Prophet (company)

Prophet

Company type	Independent
Industry	Management consulting
Founded	1992;33 years ago (1992)
Founder	Scott Galloway Ian Chaplin
Headquarters	San Francisco, CA , United States
Number of locations	15
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Michael E. Dunn, chief executive officer David Aaker, Vice chairman Scott Davis, Chief Growth Officer Amy Silverstein, chief financial officer Paul Greenall, Chief Strategy Officer
Number of employees	500–1000 [1] [2]
Subsidiaries	Altimeter Group Springbox KEYLENS
Website	prophet.com

Prophet is a global strategy and creative firm that describes itself as the Uncommon Growth Company, focused on accelerating impact for business and marketing leaders through consulting, experience and creative services. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in San Francisco, Prophet has expanded to 15 offices worldwide and employs over 500 professionals including strategists, analysts, creatives, digital experts, and marketers. The firm works with a wide range of major companies across industries, including CVS Health, The Home Depot, Salesforce, Google, Marriott International, Netflix, Amazon, T-Mobile, and UBS, among others. Prophet’s engagements span from high-level strategy through in-market execution, and it emphasizes developing solutions that drive faster, smarter and sustainable business impact.

Prophet is known for its role in high-profile branding and transformation projects. Notably, the company helped develop the strategy behind T-Mobile's "Un-carrier" campaign – repositioning T-Mobile as a customer-centric industry disruptor. ^[3] Prophet assisted UBS redefine itself as a global leader after its historic merger with Credit Suisse in 2023. The work has spanned brand strategy, organizational alignment, and activation, culminating in the firm’s first global brand campaign since 2016, “Banking is Our Craft.” ^[4]

History

Prophet was founded in 1992 by Scott Galloway and Ian Chaplin, both graduates of the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. ^{[5] [6]}

In 1998, Michael Dunn was named company president. ^{[7] [8]} Around the same time, author and consultant David Aaker began working with Prophet. ^{[9] [10]} Aaker currently serves as the company's vice chairman. ^{[11] [12]} Dunn was named chief executive officer in 2000. ^[7] He is currently the firm's chairman and CEO. ^[13] Prophet's annual revenue has grown to approximately $125 million with over 500 employees worldwide. ^[14]

Cilent

Sheetz (2004)

Optum (2011)

Novant Health (2013)

Keurig Green Mountain (2014)

Vitamin World (2014)

Change Healthcare (2015)

Electrolux (2015)

AEG (2016)

MetLife (2016)

Encompass Health (2017)

Regal Cinemas (2018)

MB Bank (2019)

Poly (2019)

Pyrex (2020)

ABInBev (2022)

Hootsuite (2022)

Showmax (2024)

China United Airlines (2024)

Cracker Barrel (2025, used from August 19 to 26, before reverting back to old logo)

Acquisitions

Over the years, Prophet has grown both organically and through strategic acquisitions that broadened its capabilities and geographic reach:

• 2009: Acquired Play, a Richmond, Virginia-based creativity and innovation consultancy. ^[15]
• 2011: Acquired Noshokaty, Döring & Thun (NDT), a Berlin-based strategic marketing firm, bringing in clients including Allianz, Deutsche Telekom, General Motors Europe, Deutsche Postbank, Sony, and Volkswagen. ^[1]
• 2012: Acquired three agencies— (r)evolution, an Atlanta-based branding and marketing consultancy ^[16] ; Material Group, a Chicago-based digital design and development studio ^[17] ; and Figtree, a brand and design firm with offices in London and Hong Kong. ^[3] These acquisitions expanded Prophet’s expertise in innovation, digital design, and international branding.
• 2015: Acquired Altimeter Group, the technology firm founded by Charlene Li, ^[18] to strengthen Prophet's digital transformation and research capabilities. ^[19]
• 2019: Acquired Springbox, an Austin-based digital agency specializing in digital experience creation and demand generation. ^[20] This acquisition combined Prophet’s strategy and consulting expertise with Springbox’s digital capabilities, aiming to bridge the gap between strategy and execution in digital marketing efforts. ^[21]

• 2021: Acquired KEYLENS Management Consultants, a German management consultancy with offices in Munich and Hamburg to strengthen Prophet’s presence in the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) region and its expertise in customer-centric transformation. ^[22] KEYLENS now operates as a Prophet company focused on the German-language market.

Each of these acquisitions has been part of Prophet’s strategy to enhance its service offerings—from creative design and digital experience to market research and regional consulting strength—all geared toward helping clients achieve uncommon growth.

References

1. Dunn, James (October 26, 2010). "Prophet: German office leads European growth". San Francisco Business Times.
2. "Prophet LinkedIn Profile". LinkedIn. October 19, 2019.
3. Farey-Jones, Daniel (December 3, 2012). "Figtree deal expands US brand consultancy Prophet". Brand Republic.
4. "UBS unveils big branding push after Credit Suisse takeover". Reuters. January 23, 2024.
5. Brekke, Dan (January 23, 2000). "The Future Is Now-or Never". New York Times.
6. Bianchi, Alessandra (December 1, 1993). "Market research, student style. (Prophet Market Research hires graduate students on college campuses nationwide on a contract basis) (Brief Article)". Inc. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014.
7. "Michael Dunn Bloomberg Businessweek Profile". Bloomberg Businessweek.^{[ dead link ]}
8. "Michael Dunn Forbes Profile". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014.
9. Krauss, Michael (March 1, 2005). "High-tech brands begin blazing new trail". Marketing News.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
10. "David Aaker Haas School of Business Profile". Berkeley.edu.
11. St. John, Olivia (January 21, 2013). "Made in USA makes comeback as a marketing tool". USA Today.
12. Roberto, Ned; Roberto, Ardy (October 24, 2006). "David Aaker on the challenges a successful chief marketing officer faces". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
13. "Marketing Entrepreneur". CalBusiness. Fall 2011.
14. "Prophet LinkedIn Page". October 19, 2019.
15. Elliott, Stuart. Accounts, People, Miscellany. New York Times. January 25, 2009.
16. "Prophet Acquires Atlanta Consultancy, (r)evolution". The Business Journals.
17. Dwyer, Ann (September 13, 2012). "Prophet acquires Chicago digital design startup Material Group". Crain's Chicago.
18. "Marketing firm Prophet acquires Altimeter Group to form one-stop digital transformation shop". VentureBeat. July 22, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
19. "Prophet Expands Digital Capabilities With Acquisition of Altimeter Group". Reuters. July 22, 2015. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
20. Nicastro, Dom (March 8, 2019). "Amazon Debuts AWS Digital CX Competency, Accenture Acquires ?What If!, More News". CMSWIRE. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
21. "Prophet Announces Acquisition of Springbox to Deepen Capabilities in Digital Experience Creation, Demand Generation". GlobalNewswire. March 7, 2019.
22. "Wachstumsberatung Prophet übernimmt Strategieberatung KEYLENS mit Sitz in München und Hamburg zur Stärkung des Geschäfts in der DACH-Region im Bereich kundenzentrierte Transformation".