Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has entered into an agreement to acquire Germany-based Mackevision, a leading global producer of 3D-enabled and immersive product content. The acquisition will add state-of-the-art visualization capabilities to Accenture Interactive’s digital services portfolio – strengthening its ability to create compelling, next-generation customer experiences and industrial, extended reality applications.The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
Mackevision’s creation, visualization and production services are used for online product configurators, digital and print catalogues, virtual showrooms, point-of-sale kiosks, augmented and virtual reality experiences, as well as broadcast video and feature films. Mackevision has developed a differentiated ability to leverage engineering data to construct ‘digital twins’ of complex physical products. By applying the latest techniques in CGI, visual effects and AR/VR, Mackevision can generate nearly any type of visual content from these twins – effectively turning engineering data into truly immersive product experiences and virtual applications. This highly-specialized approach has the potential to transform product design as well as fuel the next generation of consumer experiences.
The ability to create digital imagery of the highest quality based on ‘digital twins’ is key to Accenture’s vision of delivering a broader set of services around smart, connected products, platforms and business models to a wide range of industries, including automotive, industrial equipment, consumer goods and retail.
Founded in 1994, Mackevision has a team of more than 500 employees and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, with offices in Munich and Hamburg as well as in the United States, United Kingdom, China, South Korea and Japan.
Mackevision has earned international acclaim for its work on the HBO Series “Game of Thrones” – for which it was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects. The company’s high-end creative and visual effects capability is especially relevant in the growing field of extended reality, where life-like models and environments are considered critical to creating fully-immersive experiences.
“This is truly a one-of-a-kind opportunity for us,” said Jamie Posnanski, global content practice lead, Accenture Interactive. “Mackevision has a deep roster of highly-relevant creative and technical talent in emergent capabilities, and operates with mature offerings on a global scale. It’s rare to find this combination in the market. We are highly impressed by the quality of the work, innovation, leadership, culture and, of course, talent on the Mackevision team, and we are excited for what our combined capabilities can mean for clients.”
“Mackevision’s capabilities will add a whole new dimension of content innovation to our portfolio of services,” added Brian Whipple, head of Accenture Interactive. “The ‘digital twin’ concept has massive implications not only from a scaled media production and marketing standpoint, but also for our broader vision of helping clients render the most compelling experiences possible.”
With clients including Audi, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Mackevision has achieved its most notable success in the automotive industry – where CGI-based and ‘digital twin’ visualization has experienced some of the earliest adoption.
“Mackevision is delighted to become part of the Accenture family,” said Mackevision CEO Armin Pohl. “With our more than 20 years’ experience in 3D visualization, our visionary technology and our efficient Single-Source Publishing (SSP) approach, we create relevant, inspiring product and brand experiences with lasting impact. We have moved from being a content provider to providing relevant end-to-end solutions for our clients, and we’re looking forward to collaborating on creating meaningful client experiences on a global scale under Accenture Interactive.”
Accenture is an early leader in the burgeoning AR/VR services market, having delivered consumer and enterprise experiences for clients such as BMW and Jeep over the past several years, and recently launched the Accenture Extended Reality (XR) practice. The acquisition of Mackevision will help Accenture significantly accelerate its ability to envision, create and operate XR solutions at scale for its clients and help drive the future of the XR market which, according to industry analyst firm IDC, is predicted to rise to $162 billion by 2020.*