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Marketing Week reports that accounting powerhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers completed its acquisition of management consulting firm Booz & Co last week. The deal added about $1.5bn (£897m) to PwC’s top line. It also threw up something of a branding issue. Echoing our thoughts from a few days ago, Marketing Week notes " ... in an act of corporate madness typical of accountants faced with branding conundrums, PwC announced last week it has rebranded [booz & Co] as ‘Strategy&’." For more details, read the full article. Click here to view the article

(CNBC Video) Click here to view the article

Strategy& CEO Cesare Mainardi and PwC Chairman Dennis Nally discuss how Strategy& and PwC plan to lead the way in changing the consulting industry. Click here to view the article

As I highlighted yesterday on the Consulting Blog, PwC has completed its acquisition of Booz & Co, renaming the firm "Strategy&". To read other people's views on the acquisition, here are a list of articles: Wall Street Journal FT Business Blog PwC Press Release The Australian My views on the merger yesterday were quite negative, partly because it appears that PwC is moving quite quickly to integrate Booz & Co. Since cultural integration is a sensitive matter this would create potential for tension and flight of talent. One glimmer of hope was highlighted by The Australian yesterday. The two firms are adopting an 18 month “buy and hold’’ period designed to let partners and clients get used to the merger. Although Booz & Co has been renamed Strategy& it will continue to operate as a distinct and physically separate business co-branded with PwC as the firms develop and refine their strategy for end-to-end consulting services for major corporates. Click here to view the article

PwC has released its 6th Annual Digital IQ Survey. The report's findings include: 80% of CEOs name technology as a top priority PwC identifies 5 Digital IQ Behaviours that enhance the value of digital investments Companies that adopt the 5 Digital IQ Behaviours are 2.2x more likely to be top performers in revenue growth, profitability, and innovation 5 top strategic technologies are: data mining and analytics private cloud technology cyber security mobile customer technology external social media technology 70% of top-performing companies have a strong CIO-CMO relationship 77% of top-performing companies companies have an IT department with an excellent understanding of marketing 81% of top-performing companies in the survey had a CEO who champions the use of technology to achieve strategy Companies that measure innovation are twice as likely to be top performers. Click here to view the article

PwC’s Global 100 Software Leaders Report shows that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) revenues for the top 100 firms grew by 60% to US$20 billion in 2012. Other trends include: Software companies are moving towards production of user friendly apps that can be offered as a service in the cloud. Digitisation is becoming the norm with non-tech companies now digitising their products. For example, clothing companies are adopting wearable technology that can provide health and fitness information to customers. Software vendors (think Microsoft and Google) are embracing hardware in order to position as device and service providers. For more details, read the full article.

PwC Canada has announced the purchase of Biond Consulting, a firm involved with planning and implementing Business Intelligence and Enterprise Performance Management Solutions using Oracle and Microsoft technology. Ramy Sedra, founder and president of Biond, will join PwC as a partner in the firm's Consulting practice. For more details, read the full article.

Reuter's report that Deloitte has become the world's top accountant (by revenue). Fee income in 2013 for the Big Four is reported as follows: $32.4 billion for Deloitte; $32 billion for PwC; $25.9 billion for EY; and $23.4 billion for KPMG. This report raises three issues worth noting. Firstly, Deloitte's lead as top firm (as measured by revenue) may be brief since PwC and Booz & Co are currently in merger talks. This would increase PwC's revenue by more than $1 billion. Secondly, the report conflates the ideas of "highest revenue" and "top accounting firm". While the Big Four do have the highest revenue figures and are thereby able to spend the most on marketing, there is no evidence to suggest that the big firms actually produce the highest quality audit work. Audits at the Big Four are primarily conducted by squadrons of junior business analysts fresh out of university, and it is entirely possible that mid-tier firms like BDO and Grant Thornton (mid-tier as measured by revenue) may actually produce higher quality audits. Thirdly, and most importantly for our purposes, the Reuter's report appears to gloss over the fact that firms like Deloitte and PwC are no longer mere accounting firms. The PwC merger with Booz & Co is a case in point, and less than half of PwC’s revenues now come from its assurance business. Consulting is one of PwC’s fastest growing operations.