"The good cause is in the foreground"

Werbewoche.ch: Dear Mr. Tück, like numerous Swiss agency, digital and communications professionals, you are currently spending a few days at Cannes Lions. What are your impressions this year?

Benjamin Tück: The atmosphere is super, and the discussions very constructive. The beauty of the Cannes Lions Festival is that the good cause is in the foreground. The participants want to exchange ideas with each other and make contacts. For me personally, the exchange with our customers is essential. Cannes offers a very good framework for a light-hearted and topic-related exchange. It is also interesting to see how more and more technology-based projects are submitted and nominated for awards every year. This trend of using new technologies to develop creative solutions will only increase in the future.

Live exchange in the Cannes format was not possible during the pandemic. Do you have the impression that the industry missed that?

It's always a shame when such a big event, where you can meet and discuss in person, doesn't take place locally. But a break also helps to appreciate what you had. Here on site, we can easily meet a triple-digit number of customers, colleagues and competitors every day. That would simply not be possible online.

Now Switzerland is not necessarily one of the "Frontrunner "when it comes to the lion hunt ... but that doesn't mean that nothing is moving in our agency, digital and communications industry. You, for example, set up your house a while ago as a "Accenture Song" rebranded. But there's more to it than just a new name, isn't there?

Exactly, behind the new name there is also a structural adjustment. In 2022, we consolidated the business units of "Accenture Interactive" in such a way that we could efficiently and accurately meet changing customer requirements. The goal of the new name was to replace the word "Interactive," which had become too generic, and create a catchy, effective and optimistic alternative. The new name also comes with a significantly new operating model. As with our clients, the day-to-day design took a little longer, but we are now well on our way to redefining the model of a digital agency.

What are your current priorities in the Swiss market?

The dynamics in the market have turned sharply in recent months. Stagnating global growth has clearly shown that many companies are not yet using technology efficiently in marketing and sales. Many customers have become more cost-conscious and are currently focusing more on transforming their business model. Of course, the efficient use of data and, in the next step, generative AI play a major role. We use this new technology in our customer solutions and investigate its relevance by means of studies. With the more than 25 patents Accenture owns in this area, we benefit from our in-house experts in this work.

And which developments or trends are currently most relevant for Accenture Song globally?

The development of generative AI is very relevant to us. This new technology is changing the way we communicate, consume and create, and will be integrated everywhere. In addition to new technologies, we will also be concerned with the issue of sustainability. We are integrating sustainability into everything we do and developing sustainable solutions for our clients. For example, Accenture Song's Sustainability Studio brings together 30 experts in sustainability, business and life-centeredness to provide insights, strategies and design ideas for a more environmentally conscious interplay between nature, business and people.

I have already had the opportunity to admire your development center in Zurich in person - you are a company that invests a lot in new technology, even outside of your typical lines of business. What kind of experiments are you conducting with generative AI?

Accenture announced just last week that it will invest $3 billion in AI over the next three years. Our overall goal with this investment is to help clients redesign their operations at all levels and use AI to create value quickly and responsibly. Many of our customers have their global headquarters in Switzerland, and much of their global marketing spend is handled here. The efficient use of data and content with AI has great potential for both sides of the balance sheet.

Where do you see the opportunities - and the risks - associated with the technology?

Generative AI enables us to make processes more efficient. With this technology, we can, for example, find and compile information much faster or automate code creation and message sending. We've already seen the impact of Generative AI on the creative industry: Suddenly, realistic-looking images can be created with just a few clicks. The biggest difficulty here is making sure that the AI information is reliable - especially now, when the technology is still in its infancy. In addition, we must expect that criminals will also use generative AI for their own purposes, for example to generate malicious code or write phishing emails.

Sir Martin Sorrell once told me in an interview that he considers Accenture to be his biggest competitor. Did you watch his presentation in Cannes - and does your company share his assessment vice versa?

Sir Martin Sorrell's achievements are very impressive, and we are accordingly pleased to receive his recognition. My understanding is that S4 Capital wants to embark on a similar journey to the one we have been on with Accenture Song for over 10 years. I'm sure it will be exciting! Unfortunately, time did not permit me to be at Sir Martin Sorrell's presentation. I have deliberately designed my week around my clients. I have listened to our competitors whenever possible, because you can learn a lot from each other. But the alignment of our business model starts with our customers.