Accenture buys 100-person Japanese marketing firm Signal

Global consulting and technology consulting firm Accenture has acquired Signal, a Japan-based firm with around 100 employees.

Signal was established in 2005 in Tokyo. The firm, which prior to the deal was fully owned by Japanese public relations group Vector, offers integrated marketing services such as public relations, social media management, influencer marketing, advertising, and web design and construction.

Now part of Accenture, the Signal team including CEO Daisuke Kusaba has joined Accenture’s marketing operations team, strengthening its capacity to helps client drive their marketing transformation across owned, paid and earned media.

Commenting on the deal, Atsushi Egawa, who leads Accenture’s business in Japan, said, “Signal’s high level of expertise in the marketing domain is wide-ranging, spanning the areas of public relations, marketing, and communication. Together we will enhance our ability to create growth through relevance, and accelerate our client’s enterprise-wide marketing transformations.”

“By working together with Accenture, we will have an even greater impact on the services we provide and contribute to creating " wealth for all employees, clients, and society,” said Kusaba.

The deal continues a streak of acquisitions that Accenture has closed this year, although the majority of these deals have been concentrated in Europe and North America.

Among the past deals Accenture completed in the Japanese market are data science company Albert (2022), commerce agency Tambourine (2021), the engineering arm of DI Square (2021), and ecommerce specialist Businet System (2021), IMJ Corporation (2016), and Sopia (2008).