Prophet

CASE STUDY

Sodexo Healthcare France

Prescribing a new value proposition amidst a global pandemic

Challenge

Healthcare is fundamentally changing around the world. Sodexo, an international leader that provides services that improve quality of life for patients, visitors and healthcare professionals, recognized that it needed to make some changes to better compete in the market and to be relevant to its customers’ evolving needs. Sodexo needed to clearly articulate its value proposition for the future, building on what the business could deliver today.

After creating a new value proposition in the U.S., Prophet partnered with Sodexo’s healthcare business in France to create a locally relevant proposition, one that elevates its healthcare credentials and translates it in a customer-centric way – allowing the organization to better connect on an emotional and functional level with clients in the region.

Solutions

Recognizing the differences that exist between countries, cultures and their public and private healthcare systems, the Prophet team started by immersing themselves in the context of the French market. The team interpreted customer insights and conducted a series of interviews with members of Sodexo’s leadership and sales teams to understand the needs and objectives of the firm locally. Prophet also did research into Sodexo’s brand perception outside of the healthcare sector in order to provide objective recommendations.

The first phase of the project was to define the pillars that truly stand at the core of Sodexo Healthcare’s value proposition in France – to which strategy and communications would be anchored. As the project was completed against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this was developed through collaborative working sessions, all conducted virtually by the Prophet team who leveraged digital platforms to create a truly engaging experience. This included one session with the full Executive Committee where the team assessed different options and aligned on the way forward – reflecting the centrality of the value proposition for all functions in the Healthcare organization.

With the strategic foundation in place, an associated slogan and messaging platform were also developed so the Sodexo team could speak with one united and consistent voice internally and to their customers externally around the slogan: ‘Vers l’avenir du soin’/’Towards the Future of Care’. Ambitious and forward-looking, the slogan reflects the aspiration of Sodexo to continuously improve the healthcare conditions in France through a human-centric focus on care, doubling down on their leadership position in the industry and the strength of their expertise.

Results

Delivered within a compressed timeframe, Sodexo began rolling out the new value proposition in France in a matter of weeks. With the pandemic still surging, it was a unique opportunity for Sodexo to show its commitment to its new value proposition. The associated messages that were pushed via key communications channels, including social media, addressed the current environment, delivering compassion and connecting on an emotional level with audiences. Armed with this new value proposition, Sodexo is prepared to thrive in the changing healthcare environment.

“The Prophet team convinced us with their vision and did not fail to keep their promise during our work together. The final result is very satisfactory.”

Nataliane Thoulon
Director of Strategy, Sodexo Healthcare France

CASE STUDY

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts

Creating a customer experience that brings families together

Challenge

To win over leisure travelers in Asia, Sheraton wanted to offer an enriched experience specifically built for families. To do so, they developed Side by Side, a uniquely branded program, with dedicated activities & experiences that celebrate the gathering of families.

Solutions

The Prophet team supported Sheraton with the development of the Side by Side proposition and brand, including the development of the activity programming, a Chinese name for the program and visual assets – all of which assembled into a proof of concept (POC) toolkit to bring the program to life.

We conducted a co-creation workshop with Hotel GMs to develop a set of signature activities that multi-generational families could enjoy together. We then developed a distinct visual system, in keeping with the Sheraton brand, along with a detailed activity calendar and activation assets to guide the program piloting in four initial resorts.

Staying true to Sheraton’s positioning “The World’s Gathering Place,” we designed a visual identity system for the Side by Side program to convey the message of “togetherness” in a warm, fun, and modern way. The wordmark is paired with the symbol of holding hands, illustrating a universal gesture of gathering in an abstract form. While staying consistent with Sheraton’s master brand look and feel, Prophet’s creative team infused playful and fun elements into the Side by Side family program through a collection of simple line icons and graphic elements.

Results

The Side by Side program will be rolling out to all Sheraton properties Asia-wide after a successful proof-of-concept launch in 2020.

CASE STUDY

Gravity

From hotel to Millennial experience hub

Challenge

As part of their hotel growth plans, Josun Hotels and Resorts wanted to create a hotel that appealed to the Millennial generation whose needs and expectations for a hotel were shifting to meet their evolving lifestyles in Korea.

Solutions

Prophet worked closely with Josun to first define their target audience—who they were and what their wants and needs are in a hotel experience. We uncovered fresh insights about this target, who we called ”The Experience Maximizers.” They cross the three spheres of work, life and play seamlessly. They are highly tech-savvy, social seekers, community nomads who crave new and exciting experiences. Understanding this, we set out to create a hospitality destination that harnessed the growing desire to foster creative, collaborative and inspiring communities that blend work and play together.

The concept was to become a thriving social hub—a center of gravity in the community that provides open and flexible space for socializing, working, eating and shopping. The hotel would deliver this through flexible, multi-purpose spaces that evolve throughout the day, with curated programming that draws people in from the local community. The space would truly energize the community—whether it’s showcasing the works of local artists, holding a regular farmer’s market on the rooftop or hosting performances from favorite local bands.

Both the name “Gravity” and the logo we created with the directional “V” symbolize the concept of a modern hub and acts as a center for attraction and interest. The floating concept seen in the “V” is also brought through the black and white conceptual imagery of things that are floating in midair defying gravity. We brought the modern hub concept through thinking about their space, F&B, service, local content, curated programming of activities and unique partnerships.

Results

SJosun has recently opened the first Gravity hotel in Seoul, Dec 2020, and started to roll out some signature experiences including Gravity Time which features unique activities and premium dining as well as Gravity Tribe, that brings cultural and wellness programs, as well as opportunities for exchange among community members. The hotel is part of the Autograph Collection by Marriott.

CASE STUDY

Multinational Manufacturer

Modernizing customer engagement through digital selling

Challenge

Our client, a large global manufacturer, sells a wide range of materials used in consumer products, medical devices and more. As a top-200 private U.S. business, this company had achieved a great deal of success by driving product innovation founded on scientific excellence.

Although the company’s seasoned team of field sales representatives had historically driven solid performance results, the global health crisis (COVID-19) severely impacted its access to key buyers.

The business was in urgent need of a new approach to selling and hired Prophet to modernize its digital experience and the engagement capabilities of its salesforce.

Solution

As Prophet’s team of Marketing & Sales consultants dug into the issues facing this organization, they uncovered that by taking a digital-minded approach, our client could:

  • Better reach its core target audiences
  • Develop content that was more engaging to its customers
  • Leverage engagement data to inform offline sales interactions
  • More efficiently orchestrate the sales process

To get started, our team focused on how sales and marketing could partner to improve its digital selling capability through digitally-powered content, stronger messaging effectiveness and the use of data and platforms to improve the sales experience.

Prophet delivered a compelling business case for change and proved the value of evolving its digital selling capacity against a defined set of use cases with pre-post-defined outcomes. The business case was supported by a new operating model which detailed the requirements for developing, maintaining and optimizing the proposed new digital selling capabilities. Our consultants partnered with the client’s marketing, sales and customer experience teams to roll out the new digital selling capability, including new digital tools for frontline sales teams.

Results

Our work for this client extended beyond strategy to provide a detailed, sustainable operating model to deploy and sustain its digital selling transformation. We helped to accelerate this client’s vision, maximize its investment and ease the implementation of its new digital selling capabilities.

Following this project, this manufacturer observed a direct lift in sales, improved customer satisfaction and increased sales associate productivity.

CASE STUDY

BASF Coatings

Developing a Customer-Centric Value Proposition To Drive Growth and Loyalty

Challenge

As one of the world’s leading surface solutions manufacturers, BASF Coatings has always maintained a strong capacity to innovate. But like the process of innovation itself BASF needed to evolve to stay competitive.

As the business looked to expand its product portfolio with a new line, Prophet was engaged to support BASF in defining a customer-centric value proposition to drive growth and loyalty amongst its B2B customers.

Solutions

BASF needed to better understand its customers and determine the right target audience for its new product launch. Prophet started by identifying the needs, priorities and motivations of BASF’s most important stakeholders to develop a range of buyer personas. The persona development phase was informed by field visits, interviews and extensive industry research.

Next, the team worked to define the ideal customer journey, covering the entire funnel from awareness to loyalty, including key touchpoints and a status quo assessment. We identified opportunities to optimize touchpoints and developed service concepts and signature solutions to help BASF further differentiate itself from competitors.

Aligned with – and answering – the needs of the prioritized target buyer personas, we developed a customer-centric value proposition.

Results

Prophet’s efforts helped BASF Coatings to develop a clear and succinct value proposition oriented at the real needs of its customers. The Glasurit 100 line was launched with a clear, focused and consistent approach and has been a game-changer for its customers, bringing an extremely tailored and unique positioning to the market.

“We were very happy to partner with Prophet at the critical stages of the project to define a core value proposition that helped guide our Glasurit 100 Line to triumph”, says Fabien Boschetti, Director, Global Marketing, BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions. “We thank Prophet for all their contributions and support in helping to make 100 Line a big success globally!”

“Glasurit 100 line is a game-changer for our customers and we were very happy to partner with Prophet at the early critical stages of the project to define a core value proposition that helped make the product line a big success globally!”

Fabien Boschetti
Director, Global Marketing, BASF Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions

CASE STUDY

Nam Nghi

Defining the brand story and experience for a Vietnamese luxury resort

Challenge

Nam Nghi, a boutique resort on the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, is a beautifully designed hotel that is built on a secluded peninsula and with a private island. Despite its unique geographic assets, the property had difficulties standing out in the increasingly competitive hotel market on Phu Quoc island due to its inconsistent customer experience across touchpoints.

Nam Nghi engaged Prophet to closely examine its brand portfolio, develop a refreshed brand positioning and narrative, and ultimately completely redesign its identity system to fit the reimagined approach for the brand.

Solutions

Prophet’s experience in developing luxury hotel brands in Asia and around the globe has led to an understanding of key experience trends that are shaping the travel and hospitality category: hyper-local, eco-consciousness and bespoke experiences.

Prophet identified Nam Nghi’s unique geographic placement as the resort’s clear advantage in the market. The unspoiled Phu Quoc island is a hidden paradise; it boasts of colorful coral reefs, lush jungles, turquoise waters, white beaches and true Vietnamese hospitality.

As a result, we defined a unique and strong brand story for Nam Nghi – “Nurtured by Nature.” We positioned the property as a destination for eco-luxury travelers who crave world-class quality hospitality and authentic, one-of-a-kind experiences with minimal environmental impact.

Centered around the positioning, we further explored how we could bring the story to life across existing touchpoints, including gastronomy experience, hospitality services, range of activities and its signature private island. Moreover, we helped the client to create signature moments that enhance the brand positioning. For example, using reusable bottles filled with filtered water and electric cars for pick-up.

We then designed an identity that conveys the idea of “immersion in nature” using patterns and hand-drawn illustrations. The lush foliage and vibrant corals that surround Nam Nghi served as inspiration for a rhythmic pattern design that is artistic and hand made. Using icons that represent the local flora and corals, we designed bespoke illustrations that are used in the framing device design, pattern design and on-site offerings. Aside from comprehensive guidelines, we delivered designs and ideas for touchpoints ranging from in-room amenities to wellness outlets, as well as digital apps.

Results

Phu Quoc Island has become one of Asia’s most talked-about destinations and an international hub for luxury and eco-friendly tourism. We brought Nam Nghi to life through an immersive visual identity that conveys premium options, while telling a story about local culture and its commitment to nature. The brand rejuvenation appeals to the young affluent customers – fashionable, luxurious and eco-conscious, through a distinctive brand positioning and visual identity that is true to the hotel’s strengths.

Our work with Nam Nghi was awarded Silver for best visual identity at Transform Awards Asia-Pacific 2019.

CASE STUDY

GARDENA

Growing a brand through a customer-centric transformation

Challenge

After years of steady growth, GARDENA – a brand of the Husqvarna group – is the leading pioneer of high-quality garden tools in Europe and is represented in more than 80 countries all over the world.

While its focus on engineering-driven innovation and revolutionary design is an immense asset, GARDENA realized that it needed to deepen connections with current and future customers to continue its success story. Prophet was tasked with transforming GARDENA into a customer-centric organization, with a focus on evolving its approach to marketing and go-to-market strategy.

Solutions

Collaborating with marketing teams across key regions, Prophet established a uniform approach for GARDENA’s marketing community to think beyond product launches and selling. Prophet encouraged the adoption of an ‘always-on,’ customer-centric mindset that focused deeply on customer retention and value creation.

We instilled processes and systems, supported by easy-to-use tools and templates, to drive marketing effectiveness. The initiatives laddered up to GARDENA’s goals and were tracked to prove maximum efficiencies.

Together, with the marketing leadership, we defined the capabilities and operating model required to deliver against GARDENA’s customer-centric targets. The new operating model was designed to align capabilities along the entire consumer journey, emphasize digital effectiveness and ensure that a consistent, purpose-led brand directs the activation across traditional and digital channels. The target result was a seamless omnichannel customer experience.

A learning program was also developed to ensure the marketing community was inspired and empowered with the right skill set to make GARDENA’s ambition a reality.

Results

Prophet positioned GARDENA to become the world-class, customer-centric organization it aspired to be. A strong customer-centric mindset has now become part of the organizational DNA. The new marketing KPIs, metrics and purposeful processes deployed are boosting consumer engagement and powering a more digitally savvy GARDENA brand.

Staying in pole position requires continuous transformation. Thus, Prophet will continue its journey with GARDENA with ongoing learning programs designed to upskill its full marketing function. Additionally, Prophet will continue to build the long-term brand strategy roadmap for the business to keep customer-centricity firmly at its core.

CASE STUDY

Canoo

Jump-starting a new electric vehicle brand

Challenge

Canoo was founded to answer this question: How can we simplify urban life by reimagining mobility in cities?

However, as the demographics of America’s cities continue to evolve, Canoo’s innovative business model needed to target the right urban consumers directly. Prophet was brought in to lead an agile and iterative process before, during and after the initial vehicle “reveal.”

Solutions

Through thorough research into electric car marketing and customer subscription preferences, Prophet identified six potential customer archetypes.

In a 10-week span, Prophet tested attitudes on a yet-to-be-released product, leveraging its market insights and innovative strategy capabilities to develop a robust segmentation strategy.

With deep customer insights in hand, we prioritized a target – 6 percent of the market – with the highest likelihood to buy an electric vehicle subscription. This target was developed based on attitudes around technology adoption, car-sharing and the ability to pay, among other dimensions.

Results

The Canoo product launch was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews and press coverage, anchored by a deep understanding of the brand’s customer target and position in the mobility-as-a-service ecosystem.

Canoo followed this up by using our segmentation targeting and typing tool to gamify and fuel a dynamic waitlist experience.

This experience continues to build excitement for the brand, while informing key business decisions about vehicle design, membership features, pricing tiers and marketing strategy.

CASE STUDY

Walmart

Refreshing the retail experience to deliver “Modern Value” to Chinese consumers

Challenge

With over 20 years of experience operating in China, Walmart is one of the largest hypermarket chains today with more than 400 stores across the country. Walmart’s challenge today is how to evolve its offer and experience in response to disruptive shifts in shopper behaviors, as well as staying relevant with the emergence of new online to offline (O2O) competitors that are challenging traditional retail formats.

Solutions

Prophet worked with Walmart to refresh its retail experience in order to fuel Walmart’s next phase of growth.

Prophet’s research demonstrated that while Chinese consumers are digital-savvy and are open to transforming how they shop; they are still looking to “save money, live better.” This is, and has always been, Walmart’s key purpose. Supported by this consumer insight, Prophet saw an opportunity to create an experience unique to Walmart’s consumer value proposition. To articulate what the Walmart brand stands for and how it stands out, we defined the brand concept “Modern Value,” which set the foundation for the rest of the design and experience.

After defining what “Modern Value” should look and feel like, our team set out to develop a retail design and identity that delivers on value, confidence and simplicity that would resonate with modern Chinese consumers. The new store experience feels contemporary without being premium and alienating. We brought more ‘warmth’ and introduced signature experience zones to appeal to families with kids. The visuals were designed to be vibrant, injecting energy into the retail experience.

Results

The initial pilot of the “Modern Value” redesign in Shenzhen was highly successful, not only in terms of shopper feedback but also in “like-for-like” store performance. The new retail experience has since been rolled out more broadly across China to new store openings and store redesigns.

Our project with Walmart won two gold awards at the 2020 Transform Awards Asia in the categories of “Best Localization of an International Brand” and “Best Visual Identity” from the retail sector.

CASE STUDY

Polestar

Scaling and accelerating workforce training for rapid global expansion

Challenge

Polestar, an electric performance car brand, had set its sights on becoming global leader from day one. By the end of 2020, to compete with key competitor Tesla, the company is set to have a presence across 10 markets, with over 50 new spaces and 700+ new employees.

With its rapid expansion in motion and ‘go-live’ dates set across markets, the pressure was on to have all customer-facing staff equipped to deliver a consistent customer experience. Polestar tasked Prophet to build out a clear customer experience strategy that addressed training, recruitment, customer service, customer care, operations and data strategy.

Solutions

Prophet began by understanding the training needs and ambitions – both for the near term and beyond – to define the desired outcomes based on the employee’s level and role. The team’s also helped Polestar align on what ‘good’ training looks like.

This led to the development of a curriculum plan, tailored to the needs and learning journey of each employee group. Working in close collaboration with various subject-matter-experts across Polestar, we created over 30 hours of training content including eLearning modules, live training events and self-study exercises. From how to tell the Polestar story and what differentiates Polestar products, to how to respond to various customer scenarios and role-specific do’s and don’ts.

We also developed a training template and style guide to ensure a consistent and professional look and feel for all content produced across the globe.

Results

Prophet equipped and enabled all customer-facing teams to deliver a distinct, deliberate and disciplined customer experience. The training curriculum developed has effectively enabled employees to consistently represent the brand and armed them with the confidence to guide customers when choosing Polestar cars across the globe. Feedback to date has been extremely positive, with high participation and engagement rates.

“Prophet helped us create a L&D platform that brings our brand and products to life. It translates our vision into tangible tools so that our employees across the world can learn and apply how to deliver a distinct and consistent Polestar experience to visitors and customers alike.”

Mona Abbasi
Polestar CXO

CASE STUDY

Colgate

Rejuvenating Colgate’s brand positioning to drive growth in China

Challenge

Colgate is a global leader in oral care with more than 40% share of the global toothpaste market. Having entered China in 1992, Colgate has become a household name with its slogan “No Cavities” widely known by Chinese consumers.

With the rise of China’s new middle class, the premiumisation trend has been growing in prominence in the personal care category. At the same time, the post-90s and 2000s generations have become the driving force of the category’s growth. Niche brands are increasingly sought after, while leading domestic brands are also gaining momentum. The Colgate brand was losing its vitality and appeal with young consumers in China.

Despite having a clear global brand mission “Everyone Deserves a Future They Can Smile About,” Colgate needed a better way to connect with China’s young consumers. To achieve this ambition, Colgate worked closely with Prophet to rejuvenate the brand with a distinct and vibrant positioning, anchored deep in China’s cultural and consumer insights.

Solutions

In just two months, we conducted comprehensive consumer research to gain an in-depth understanding of China’s new middle-class and the evolving needs of young consumers. Our insights showed that the new generation of Chinese consumers care more about the present and focus on near-term goals that move their life forward. However, for reasons such as lack of confidence, they often don’t take action against those goals.

Based on this key insight, Prophet worked with the Colgate team to dive deeper and define the positive role that Colgate can play in consumers’ lives. We developed the positioning, “Smile and Go for It” (放开笑放手做) – a proposition rooted in consumers’ desire to define a more passionate life, while anchoring on Colgate’s brand essence of smiling. It encourages consumers to smile with confidence and take action to pursue their dreams and goals, no matter how big or small, and to live out the life they want.

With the positioning identified, Prophet then facilitated workshops with Colgate’s marketing, innovation, e-commerce and design teams to develop the brand activation roadmap. Moreover, Prophet helped Colgate leverage the micro-segmentation work conducted by Tmall. By providing strategic analysis of the segmentation and identifying high-value customer groups, we were able to help the client determine the most relevant product innovations to bring to market. In addition, in order to strengthen the understanding of Colgate’s new brand positioning across internal and external stakeholders, we developed brand guidelines and provided guidance for Colgate’s communication with ad and media agencies.

Results

In July 2019, Colgate launched the “Smile and Go for It” campaign to activate its new brand positioning. Through a series of targeted marketing initiatives, Colgate built aspirational connections with diverse consumer groups who share different passions using film, TV, music, talk shows, workplace, beauty and ACGN (Animation, Comic, Game, Novel), encouraging them to tell their own “Smile and Go for It” stories. In only two months, Colgate’s campaign discussion on Weibo (a Chinese social media platform) had exceeded 420 million views.

Colgate has continued to draw inspiration from the brand positioning developed by Prophet, as well as the reset portfolio strategy, to carry out product innovations. In 2020, Colgate launched a new anti-aging toothpaste, an industry-leading move that created a new premium subcategory. At the same time, Colgate continued to reinforce its effort in building emotional resonance with young consumers. A recent initiative was its partnership with the top reality TV show “CHUANG 2020” as well as Chinese pop icon Wang Yibo.

Colgate’s brand rejuvenation has seen monumental success, with its top-of-mind awareness among 18- to 29- year-olds increasing from 13% in 2019 to 17% in Q2 2020. Once again, Colgate is a key player and driving significant business growth in China.

“With a thorough understanding of the challenges we faced, Prophet unpacked the tension and passions of Chinese consumers. Through a meticulous validation process, they crafted a positioning that’s true to both the Colgate brand and Chinese consumers. In addition, they were very good at navigating multinational companies, and bridged that understanding to drive maximum impact.”  -Vicky Hu, Marketing Director, China Brand Marketing – Core Brands

“Through a meticulous validation process, Prophet crafted a positioning that’s true to both the Colgate brand and Chinese consumers to drive maximum impact.”

Vicky Hu
Marketing Director, China Brand Marketing – Core Brands

Impact

4%

percent increase in brand awareness amongst targets

CASE STUDY

U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT): OOSA

Creating a brand that pushes for progress on and off the field

Challenge

For decades, the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) has been leading the charge for equality, both on and off the soccer field. They’ve elevated the level of the women’s game on the global stage and fought for causes like gender equality, parity to the US men’s team in terms of pay, coaching and medical treatment, frequency of games, field quality, and even how they train and travel to matches.

Knowing that their performance at the highly anticipated 2019 FIFA World Cup tournament meant more than demonstrating athletic prowess, the USWNT needed a brand to bolster their equal pay and equality agenda on the global stage.

Solution

As part of our Prophet Impact initiative (formerly P4NP – Prophet for Nonprofit), a team of strategists, designers, copywriters and developers from Prophet partnered with USWNT players to create a new brand and digital experience that captured the essence of the team—both as world-class athletes and as passionate activists. All the spirit, hard work and positive energy were channeled into a new brand: OOSA.

The name OOSA is a nod to the team’s 20-year-long tradition of players chanting “OOSA, OOSA, OOSA-AHHHH,” as a rallying cry before they take the pitch. The OOSA brand capitalizes on the collective value of the players while providing an avenue for supporters to get involved in their efforts to push for meaningful progress. The brand provides something tangible to rally behind, while also helping to defray the cost each player incurs to lead the cause for change.

Results

The new OOSA website and brand video launched just before the 2019 Women’s World Cup, where the team became four-time FIFA World Cup Champions with their win over the Netherlands. Twenty-two percent more U.S. viewers tuned into the final match than the 2018 men’s final, with a total of 263.62 million unique viewers globally.

In Nov. 2019, the Prophet team won two SILVER awards for “Best strategic and creative development of a new brand” and “Best use of audio branding” at the North America Transform Awards. And in 2022, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team won equal pay, eliminating a long-time pay gap.

Learn more about how we build brands and transform society through Prophet Impact.

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