Accenture Snags Deloitte Visionary To Be Next Chief Marketing And Communications Officer

Accenture said Monday that it has hired a new marketing executive from rival Deloitte.

Amy Fuller will be joining the Dublin, Ireland-based systems integration giant, No. 2 on the 2017 CRN Solution Provider 500, later this week. Fuller comes to Accenture after nearly five years as senior managing director of global brand for London-based Deloitte, No. 18 on the 2017 Solution Provider 500.

Earlier in her career, Fuller spent seven years at MasterCard, where she spearheaded global deployment of the iconic "Priceless"consumer brand marketing campaign. Fuller will take over as Accenture's chief marketing and communications officer on Jan. 1, replacing Roxanne Taylor, who will retire from the company on Aug. 31, 2018.

[RELATED: Deloitte Hit By Data Breach, Customer Information Reportedly Exposed]

"Amy is known for her creative excellence and innovation, as well as her leadership in building multidisciplinary marketing and communications teams across specialties and geographies," Pierre Nanterme, Accenture's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "She is an experienced global marketer with a track record of achieving results across a range of consumer and B2B companies."

Accenture's stock was up $0.19 (0.14%) to $138.35 in after-hours trading Monday, with the hire being announced after the market closed. Fuller will also serve as a member of Accenture's Global Management Committee.

Outgoing Accenture CMO Roxanne Taylor joined the company in 1995, and has served in her current role for the past decade. Nanterme said Taylor's vision and leadership played a role in everything from Accenture's 2001 IPO, to establishing the company a global, market-leading brand, to more recently defining the consultancy's digital-first strategy.

"During her tenure as CMO, Rox has built a strong and innovative team that has significantly increased Accenture's reputation and brand value, helping us attract clients and recruit talent around the world," Nanterme said in a statement.

Accenture announced in June that digital, cloud and security now account for half of its $35 billion in annual revenue. The company said its work in these emerging technologies started with prototyping and programs focused on strategy and consulting.

From there, Accenture evolved to executing large projects around emerging technology that go beyond strategy and consulting to encompass the company's technology and operations practices.

Going forward, Fuller will be responsible for marketing a company that wants to build up more capabilities around artificial intelligence, blockchain, immersive reality and quantum computing. And by 2020, Accenture expects to be deriving the vast majority of its revenue from emerging technologies, the company said in June.

Monday was a rough day for Deloitte, with a Guardian report indicating that hackers had gained access to emails to and from the company's staff, as well as customer information on some of the company's top federal and private sector clients. Hackers could have also accessed other information such as usernames, passwords, IP addresses and architectural design diagrams, according to the report.

Deloitte discovered the attack in March, according to the report, with hackers having been in the company's systems going all the way back to October or November 2016. Deloitte was not using two-factor authentication on the email server, which the report said was hosted on the Azure cloud service.

Deloitte confirmed the hack to the Guardian, but said only a few clients were impacted by the attack. It said it had engaged in a "comprehensive security protocol" investigation, and notified clients at risk.