Technology. We serve approximately 9,000 clients and generated approximately $70 billion in FY25 revenue. Visit us at accenture.com.

Accenture Song accelerates growth and value for our clients through sustained customer relevance. Our capabilities span ideation to execution: growth, product and experience design; technology and experience platforms; creative, media and marketing strategy; and campaign, commerce transformation content and channel orchestration. With strong client relationships and deep industry expertise, we help our clients operate at the speed of life through the unlimited potential of imagination, technology and intelligence.

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Helen Kim

Accenture Song

+1 310 563-6089

helen.kim@accenture.com

Rosie Milton-Schönemann

Accenture Song

+44 77 6928 6484

rosie.milton@accenture.com

Courtney Bartholomew

Whalar Group

+1 856 366 4772

courtney.bartholomew@whalargroup.com

Accenture to Acquire Leading Creator and Social Agency Whalar, from Whalar Group