Prophet (company)

Last updated

Prophet
Company typeIndependent
Industry Management consulting
Founded1992;33 years ago (1992)
Founder
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
Websiteprophet.com

Prophet is an American integrated growth consulting firm that specializes in strategy, transformation, innovation, branding, marketing, and design. Founded in 1992 by Scott Galloway and Ian Chaplin, the firm is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. [1] The firm is known for BP's Beyond Petroleum strategy and T-Mobile's "Un-carrier" positioning. [3]

Contents

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. [4] [5]

In 1998, Michael Dunn was named company president. [6] [7] Around the same time, author and consultant David Aaker began working with Prophet. [8] [9] Aaker currently serves as the company's vice chairman. [10] [11] Dunn was named chief executive officer in 2000. [6] He is currently the firm's chairman and CEO. [12] Prophet's annual revenue has grown to approximately $125 million with over 500 employees worldwide. [13]

Clients

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 and Prophet being fired after the logo and its restaurant redesign was widely panned, led to right-wing political blowback, and led to projected 7-8% losses over the quarter) [14]

Acquisitions

In early 2009, Prophet acquired Richmond, Virginia-based Play, a creativity and innovation company. [15] Prophet acquired Noshokaty, Döring & Thun, a Berlin-based strategic marketing firm in 2011, which brought in clients including Allianz, Deutsche Telekom, General Motors Europe, Deutsche Postbank, Sony, and Volkswagen. [1]

In 2012, Prophet acquired several agencies beginning with (r)evolution, an Atlanta-based branding, marketing, and innovation consultancy. [16] Prophet then acquired the Material Group, a Chicago-based digital design and development studio. [17] Later that year Prophet also acquired Figtree, a brand and design firm with offices in London and Hong Kong. [3]

In 2015, Prophet acquired Altimeter Group, the technology firm founded by Charlene Li. [18] Altimeter operates under the name Altimeter, a Prophet Company. Its focus is research related to digital transformation, customer experience and connected technology. [19]

In 2021, Prophet acquired KEYLENS Management Consultants, a German management consultancy with offices in Munich and Hamburg. [20] KEYLENS operates under the name KEYLENS, a Prophet Company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dunn, James (October 26, 2010). "Prophet: German office leads European growth". San Francisco Business Times.
  2. ↑ "Prophet LinkedIn Profile". LinkedIn. October 19, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Farey-Jones, Daniel (December 3, 2012). "Figtree deal expands US brand consultancy Prophet". Brand Republic.
  4. ↑ Brekke, Dan (January 23, 2000). "The Future Is Now-or Never". New York Times.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. 1 2 "Michael Dunn Bloomberg Businessweek Profile". Bloomberg Businessweek.[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ "Michael Dunn Forbes Profile". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014.
  8. ↑ Krauss, Michael (March 1, 2005). "High-tech brands begin blazing new trail". Marketing News.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ "David Aaker Haas School of Business Profile". Berkeley.edu.
  10. ↑ St. John, Olivia (January 21, 2013). "Made in USA makes comeback as a marketing tool". USA Today.
  11. ↑ Roberto, Ned; Roberto, Ardy (October 24, 2006). "David Aaker on the challenges a successful chief marketing officer faces". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  12. ↑ "Marketing Entrepreneur". CalBusiness. Fall 2011.
  13. ↑ "Prophet LinkedIn Page". October 19, 2019.
  14. ↑ Valinsky, Jordan (October 3, 2025). "Cracker Barrel dumps the design firm behind its disastrous logo change | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  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. ↑ "Wachstumsberatung Prophet übernimmt Strategieberatung KEYLENS mit Sitz in München und Hamburg zur Stärkung des Geschäfts in der DACH-Region im Bereich kundenzentrierte Transformation".
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