Lower-case ‘c’ creators are Quietly Taking Over Brand Marketing
The smartest brands are leveraging the collective power of digital communities to grow.
For the last decade, the capital-C Creator economy has boomed to over $250 billion, and we have watched as Creators parlay their success online into tangible political, cultural and financial influence. Being a capital-C, professional Creator has become the new American Dream.
Brands have noticed how valuable Creators are, too. Insurgent brands like Glossier, Hello Fresh and Dunkin’ spend millions to secure top-shelf Creator partnerships, hoping to capitalize on the star power of Creators to drive even more demand for their products. The problem is: the space is overcrowded, working with top-tier Creators is increasingly expensive—and given how fragmented the ecosystem has become—it’s harder to guarantee a return on the investment.
In the background, there’s another group of content creators quietly taking hold of the brand narrative. We call them “lower-case c creators”. This growing group of digital natives, work across a repertoire of platforms in an unpaid capacity. They’re also largely untapped by brands.
Tapping the Infinite Scalability of Everyday Creators
While marketers often chase the same pool of top-tier influencers, millions of users are quietly influencing brand perception—without media kits, professional distribution deals or even commercial intent. They’re Airbnb hosts writing thoughtful listings, Strava athletes logging runs and Reddit users giving niche advice. Last year, YouTube released a study that showed over 65% of Gen Z already see themselves as some form of creators. Lower-case ‘c.’
These lower-case ‘c’ creators are leaving a digital paper-trail that contributes dramatically to brand narratives—all through their authentic experience with it.
The beauty of digital creation among everyday creators? It scales the brand. As AI becomes more integral to product discovery, these digital signals—comments, reviews, playlists—become key inputs into how consumers choose brands:
Content is more discoverable—casual Reddit posts are feeding ChatGPT responses.
Organic behaviors are training the models—every user action informs the next.
Authenticity is outperforming polish—genuine beats glossy.
We’ve moved from brand-to-audience to a creator-to-creator model. Brand content is created, consumed and annotated by all lower-case c creators. But this creates new questions: How do you enable and guide these everyday creators? How do you help these creators – who are your customers and employees – reflect your brand values?
What We’ve Learned (and How to Apply It)
Our research with pro Creators shows two big motivators: authenticity and rewards. Their top challenges? Time, burnout, feeling isolated and not knowing how to succeed.
These insights apply to everyday creators, too. Here’s how smart brands are responding:
Redefine creation as contribution: Creating isn’t random, it’s a meaningful act. Logging a route, sharing a playlist, writing a review—demonstrate its impact on the community.
Recognize and reward effort: Recognition matters—as does having something to aspire to. Highlight top contributors, feature them and give creators increasing access to the brand. The more they contribute, the more they matter.
Foster community: People are looking for genuine online communities. Connect creators directly and show how their input helps others.
Encourage remixing and brand co-ownership: Make it easy for users to echo and build on each other’s content—and show how their content is a critical part of the brand narrative.
Center users in their stories: Creators don’t just talk about brands—smart brands, talk about creators and make them the center of their own stories.
Consumers are no longer just passive audiences—they’re active collaborators. Brands that design for co-authorship, not just consumption, will win.
In an AI-driven world, authenticity becomes currency. Brands’ most powerful marketers aren’t the Creators paid to endorse a product; they’re the users who create because they genuinely care and want to be a part of something big.
Want to explore how to turn your customers and employees into everyday creators? Let’s talk.
For a crash course in what to do first, plan your listening tour and ask the right questions.
Are you in a new role as chief marketer, or perhaps new to your category? This simple guide offers straightforward ideas and insights that can help you succeed.
To start, think about what you need to do in your first 100 days. It is important to consider:
Do I need to develop a transformation agenda?
Can I create a more compelling go-to-market strategy?
How can I make our brand more relevant to customers?
Are there foundational tools to put in place, such as a documented customer journey or a marketing plan?
How does marketing support the organization’s business strategy?
Given the rapid change in marketing and the greater need to prove immediate impact, we help new CMOs flex the most impactful levers including content, data and digital marketing, as well as reimagine their marketing organization for the modern era of growth engine marketing.
Here’s a quick guide of what to ask, what to do and where to look in the first 100 days.
What to Ask
Asking the right questions up front can help craft the right agenda, identify potential initiatives and create an actionable roadmap. Below are six questions you should explore with your team, colleagues, and agency partners.
How relevant is/are your brand(s) to your most important customers and stakeholders? How relentlessly focused on the customer are insights, strategies and tactics?
Is the marketing strategy aligned to the business strategy? What is marketing’s contribution to the enterprise? How do the rest of the C-suite and the board see marketing’s role?
Are brand and demand priorities clear and integrated—or in competition and at odds? Is there a portfolio marketing strategy in place or is the strategy purely product-focused?
How are you going to engage and empower the sales, communications and product teams? Is there a shared end-to-end customer journey? What culture of collaboration exists or doesn’t exist?
What is the maturity level within the marketing organization for key digital capabilities such as customer data, content, personalization and attribution?
Is your marketing team organized in the most efficient way possible and around your business priorities? How might you set up your operating model? How can AI tools and agents help?
What to Do
Here are some recommended actions passed on from other leaders, proven to get you on solid footing and off to a smart start.
1. Schedule your listening tour
Meet with your direct reports and colleagues across the organization, and ask these questions: What do you want me to create? What do you need me to protect? What do you need me to prioritize? Be sure to share back the results and your plan.
2. Create these CMO assets
Introduce Yourself Presentation: Prepare a “top 10 list” presentation that addresses these questions: Who are you? Why are you here? What kind of change initiative are you leading? What do you believe about marketing? What do you value? How do you like to work with others? What are your top priorities? What are key milestones for your first six months? What do you expect from your team? What can they expect from you?
Vision, Agenda and Roadmap: These are often created in a workshop over a few weeks with a suite of collaborations They should include a description in which the brand can fulfill the business potential, and the springboards, or starting places, that exist now. One key artifact to create is a dashboard to help track progress.
Growth Era Marketing Plan: This plan is a modern replacement for the integrated marketing plan and has many of the conventional elements updated for marketing’s new role as a growth engine for the enterprise. Topics include business vision, opportunities, strategies and tactics, customer data strategy, calendar, investment, and key enablers (e.g. content, technology, people, partners).
3. Work in outcomes
Translate your priority initiatives from marketing objectives to business impact. For example:
Reducing cost: Investing in a content strategy that leads to search engine optimization will, for the business, reduce the cost of digital marketing that may need to be done.
Increasing revenue: Engaging in brand and marketing campaigns that increase customer loyalty can, for the business, increase the share of wallet and customer lifetime value.
Improving efficiency: Improving digital experiences can be a reason for a prospective client to work with you, therefore improving the volume of incoming leads, lead quality, conversion rates and retention.
Product innovation: Customer insights gleaned from marketing activities and shared with product management can optimize product performance and uncover new opportunities.
Ask your teams to quantify and report their work against broader business impact, not only marketing KPIs. A dashboard that integrates marketing KPIs and business performance can help sustain that conversation and connection.
“When asked business questions (e.g. what have you delivered for the business?), don’t give marketing answers (e.g. NPS).”
Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Mastercard
Where to Look
Prophet helps new and tenured CMOs set an agenda and transform their marketing inside and out. Talk to Scott Davis, Mat Zucker, Marisa Mulvihill, Kate Price, Alex Whittaker and our brand and marketing strategy teams. Here are some additional resources which might be helpful:
Books
Diary of a First-Time CMO, Alice de Courcy (2023)
The Next CMO: A Guide to Marketing Operational Excellence, Peter Mahoney, Scott Todaro and Dan Faulkner (2020)
Lies, Damned Lies and Marketing: Separating Fact from Fiction and Drive Growth, Atul Minocha (2021)
Chief Marketing Officers at Work, Josh Steimle (2016)
CMO Manifesto, John Ellett (2012)
Owning Game-Changing Sub-Categories, David Aaker (2020)
The Chief Marketing Officer is a C-suite role that can lead, shape, and help deliver uncommon growth for the organization. Marketing is evolving fast, and every leader—new or tenured—needs the mindset and toolset to stay in front.
Reach out to our brand and marketing experts for advice and support on getting started with your agenda. Have a resource we should mention?
Five culture moves that help CEOs unlock growth in uncertain times.
CEOs Are on the Hook for Growth—So We Studied What Makes It Happen
CEOs are under immense pressure to deliver sustainable, industry-beating growth. At Prophet, we’ve studied what drives this kind of Uncommon Growthin these uncommon times—the kind that’s smarter, faster, and more resilient. While several elements contribute, one fundamental stood out in service of the others—culture.
Culture Isn’t the Only Ingredient in the Growth Formula—but it’s the Bedrock
Cultureunderpins all other factors. It’s the connective tissue between your organization’s purpose, people and performance. Without the right cultural conditions, customer obsession and innovation—the other pillars of uncommon growth—don’t stick. It is not a myth that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Take the AI revolution. It is Human-centered AI—the combination of tech with the human and cultural elements—that will drive competitive advantage. Not AI on its own.
Culture Drives Business Impact—But it Requires Systemic Work
Creating a culture that catalyses your growth isn’t accidental. It stems from your organizational system—how decisions are made, how people collaborate and what gets rewarded. Leaders who intentionally align culture with their brand and strategy accelerate execution and achieve faster impact. Those who neglect it, fall behind. Culture is dynamic. It needs nurturing and shaping over time to provide the stability, energy and speed required to fuel growth.
The Good News: Unlocking Growth Doesn’t Mean Wholesale Change
You don’t need to overhaul your organization. Typically, it’s a matter of identifying and shifting a few critical behaviours that are holding your strategy back—then aligning leadership and systems to reinforce them. Here are a few steps to make that happen.
Five CEO-Level Culture Moves That Drive Growth
To unleash your culture’s potential, focus on five pivotal actions:
1. Set your organizational ambition
Define a compelling, shared ambition for the organization, aligning purpose, strategy and culture—enabled by the right behaviors. Co-create this with your executive team to build a powerful, unified force that’s laser-focused on enabling growth together.
2. Activate your leadership
Culture change starts at the top. Leaders must model and promote the behaviors you need to win. Clarify what is expected of leaders, provide them with the skills and tools to drive adoption with their teams. Incentivise them and make them accountable for change.
3. Inspire your employees
Create an environment where people feel safe, empowered, and excited to contribute. Spark employee interest, passion and accountability by showing them what great looks like and celebrating their attempts to progress towards it.
4. Align your organization system
From incentives to structures, ensure every mechanism supports your desired culture. Unlock people and work through systematic change in service of delivery against set objectives. Alignment can take time but insist on a roadmap for change.
5. Measure and celebrate progress
Resource culture as a permanent strategic imperative, aligned to strategy and performance. Track what matters. Adapt to business priorities as you go. Celebrate progress and examples of change that support your direction.
Start by Identifying the one Cultural Shift That Will Unlock Growth
Iconic CEOs have driven phenomenal growth through cultural focus. Satya Nadella transformed Microsoft by shifting from a “know-it-all” to a “learn-it-all” culture. Alan Mulally turned Ford around by eliminating internal competition and rallying the organization around transparency and a relentless focus on the plan. Ynon Kreiz led Mattel’s transformation to an entertainment company by focusing heavily on shifting internal behaviors from product-centric execution to brand-building, creative risk taking and storytelling-led innovation. Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç drove the company’s dramatic profit turnaround with a shift from complacency and bureaucracy to customer focus and having employees act as business owners.
While they required specific business changes, each change was underpinned with a systemic culture focus, making a few critical behavioral shifts to support their growth strategy.
They didn’t attempt to fix everything—they focused on shifting the right thing.
At Prophet, we help CEOs define the cultural shifts that will unlock growth. Our Discovery Workshops surface misalignments, identify high-impact behaviours to change, how to equip leaders, excite employees and design the organizational systems to make them stick.
Your brand is only as strong as your culture. As CEO, it’s not just your job to grow the business—it’s your job to cultivate the culture that makes growth possible. Let’s find your culture catalyst for Uncommon Growth.
The New Rules of Search: Why AEO Is the Next Frontier in the Age of AI
SEO isn’t dead—It’s evolving but now is the time for companies to build a new AEO strategy.
Search is no longer just about clicks—it’s about conversations. With the rise of AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Bing Copilot, users are discovering information in radically new ways. These platforms summarize, synthesize and recommend content—often without users ever clicking a link.
AI overviews are fundamentally changing user behavior, fragmenting discovery and forcing brands to rethink their web strategy. AI-generated summaries are increasingly occupying prime real estate on search engine results pages (SERPs), leaving fewer opportunities for traditional click-throughs. In fact, 74% of users now turn to AI tools instead of Google for information and 70% of B2B buyers say they’re less likely to trust a vendor if its AI-generated answers are inaccurate.
Despite bold claims that “SEO is dead,” the truth is more nuanced. SEO is evolving. It remains foundational to how AI models understand and surface content. But to stay visible in this new landscape, brands must go beyond traditional tactics. Enter Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).
AEO is a future-ready strategy that blends structured content, knowledge graph alignment and AI discoverability tactics to help brands appear in AI-generated responses. It’s not just about ranking anymore—it’s about being recognized, cited and trusted by AI.
Why SEO Isn’t Dead—It’s Evolving
Large Language Models (LLMs) are trained on the open web. That means your SEO-optimized content—structured, authoritative and well-linked—is still the raw material for AI-generated answers.
Over the years, SEO has evolved from keyword stuffing to structured data, schema.org markup and semantic search. Now, AI is accelerating that evolution. Brands must ensure their content is not only crawlable but also interpretable by AI systems.
In short: SEO is no longer just about ranking. It’s about being recognized and recommended by AI.
The watch-out for brands today isn’t that SEO is dead—it’s that outdated or inaccurate content will quietly kill your credibility in AI-driven search.
From Search to Summarization: The Rise of AEO
AEO is the next evolution of digital visibility. It’s a strategic approach to ensure your brand shows up accurately and prominently in AI-generated answers across platforms like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity.
A strong AEO solution requires:
Brand Embedding: Measuring how close your content is to high-value topics in AI models.
Entity Mapping & Schema Optimization: Ensuring your website’s content has structured data and brand’s information is correct in sources like Wikidata.
Monitoring & Feedback: Tracking your brand’s presence in AI responses and correcting misinformation. Keeping that data at your fingertips through custom dashboards to showcase your brand’s visibility within LLMs and SOV against competitors.
In a world where decisions are made without a click, AEO helps your brand stay visible, credible and competitive.
The Rise of Multimodal Discovery
Discovery isn’t just text-based anymore. Users now rely on:
Voice search (“What’s the best HR software for small teams?”)
Visual search (Google Lens, Pinterest)
Conversational interfaces (AI chatbots and assistants)
This shift means brands must optimize across formats—text, images, video and structured data. Multimodal discoverability is the new baseline.
What Brands Need to Do Now
Audit Your Digital Footprint
LLMs are trained on what’s already online. Outdated, inaccurate, or off-brand content can hurt your discoverability and credibility.
Action: Audit old blogs, press releases, backlinks and landing pages. Identify and fix content that no longer reflects your brand or is factually incorrect.
Refresh and Structure Content
Use structured data (like schema.org) and emerging formats (like LLM.txt) to help AI understand your content.
Action: Refactor key pages with clear headings, concise answers and semantic markup. Write for both humans and machines.
Strengthen Domain Authority
AI models prioritize content from trusted sources. Being quoted, linked, or cited by high-authority domains boosts your visibility.
Action: Revisit your PR, editorial and influencer strategies. Build authority signals across the web.
Understand Your Brand’s Embedding
AI models organize knowledge in vector space. Understanding your brand’s “semantic distance” from key topics reveals content gaps and opportunities.
Action: Use tools to visualize your brand’s position in AI models and identify where to create or consolidate content.
SEO vs. AEO: A Strategic Comparison
AEO doesn’t replace SEO—it builds on it. But it requires a shift in mindset: from optimizing for clicks to optimizing for answers.
We’re entering a new “wild west” of digital discovery—similar to the early 2010s of SEO, but moving even faster. AI is reshaping how people find, trust and act on information.
Brands that modernize now—by embracing AEO and rethinking their content strategies—will have a significant competitive edge. Get in touch with our team to learn more about how we’re helping companies navigate the new AI-driven environment.
How do we scale—without fragmenting the customer experience?
How do we prove ROI—without drowning in pilots?
To answer these questions, Prophet has reimagined what a marketing maturity model should look like in the GenAI era.
Let’s Start With a Step Back
In 2018, Prophet debuted our Marketing Maturity Model to help our clients understand where their companies have the opportunity to transform their approach to marketing and unlock growth. It evaluated marketing capability across key dimensions: content, customer data, channels, operating model, measurement and technology.
Our 2018 Marketing Maturity Model
For the most part, with some iterative updates, it has stood the test of time, and we still use it to help guide our clients.
However, the pressure on CMOs has never been higher. Expectations around marketing-led growth continue to rise, while teams wrestle with talent gaps, disconnected data and flat or shrinking budgets. At the same time, customer expectations demand personalized, real-time experiences and traditional marketing processes can’t keep pace.
The Opportunity for GenAI in Marketing
GenAI—and increasingly, agentic AI systems—are reshaping how marketing operates. It’s not just about faster content or smarter segmentation. It’s about fundamentally changing how marketing teams plan, execute and optimize across the entire value chain:
From content creation to campaign orchestration
From persona-based targeting to predictive segmentation
From manual reporting to real-time optimization
And GenAI can supercharge marketing performance:
IDC Estimates that GenAI will increase Marketing productivity more than 40% by 2029.
The Financial Times, reporting against an analysis of 167 companies deploying level-3 LLM based agents saw revenue increases of 9-21% for sales and marketing functions.
Early adopters are rapidly out-pacing competitors by embedding GenAI. They are meeting customers’ demands for hyper-personalization and Autonomous AI agents are giving teams more agility than traditional marketing processes allow. And companies that have already started are seeing the benefits of exponentiality whereby the agents learn and become more effective and efficient with time.
Content Creation and Creative Augmentation
Generative AI tools act as creative partners, drastically cutting down the time to produce marketing materials and opening possibilities for mass customization. A human-in-the-loop approach ensures brand voice and factual accuracy remain on point. Generative AI supports the creative process so marketing teams can focus on high-level messaging and strategy, confident that the AI can supply a steady stream of drafts or designs to choose from.
Expanded Creative Capacity: GenAI rapidly generates copy, imagery and video—multiplying creative output with fewer resources.
Personalized Creative at Scale: AI enables customization of content variants tailored to segments or individuals without extra lift from teams.
Faster Iteration & Testing: Content variations (headlines, formats, CTAs) are automatically generated, A/B tested and optimized in real time.
Brand Governance Built-In: AI systems can be trained or prompted to comply with brand tone, voice and regulatory requirements.
Creative Co-Pilot to Creator: As capabilities evolve, GenAI will shift from augmenting human creatives to autonomously producing and deploying asset-ready materials across channels.
Dynamic Segmentation: A New Era of Customer Understanding
Understanding your customers at a granular level is foundational to effective marketing. GenAI supercharges customer segmentation by analyzing data at a depth and scale that humans cannot match. Marketers move from static segmentation to a responsive, intelligent system that adapts in real time to market and customer changes.
Granular Precision: GenAI analyzes behavioral, transactional and engagement data at scale to uncover micro-segments and hidden patterns traditional methods miss.
Real-Time Adaptability: AI-driven segmentation evolves continuously based on live data across channels—adjusting targeting as preferences, signals, or behaviors shift, allowing marketing to shift on the fly.
AI-Generated Personas: Models can synthesize lookalike audiences and new personas, improving targeting precision and reducing waste in campaigns.
Predictive Insight: GenAI strengthens segmentation with forward-looking intelligence—anticipating churn, lifetime value and conversion probability. It can predict which customers are most likely to make repeat purchases, which are at risk of churn, or which prospects are likely to convert, often with greater accuracy than traditional models, thanks to the AI’s ability to detect subtle patterns.
Hyper-Personalization of Customer Experiences
The holy grail of marketing is “the right offer, at the right time, via the right channel, to the right person.” Generative AI is bringing this ideal of hyper-personalization at scale closer to reality. By combining granular customer data with creative generation capabilities, GenAI can help craft experiences and messages tailored to segments of one.
Dynamic Personalization: Combines real-time data and AI-generated content to create truly individualized experiences.
Beyond Messaging: AI personalizes offers, journeys, pricing and digital environments—not just copy.
B2C & B2B Impact: Tailors experiences across the customer lifecycle, from retail to complex B2B buying groups.
Efficiency Gains: Automates content, outreach and optimization—freeing teams for strategic creative work.
Business Outcomes: Increases conversion, customer satisfaction and loyalty by making customers feel understood.
Autonomous Campaigns and Marketing Operations
Perhaps the most transformative impact of GenAI will come from automation of marketing operations and the emergence of autonomous marketing agents. In today’s marketing, executing a campaign involves many manual and repetitive tasks. Agentic AI has the potential to choreograph many of these tasks automatically, effectively acting as an extra pair of (digital) hands – or an entire “digital marketing team” – that works 24/7 with perfect consistency
From Tasks to Autonomy: Agentic AI automates campaign execution and internal workflows—acting as a 24/7 digital marketing team.
Faster, Smarter Execution: AI agents optimize performance in real time—audience targeting, budget shifts, creative testing, etc.
Seamless Funnel Engagement: Agents handle early-stage lead qualification, handoffs and conversational marketing.
Cross-Functional Automation: Supports operations like content planning, compliance review and data integration.
The Future of “Marketing Autopilot”: Phased evolution from AI-assisted tools → autonomous agents → fully automated marketing teams.
Introducing the Prophet GenAI Marketing Maturity Model
Many marketing leaders are concerned – are we too far behind already? Noting “Our current marketing wasn’t up to a sophisticated level of maturity before GenAI started to take over, so how can we possibly catch up?”
Traditional maturity models describe a journey from “ad hoc” to “optimized,” implying you must climb rung by rung. But GenAI has changed the rules. You no longer have to move in sequence—you can jump.
Go from inconsistent content to scalable, brand-safe personalization in a quarter.
Skip the years-long Martech roadmap and deploy agentic systems that act as 24/7marketing teams.
The trick is not just adopting GenAI tools—it’s embedding them into the operating model.
Our updated model maps GenAI capabilities across eight marketing functions—from customer segmentation to campaign orchestration—across three stages of maturity:
Where are you Today—and What can you do Tomorrow?
Whether you’re piloting your first GenAI tool or scaling autonomous agents, your path forward depends more on organizational readiness than AI capability. Here’s how to move:
Start Small, Scale Fast
Pilot in areas with low risk and high visibility (content ops, lead scoring, message testing).
Use these early wins to build internal confidence and proof points.
Design for Integration
Establish a GenAI Center of Excellence or a cross-functional squad.
Align with IT, legal and data to ensure brand governance, ethics and compliance.
Map to Growth Metrics
Don’t just track clicks—link GenAI to business outcomes: ROMI, CLTV, speed to value.
Create a dashboard that shows GenAI’s contribution to revenue and retention.
Shift Mindsets & Roles
Upskill marketers to become orchestrators, not just executors.
Redesign workflows to let AI handle the repeatable—and people handle the exceptional.
Talk to Prophet about how you can embed AI in your marketing and in your marketing operating model for the uncommon growth that great strategy, creativity, innovation and culture can together provide.
Prophet’s creative work is grounded in the belief that uncommon growth demands uncommon creativity.
Our team has grown—bigger than ever across our four global studios—to reflect the new challenges brands face, bringing in new talent and expanding our capabilities to meet a broader range of client needs.
From AI-driven identity systems to immersive campaigns and experiences, we aim to inspire and transform. Every project begins with brand strategy and purpose, helping us tell authentic stories that go beyond what a brand sells to show who they are. As demand grows for creative that bridges strategy and execution, we deliver bold, results-driven work that builds equity, drives growth and elevates brands and businesses in a fast-moving world.
Work Featured in Prophet’s Design Reel
00:13 JetBlue: Redefining Airline Expectations
JetBlue has always done things differently—its brand needed to reflect that. Prophet helped evolve JetBlue’s identity to challenge how airlines are “supposed” to act, look and speak. The result? A bold, unmistakable brand that defies convention and elevates the customer experience.
00:21 UBS: Energizing 60,000+ Employees Through Brand
After UBS acquired Credit Suisse in 2023, we helped management reaffirm UBS’s status as a foremost global financial institution. We created the central idea of “Craft,” and executed it through a new brand expression, customer experience initiatives and a global creative campaign.
00:31 Abu Dhabi: A Destination Brand That Moves at Your Pace
To position Abu Dhabi as a world-class cultural and leisure destination, Prophet developed a new brand and campaign: “Experience Abu Dhabi. Find Your Pace.” With a bespoke logotype, dynamic visuals and a human-centric image library, the brand invites the world to explore the emirate’s rich offerings.
00:44 AEG: Challenging the Expected in Home Appliances
To help AEG stand out in a functional category, Prophet refreshed the brand with a bold new strategy: “Challenge the Expected.” We expanded its iconic red palette, introduced expressive characters and launched a 360° brand experience at IFA 2024.
1:13 Invesco: Editorial Thinking for a Client-Centric Brand
Prophet helped Invesco evolve its brand with an editorial mindset by introducing expressive typography, CGI-enhanced visuals and a distinctive tone of voice: “The Intelligent Conversationalist.” A global employee campaign and new EVP brought the transformation to life.
1:18 MB Bank: A Bold Identity for a Digital-First Future
To mark its 25th anniversary and transformation into a digital-first bank, MB partnered with Prophet to launch a new brand: “Intelligent Banking. Enriching Your Future.” The refreshed identity fueled growth, earned industry accolades and attracted over 8 million new customers.
Is Your Company Undervalued? It’s Time to Rethink Your Story of Value
As global markets stabilize, a new challenge emerges for resilient companies: the strategic opportunity hidden in widespread undervaluation.
In today’s world of relentless volatility, geopolitical tension and economic uncertainty, many companies have spent the last few years focused on survival—restructuring operations, building resilience and navigating crisis after crisis. But now, a new challenge is emerging: undervaluation.
Across global markets, undervaluation is a striking trend. In the U.S., small-value stocks are trading nearly 25% below their fair value, signalling untapped potential. In Europe, countries like the Netherlands and Denmark show discounts of 10–14%, while even large-cap firms in Germany, France and the UK remain undervalued—particularly in sectors like industrial tech, digital trust, and cybersecurity. Meanwhile, in Asia, many companies—especially in technology, logistics, and industrials—are trading at 40–50% below estimated fair value, despite strong fundamentals and growth prospects.
Why? Because the market doesn’t always see what you see. And that’s not just a financial issue—it’s a strategic one.
Three Gaps That are Holding you Back
At the heart of this undervaluation lie three critical gaps:
The Valuation Gap
Short-term decisions, reactive strategies, or misunderstood pivots can obscure long-term potential. When the market doesn’t grasp your trajectory, your valuation suffers.
The Differentiation Gap
Your value proposition may no longer be clear or compelling. Assets are in place, but the dots aren’t connected. Your competitive edge isn’t obvious—internally or externally.
The Narrative Gap
Somewhere along the way, the story of what makes your company exciting, unique, and future-ready has faded. Teams lose clarity. Investors lose confidence. Momentum stalls.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s time to take a step back—not to rebrand, but to rethink your Story of Value.
What is a Story of Value?
This isn’t about marketing claims or slick campaigns. A Story of Value is a strategic narrative that articulates the true, enduring value your company creates—today and tomorrow. It’s a unifying force that aligns leadership, energizes teams and restores market confidence.
A well-crafted Story of Value:
Clarifies what your company is capable of
Defines where you can play and how you can win
Inspires belief across stakeholders—from boardrooms to frontlines
Becomes a catalyst for growth, innovation and cultural transformation
Why it Matters Now
Without a sharp, distinctive, and inspiring Story of Value, growth becomes harder. Teams hesitate. Investors question. Opportunities slip away.
But with it? You unlock a new wave of momentum. You simplify complexity into a compelling, credible, and actionable narrative. You speak a common language that wins in the market.
What you Gain
Rewriting your Story of Value often leads to:
New growth opportunities you haven’t seen before
Cultural shifts that align with your future ambitions
Brand strategy alignment that supports your next chapter
How it Works
The process is both rigorous and inspiring. It includes:
Asset Inventory: A deep dive into your tangible and intangible assets—client-facing capabilities, operational strengths, cultural mindsets and more.
Strategic & Messaging Frameworks: A structured methodology to crystallize your Story of Value, grounded in data, co-created with stakeholders, and validated through market testing.
Depending on your organization’s size and complexity, this journey takes four–12 weeks. We combine classical analysis, stakeholder interviews, co-creation workshops, and proprietary AI tools to ensure a 360° view—inside-out and outside-in.
The Outcome
You walk away with more than a story or strategic framework. Working with us will provide you with:
Let’s rethink your Story of Value and reignite your path to growth. When your Story of Value is told right, it doesn’t just describe your business—it defines your future.
Because clarity inspires confidence, and confidence fuels growth.
How Shiseido Drives Uncommon Growth by Breaking Boundaries Through Customer-Centric Innovations
Uncommon Growth Leaders is an article series featuring bold leaders driving faster, smarter, more sustainable, more human and more actionable growth—what we call uncommon growth.
Carol Zhou is the Senior Vice President of Shiseido Group’s China Business Innovation & Investment and the GM of Ziyue Fund, Shiseido’s beauty-focused investment fund. She unlocks growth drivers across the globe by leading incubation efforts of internal new ventures, while identifying and investing in external emerging startups.
In our discussion, Ms. Zhou shared her in-depth perspective on the evolving consumer landscape and Shiseido’s global strategy for innovation and growth. Through continuous innovations rooted in relentless customer-centricity, including ventures into ingestible beauty and medical beauty categories, Shiseido focuses on creating compelling value propositions to continuously win consumer trust, and drive high-quality, sustainable growth.
How is Shiseido driving growth within your organization?
Carol Zhou: As an industry leader and the ‘Asian Skincare Expert,’ Shiseido is committed not only to shaping the future of beauty but also to deeply understanding and anticipating consumer needs—transforming insights into strategic brand excellence and sustainable growth drivers.
Growth is a long-term process, and the key lies in building an enduring brand through vision and consistency. Beyond packaging or storytelling, it’s about stewarding our core values at every touchpoint. Our goal extends beyond reaching a wider audience; we strive to cultivate meaningful consumer connections that inspire loyalty and mutual value creation.
Shiseido has been increasingly investing in the ingestible beauty (inner beauty) and medical beauty categories. In pursuing high-quality growth, what motivated the decision to redefine the traditional boundaries of the beauty industry?
CZ: From my earliest days at Shiseido, our global CEO recognized China as both our most strategic future market and the ultimate proving ground for global innovation. This innovation extends far beyond product development—it’s about defining ecosystems, reimagining business models, creating unique consumer value and establishing enduring brand equity.
Our approach to innovation outlines two essential principles. First, comes our commitment to anticipating future trends and staying acutely attuned to market evolutions. Equally important is our dedication to protecting the brand’s core value, ensuring every innovation strengthens rather than compromises Shiseido’s long-term values and heritage.
The ingestible beauty category (beauty-from-within) came naturally to us. It represents the perfect synergy between Japan’s centuries-old philosophy of holistic beauty and China’s tradition of wellness harmony.
Shiseido launched its tech-driven ingestible beauty brand INRYU in 2021.
Medical beauty, in comparison, was a more challenging venture. Initially, there were internal concerns: Is this too radical? But after observing global beauty trends and consumer habits, we recognized that medical beauty is becoming an essential component of people’s daily skincare regimens, potentially displacing traditional premium skincare. As an industry leader, Shiseido must embrace change rather than cling to convention. So, we’re cautiously yet decisively exploring how to empower the medical beauty sector—seizing new opportunities while preserving Shiseido’s core DNA: “people-first” innovations blending “art & science.”
Shiseido introduced its first medical beauty brand RQ PYOLOGY in China.
Empowering the medical beauty industry is now a key pillar of Shiseido’s global strategy. We’re leveraging China—the world’s most dynamic and competitive market—as fertile ground for innovation, then scaling successful practices globally.
With shifting consumer habits, what challenges do you face in brand marketing?
CZ: We don’t react passively. Instead, we proactively build systematic consumer insights and development capabilities, laying the foundation for sustainable, long-term growth.
With unprecedented information transparency, consumers’ decision-making processes have radically evolved. They no longer passively accept brand narratives—instead they proactively investigate and demand substance. For example, proof points such as ingredients, clinical data and scientific validation are scrutinized, revealing a new generation of discerning consumers. Thanks to platforms like TikTok (Douyin) and RedNote, consumers are often better informed about industry trends than marketers. This shift is rewriting the rules of brand marketing.
In the past, branding was a “one-way broadcast.” Corporations had control over channels with carefully crafted brand stories. Today, the narrative belongs to consumers—they share, educate and influence. Brands must evolve into enablers. This shift in power dynamics presents new challenges. With people’s attention spans shorter than ever, the pressure is on; brands must deliver value, instantly.
But the real test isn’t to grab attention—any brand can do that with flashy campaigns. The true measure of success is converting buzz into lasting brand equity: loyalty, advocacy and repeat purchases. Shiseido focuses not just on communicating our core values, but on fostering continuous dialogue with consumers, reinforcing trust through delivering product quality and customer experiences.
Shiseido launched “ULTIMUNE FOUNTAIN,” a sustainable refill service for the iconic Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate, promoting sustainability while boosting loyalty.
Amid market uncertainties, how does Shiseido reconcile bold innovation with risk mitigation when entering new sectors and ecosystem partnerships?
CZ: We take a test-and-learn approach—validating concepts through controlled pilots before scaling, ensuring systems and strategies mature in lockstep. At our core, we prioritize high-quality growth, rejecting short-term tactics like price wars or short-term traffic grabs and instead delivering authentic value that earns long-term loyalty.
For instance, in medical beauty, we noticed gaps in the consumer journey—the experience from pre-treatment to post-care isn’t seamless. So, we’re exploring how Shiseido can enhance this holistic experience by integrating into the customer journey beyond providing specialized products. By partnering with clinics, we hope to help elevate their services and experiences, therefore increasing retention and customer lifetime value.
Agility is also critical amid the fast-changing landscape. Internally, we strive to streamline cross-functional collaboration and accelerate decision-making. Externally, we cultivate strategic partnerships that complement our capabilities across the customer journey, allowing us to rapidly innovate in high-potential areas while maintaining our commitment to excellence.
Finally, what metrics do you prioritize when measuring marketing success?
CZ: When assessing brand performance, I prioritize customer retention—particularly the repurchase rate—as one of the most critical metrics. More importantly, beyond broad brand awareness (which often correlates with marketing spend), I place greater emphasis on meaningful brand recognition among precisely defined consumer segments.
This requires a sophisticated approach across different stages of the marketing funnel. At the upper funnel level, we focus not just on impression volume, but on expanding reach through precision targeting. We develop specific consumer personas based on our brand strategy, extending beyond basic demographics to incorporate lifestyle patterns and purchase drivers. For instance, ingestible beauty consumers may be primarily motivated by wellness consciousness or fitness routines.
At the lower funnel, our emphasis shifts from short-term conversion (which can be artificially inflated through promotions) to driving repeat purchases and long-term value.
Carol Zhou SVP, China Business Innovations & Investments; GM of Inner Beauty & Wellness Division Shiseido
As the SVP of Shiseido Group’s China Business Innovation & Investment, Ms. Carol Zhou helps unlock the next growth drivers for the Group across the globe by leading incubation efforts of internal new ventures, while identifying and investing in external emerging startups.
Ms. Zhou successfully led the launch of Shiseido’s first ingestible beauty brand, INRYU, in China. As the head of Shiseido’s ingestible beauty division, she will further expand the brand portfolio in this category to deliver greater value to increasingly sophisticated beauty consumers. Additionally, as the General Manager of Ziyue Fund, Shiseido’s beauty-focused investment fund, she continues to concentrate on high-growth sectors in the Chinese market, exploring new brands to enrich the Group’s business portfolio while creating synergies with existing brands.
In April of this year, Ms. Zhou introduced the Group’s first high-end biotech skincare brand, RQ PYOLOGY, in Shanghai, offering a full-cycle medical beauty and skincare solution, fusing medical-grade efficacy and cosmetic elegance. The brand will partner with premium specialized beauty clinics to provide safer, more effective, and precise full-cycle skincare solutions for Asian skin through high-performance medical beauty products and outstanding customer experiences.
Ms. Zhou has held senior management positions at several multinational corporations, including Unilever, L’Oréal Group, Burberry, and Marriott International, where she led brands in cross-regional and cross-sector global strategic innovation. She graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business and holds an MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Ms. Zhou successfully led the launch of Shiseido’s first ingestible beauty brand, INRYU, in China. As the head of Shiseido’s ingestible beauty division, she will further expand the brand portfolio in this category to deliver greater value to increasingly sophisticated beauty consumers. Additionally, as the General Manager of Ziyue Fund, Shiseido’s beauty-focused investment fund, she continues to concentrate on high-growth sectors in the Chinese market, exploring new brands to enrich the Group’s business portfolio while creating synergies with existing brands.
In April of this year, Ms. Zhou introduced the Group’s first high-end biotech skincare brand, RQ PYOLOGY, in Shanghai, offering a full-cycle medical beauty and skincare solution, fusing medical-grade efficacy and cosmetic elegance. The brand will partner with premium specialized beauty clinics to provide safer, more effective, and precise full-cycle skincare solutions for Asian skin through high-performance medical beauty products and outstanding customer experiences.
Ms. Zhou has held senior management positions at several multinational corporations, including Unilever, L’Oréal Group, Burberry, and Marriott International, where she led brands in cross-regional and cross-sector global strategic innovation. She graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business and holds an MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Prophet helps clients unlock Uncommon Growth—the high-impact growth that is sustainable, faster, smarter, more human and more actionable, requiring organizations to increase speed to market while building the right capabilities, culture and business models to outpace disruption and drive lasting impact.
Rooted in consumer insights and business outcomes, we create strategy that’s sharp, focused and pragmatic. Explore how we can partner with your organization to drive real growth.
Human-Centered AI: Culture as the Catalyst for AI-enabled Growth
To turn AI into a true growth engine, organizations must expand beyond tech and tools and start thinking about culture. Our latest research reveals how aligning people, purpose and progress is the key to sustainable AI adoption.
There’s never been a more important time for organizations to be human. AI has leapt from buzzword to boardroom priority—redefining roles, reshaping workflows and unlocking new levers for growth. But while the technology accelerates, the cultural transformation needed to support AI is lagging.
This new report builds on our ongoing research into human-centered transformation. We interviewed CEOs and CHROs from leading global companies to explore how AI is impacting culture and what leaders must do now to embed AI at the heart of their organizations.
To unlock AI’s full potential, organizations must take a holistic approach—embedding it across every layer, from strategy and systems to people and processes. A successful AI-enabled workforce strategy requires more than investment; it demands synchronized leadership, clear priorities and a strong cultural mandate.
Prophet’s Human-Centered Transformation Model (HCTM) frames the organization as a living system—with a DNA, Mind, Body and Soul—that must evolve in concert for real, sustainable impact. Our research shows that true transformation happens when culture, leadership and talent align—turning AI from a tool into a powerful engine for growth.
Four Key Levers of Human-Centered AI
DNA: Aligning AI with Purpose and Values. Organizational DNA defines purpose and anchors strategy. When AI is aligned with core values, it gains direction, momentum—and staying power.
Mind: Scale Skills for What’s Next. AI demands new capabilities across the workforce. Equip employees with the skills and mindsets needed to adapt, grow and lead through change.
Body: Redesign How Work Gets Done. AI is reshaping roles, systems and workflows. To scale transformation, organizations must rethink how work happens and make agility the norm.
Soul: Deepen Human Connection. By removing routine tasks, AI allows employees to focus on meaning, creativity and connection. The result: stronger engagement and purpose-driven work.
The Future is Human-Centered AI
It’s time to move beyond fragmented experimentation and toward intentional transformation.
AI isn’t just about automation—it’s about reimagining how people work, connect and grow.
When embedded across the DNA, Mind, Body and Soul of an organization, AI becomes more than a tool. It becomes a catalyst for purpose-driven growth, empowered talent and lasting cultural change.
The Future is Human-Centered AI
It’s time to move beyond fragmented experimentation and toward intentional transformation.
AI isn’t just about automation—it’s about reimagining how people work, connect and grow.
When embedded across the DNA, Mind, Body and Soul of an organization, AI becomes more than a tool. It becomes a catalyst for purpose-driven growth, empowered talent and lasting cultural change.
LET’S BUILD HUMAN-CENTERED AI SOLUTIONS TOGETHER
Get in touch with our team to explore how Prophet can help your organization unlock uncommon growth through culture-led, AI-enabled transformation.
Client expectations are rising faster than most banks can keep up. In a world of shrinking margins and nonstop disruption, fast transactions and solid service aren’t enough.
Today’s commercial clients want real-time visibility, personalized digital experiences, and strategic partnership—and they’re measuring you against top B2C experiences.
It’s no longer about incremental improvements. The banks that thrive will be those that reimagine how they deliver value at every touchpoint.
Five New Realities Reshaping the Commercial Banking Experience
Boundaryless Banking – Platforms, ecosystems and partnerships are rewriting the rules of engagement.
AI is the New Infrastructure – Intelligent systems are now core to personalized service, risk analysis and growth.
The End of Back-Office Onboarding – Client onboarding must be seamless, digital and immediate.
Research Is a Blind Spot – Commercial insights must go beyond surface-level segmentation.
Exponential Risk – New threats demand faster, more transparent responses—and stronger client trust.
Read this report to learn what leading commercial banks are doing differently and the three key principles they are adopting to stay relevant.If your bank is serious about relevance, growth and differentiation in a platform-driven world, this report is your roadmap.
Download the full report to explore the five new realities and how to lead with experience.
This is how we’ve been building an AI-ready organization at Prophet.
At Prophet, we’ve been exploring AI’s potential for some time—experimenting, building and learning across teams. But our biggest leap forward didn’t come from a new tool or top-down policy. It came from a collective shift in focus.
Earlier this year, we hit pause across all 15 global offices to host our AI Learning Jam—a firmwide sprint designed to upskill, energize and unlock new ideas. We brought in outside experts, spotlighted internal pioneers already integrating AI into their work, and carved out time for hands-on experimentation. Teams tackled real client challenges using AI—and the momentum was immediate.
Feedback from the event was among the strongest we’ve seen for a firmwide initiative. But more powerful than any metric was what it set in motion.
We followed it with our first AI Demo Day, inviting submissions in three categories:
How we’re using AI to enhance current work
How we’re guiding clients on AI strategy
How we’re building AI products and solutions
Twenty demos. Ten teams were selected to present to our executive leadership. The range of use cases was eye-opening—from custom GPTs that accelerate insights and storytelling, to AI-powered tools that generate consulting outputs, to strategic frameworks helping clients define their AI vision. We carefully considered the potential for each demo and recognized the top contributors. We are now scaling these solutions firmwide.
One team reported a 90% time savings on market mapping tasks—freeing them to focus on strategic thinking and creativity. Another team doubled their content output using a custom GPT trained on a specific tone of voice.
Our focus on AI solutions isn’t a one-off initiative. It’s a cultural shift—and we’re seeing it in the data. The number of custom GPTs built internally has grown exponentially.
We’re early—but we’re all in. Because when transformation starts with people and is guided by purpose, it scales faster and sticks deeper.
And we know many organizations are asking the same questions: Where do we start? How do we move beyond pilots? What should we build, automate—or advise on?
If you’re looking to scale AI adoption, build internal momentum, or embed AI into the customer experience—we welcome that conversation. Get in touch.
A guide to creating cultures that energize employees and unlock uncommon growth.
In today’s fast-changing business landscape, culture is no longer a soft, secondary concern—it is a strategic asset that can make or break an organization’s success. Prophet’s report, “Making Culture Pop” presents a fresh and actionable guide for leaders seeking to harness the power of culture to drive sustainable growth, energize employees and navigate transformation with confidence.
Culture change doesn’t have to be daunting A strategic, people-centered approach can make it intuitive, engaging and even fun.
The power of focus Instead of overhauling everything, the most effective culture shifts involve amplifying what already makes an organization unique.
The right time is now Waiting for the ‘perfect moment’ to address culture is a costly mistake; the best companies integrate culture into their ongoing strategic imperatives.
Lessons from the Frontlines: What Works & What Fails
Don’t make culture an ‘HR thing’ True cultural shifts must be embedded into business strategy and operations.
Leaders must lead Executive teams play a critical role in setting the tone and modeling desired behaviors.
Follow the love Culture thrives when employees are inspired, engaged, and empowered to be active participants in shaping their work environment.
A Practical Roadmap for Culture Transformation
The report outlines a simple, five-step framework for leaders to create a thriving, resilient culture:
01 Co-create the foundations – Define and align on cultural values and behaviors that will drive success.
02 Lead the change – Equip leaders to champion and model cultural transformation.
03 Inspire a movement – Create momentum by making culture tangible and actionable for employees.
04 Elevate the employee experience – Align people practices to reinforce cultural aspirations.
05 Rewire the business – Integrate cultural shifts into structures, processes, and decision-making.
The Competitive Advantage of Culture
As industries face seismic shifts from AI, digital transformation, and evolving consumer expectations, culture remains a company’s most powerful differentiator. Making Culture Pop is an essential read for leaders ready to build organizations that not only adapt to change but thrive in it. By embracing culture as a strategic driver, businesses can unlock growth, resilience, and a shared sense of purpose that propels them into the future.
