Management technology outsourcing and consulting service provider, Accenture plc ( ACN - Snapshot Report ) recently took over U.K.-based design agency, Fjord for an undisclosed amount. The move is part of Accenture's effort to bolster its design and marketing capabilities.

Founded in 2001, Fjord evolved as a service design consultancy. It has been engaged in the task of developing creative and customized designs to make understanding of complex systems easier. Fjord has redesigned Nokia.com and developed PayPal’s mobile apps. Apart from this, Citibank, Harvard Medical School, Qualcomm ( QCOM - Analyst Report ) and Telefónica, BBC and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria ( BBVA - Snapshot Report ) are counted as its blue chip customers.

Fjord’s capabilities will be added to Accenture Interactive platform, which is the company's marketing-services arm. Accenture Interactive was formed in 2009 (in association with its client Procter & Gamble Co.) in order to deliver superior consulting, technology and analytics services mainly to chief marketing officers (CMOs).

Fjord is well known for its expertise in designing hybrid platforms (smart phones, tablets and PCs) and for creating dynamic services. Post integration, Accenture Interactive and Fjord are expected to offer a comprehensive digital marketing solution that would help clients to formulate marketing strategies.

Competent marketing is the key to success for every organization. Marketing and digital executives of a company are responsible for developing digital marketing campaigns, marketing contents, e-commerce and marketing operations. Accenture Interactive is a well-integrated platform that helps CMOs devise marketing strategies and derive higher ROI (return on investment) from it.

Last October, Accenture took over a digital production services vendor avVenta Worldwide to enhance its interactive platform.

Considering the ongoing need for intelligent marketing, we expect Accenture’s investments into its digital and marketing capabilities to pay off soon.

We are encouraged by Accenture’s strategy of growing through acquisitions. However, increasing competition from IBM Corp. ( IBM - Analyst Report ) , a strained spending environment and Accenture’s broad European exposure (roughly 40.0%) may temper its growth prospects to some extent.

Currently, Accenture has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).