DUBAI – Leading growth and transformation consultancy Prophet announced today the launch of the destination brand and campaign for the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT).  

Armed with the desire to position Abu Dhabi as more diverse and progressive and to better promote the emirate’s heritage and culture, DCT engaged Prophet to design a destination brand and campaign that inspires, excites, restores and welcomes the world to enjoy its unique offering.  

“Abu Dhabi has been developing rapidly and it was our job to tap into the essence of this fascinating place and design a brand and campaign to share with the world,” said Jessica Holdcroft, partner at Prophet who led the strategy on the project. “We took a customer-centric, data-led, approach to develop the brand, starting with a deep immersion in all that Abu Dhabi has to offer – both the tangible and the intangible – and to see first-hand the diversity of experiences on offer.” 

The new campaign: “Experience Abu Dhabi. Find Your Pace.” has now been unveiled in Abu Dhabi, the GCC, France, the U.K. and the U.S. Celebrating its Emirati heritage while seamlessly connecting the living culture offered by the Saadiyat Cultural District – home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi – and Yas Island’s exciting theme park and waterfront attractions. The destination campaign welcomes the world to enjoy Abu Dhabi’s enriching experiences, at their own pace.  

“From the positioning and messaging to the verbal and visual expression, the campaign was designed to support Abu Dhabi’s growth ambition to be among world-class destinations of choice,” said Clive Rohald, partner and executive creative director at Prophet. “In order to bring the new tourism destination positioning to life, we crafted a bespoke logotype reflecting nuances of Arabic calligraphy with a strong editorial aesthetic, a more human-centric, natural, reportage-oriented image library, a broad colour palette reflective of visitor passions and a suite of ‘connective’ graphics reflecting ‘connectedness’, pace and rhythm.”  

About the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi 

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism sectors and its creative industries, fuelling economic progress and helping to achieve Abu Dhabi’s wider global ambitions. By working in partnership with the organisations that define DCT Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of its potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture, tourism and creative industries. 

DCT Abu Dhabi’s vision is defined by the emirate’s people, heritage and landscape. It works to enhance Abu Dhabi’s status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought. tcaabudhabi.ae 

About Prophet

SINGAPORE – Prophet, a growth and transformation consultancy, was recognized with 10 awards, including two gold awards, at the Transform Awards Asia 2022.

The Transform Awards, which recognizes excellence in corporate, product, and brand development work, hosted its Asia awards ceremony on November 21, 2022, at the St. Regis in Singapore. This year’s awards mark the ninth Transform Awards Asia, and the sixth consecutive year Prophet’s work has been recognized. Prophet’s award-winning work included defining a new ingredient brand for IoT technology company, BOE; developing a modernized brand identity for logistics technology company, Enotek; creating premium hotel brands, Josun Palace and Grand Josun, within a refreshed portfolio; and reimagining an inspiring brand story for NewStyle Media Group.

Prophet’s award-winning work includes:

Gold – BOE: Best Visual Identity from the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Sector

Silver – BOE: Best Development of a New Brand Within an Existing Brand Portfolio

Silver – BOE: Best Strategic or Creative Development of a New Brand

Gold – Enotek: Best Visual Identity from the Transport and Logistics Sector

Bronze – Enotek: Best Brand Evolution (Business)

Silver – NewStyle Media Group: Best Brand Evolution (Business)

Bronze – NewStyle Media Group: Best Visual Identity from the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Sector

Bronze – Grand Josun (Josun Hotels & Resorts): Best Visual Identity from the Sports, Travel, Leisure and Tourism Sector

Bronze – Josun Palace (Josun Hotels & Resorts): Best Visual Identity from the Sports, Travel, Leisure and Tourism Sector

Highly Commended – Josun Palace (Josun Hotels & Resorts): Best Creative Strategy

“We’re excited to be recognized at the Transform Awards Asia as it highlights our ongoing commitment to deliver creative and strategic-design for our clients,” said Elaine Fok, associate partner and creative director at Prophet. “This year especially, we’re proud of the diversity of industries and award categories represented in our work, which showcases the breadth and depth of our capabilities. As the region develops and our clients evolve, we’re eager to continue partnering with them to further unlock opportunities for uncommon growth.”

In addition to Prophet’s recognition at the Transform Awards Asia, the firm was also named best consultancy by “Forbes” and the “Financial Times” this year. Additionally, Prophet has been nominated for Channel Asia’s Partner Innovation Awards in the Enterprise category.

About Prophet

SAN FRANSISCO — David Aaker, Vice Chairman of the growth consultancy Prophet, has released his latest book, “The Future of Purpose-Driven Branding: Signature Programs that Impact & Inspire Both Business and Society,” which shows the pathway to purpose for organizations.  

The book explains why it’s not enough to make a commitment to ESG or have an ad hoc budget for grants and volunteering. Society needs businesses to design imaginative and impactful social programs that address the most pressing societal challenges; and employees and customers, especially younger generations, demand it.  

When leveraged to bolster an organization’s brand, signature programs bring an image lift and energy to enhance the business—guiding, inspiring and communicating its higher mission to employees and key stakeholders. Simultaneously, the benefactors of the social program gain an endorsement and access to resources—two elements that will present greater opportunity for impact and improve the cause’s ability to make a difference.   

Unlike other books on the subject, David Aaker declares that this win-win model only comes to fruition when branding is a key focus when building the signature social program.  

Other book highlights include:   

• A thorough case for why signature social programs are the secret weapon to helping business leaders build stronger brands and more connected work cultures while supporting important social causes
• Powerful examples from organizations leading with signature programs  
• Tools and insights for integrating signature programs into the organization and business  

The book is available in paperback or e-book version with plans to release an audiobook in 2023. Find more information about David Aaker at davidaaker.com or by following him on LinkedIn and Twitter.  

About the Author 

David Aaker is the author of more than one hundred articles and 18 books on marketing, business strategy and branding that have sold over 1 million copies. A recognized global authority on branding, he has developed concepts and methods on brand building that are used by organizations around the world. Aaker has served as vice chairman at Prophet, a global growth consultancy, for over 20 years. 

About Prophet

NEW YORK – Prophet, the global growth and transformation consultancy, is pleased to announce that Consultant, Sara Smoler was selected to be part of the 2022 Cannes Lions Brand Marketers Academy. The week-long program will host a variety of sessions and workshops about unlocking the power of creativity led by the world’s greatest brands and industry leaders.

The Brand Marketers Academy is a program designed to help promising young marketers develop and grow their careers. Acceptance into the academy is rigorous and highly selective. Smoler is just one of 30 marketing professionals chosen from a global pool of applicants

This is the latest achievement for Smoler in her already impressive career. She was previously named to Forbes 30 Under 30 List for marketing and advertising professionals. As a consultant at Prophet, Smoler focuses on driving growth for her clients through corporate development, strategic target search, and relationship-building activities alongside brand and activation engagements. Prior to Prophet, she managed business development at Ogilvy, driving revenue growth for the creative agency’s North American portfolio.

“We’re so proud and excited that Sara was one of the select few chosen to participate in the Cannes Lions Brand Marketers Academy, an organization that is synonymous with creativity and celebrating the best in marketing, branding, and advertising,” said Mat Zucker, senior partner and head of the Marketing and Sales practice. “At Prophet, we believe that the next generation of great marketing leaders is created today, and we are committed to mentoring and developing rising talent.”

Smoler said, “I’m honored to not only be participating in the academy but also representing Prophet on a global stage. I’m looking forward to understanding new and fresh perspectives, sharing best practices that I learn to apply them to our global clients as we help them unlock uncommon growth and advance their businesses.”

SHANGHAI, HONG KONG & SINGAPORE – Prophet, the global growth and transformation consultancy, continues to expand its leadership team and capabilities in Asia, appointing three new senior hires: Samuel Levy-Basse, Jolin Guan and Daniel Hu. The new leaders’ extensive expertise will help Prophet’s clients across Asia unlock uncommon growth and support the firm’s growth trajectory in the region.

Samuel Levy-Basse joins as a partner in Prophet’s Singapore office and will take on the key role of driving Prophet’s organization, innovation and digital transformation disciplines across Asia. Formerly the managing director of Capgemini Invent Hong Kong, Levy-Basse has over 15 years of experience in helping businesses drive digitally enabled innovation and growth.

“I am thrilled to join the Prophet team in Asia and I look forward to helping our clients reimagine their business strategy, culture and capacity for innovation by unleashing the power of digital transformation,” said Levy-Basse. “The future has arrived faster than expected and Asia is leading the way. This region will define the future of many of our clients and their growth.”

Jolin Guan, previously the managing partner and executive strategy director at Superunion Shanghai, joins Prophet as an associate partner in the Shanghai office. Guan brings deep experience in brand consulting, ethnographic insights and business innovation for both multinational and domestic companies in China.

“I’m delighted to join Prophet, a global consulting firm that’s well-respected in the industry and by clients alike,” said Guan. “With a great passion for helping local businesses grow, I look forward to providing invaluable business and branding solutions to our clients in China with the smart minds at Prophet.” 

Daniel Hu joins as associate creative director in Prophet’s Shanghai office where he will co-lead the design practice in China with Elaine Fok. Previously the creative director of Superunion Bangkok, Hu has over 15 years of experience and brings strong expertise in creating impactful brands as well as developing environmental graphics, wayfinding and signages.

“Joining Prophet not only means being part of the well-reputed global consultancy, but more importantly, it’s also about being a part of that journey, knowing how much we could accomplish together with so many talented minds,” said Hu.

“We are excited to welcome such an exceptional group of talent to Prophet’s growing leadership team in Asia,” said Alan Casey, partner and Asia regional lead at Prophet. “The deep expertise and proven impact brought by Samuel, Jolin and Daniel, will enable us to better deliver against our clients’ goals and strengthen our position as a trusted growth and transformation partner in the region.”

Prophet works with top regional and international companies such as AXA, ABInBev, Emart, Marriott and Samsung to unlock uncommon growth in this dynamic market and was recently named a top management consultancy by Forbes.

About Prophet

DUBAI – Prophet, a leading growth and transformation consultancy, has announced the opening of its Dubai office to serve the growth market in the GCC. The Dubai office will be Prophet’s Middle East hub for its customer-centric transformation capabilities and client support in the region.  

Leading the office in Dubai will be Clive Rohald and Jessica Holdcroft.  

“Clive and Jessica’s extensive experience will be instrumental as we position Prophet as the leading business transformation partner in the region,” said Tobias Bärschneider, senior partner and EMEA regional lead at Prophet. “From brand strategy to corporate strategy, experience design to visual design, purpose to product, our team of strategic and creative experts bring the insight and expertise needed to enable transformative business opportunities.”  

“The region has seen itself prioritizing transformation agendas over the past several years and we’ve been guiding clients through this challenging environment in order to future-proof their businesses,” continued Bärschneider. “The Middle East is where some of the most exciting transformations are poised to happen and our strategic expansion in Dubai will not only better service our ever-growing client base but also cater to the increasing demand for our services and solutions. We are excited to help other businesses in the Middle East unlock uncommon growth and achieve their ambitions in this dynamic market.” 

Prophet has been advising a widening portfolio of top regional and international companies such as Saudi Aramco, Qatar Media City, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Kitopi.

LONDON – For the fifth consecutive year, Prophet has been named as a top U.K. consultancy in the Financial Times’ coveted listing.

Compiled in partnership with the data company Statista, the FT’s fifth annual list reveals those consultancies most recommended by their peers and clients. In 2022, Prophet has again been endorsed for its expertise in both the marketing & brand and sales & customer relationship sectors.

“It is a real privilege to once again be recognized as a leading consultancy by the Financial Times,” said Tobias Bärschneider, senior partner and EMEA regional lead at Prophet. “The business has experienced significant growth over the past five years since we were first included in this list, hiring some outstanding new talent and strengthening our capabilities to enable us to accelerate our clients’ growth goals. There are exciting times ahead as we continue to grow in the U.K., progress our EMEA expansion more broadly and deliver transformational work at an even larger scale.”

The full list, and details of the survey’s methodology, can be found here.

AUSTIN – Prophet, a global consultancy, announced that it is expanding its healthcare expertise by adding Lindsey Conner Mosby as partner. Lindsey, who will be based in Prophet’s Austin office, will strengthen the firm’s healthcare expertise by applying her extensive background in experience and innovation to advance client transformation journeys.

With more than 20 years of experience working in healthcare innovation and strategy, she has helped both legacy and start-up healthcare players – including providers, payers, pharmaceuticals, and consumer health organizations – envision and execute programs spanning innovation and growth strategy; qualitative research; product and service design; organizational design, and change management.

“The past two years have forever changed the healthcare sector and companies need to be ready to evolve and provide the service and experiences that consumers desire,” said Jeff Gourdji, healthcare and brand and experience partner at Prophet. “Lindsey thrives in complex environments developing innovative strategies that drive success. She loves working with clients on their most mission-critical initiatives and we are thrilled that she is joining the Prophet team.”

Prior to joining Prophet, Lindsey was the global strategic design lead for Philips Design and Philips Healthcare Transformation Services. She also spent seven years building and leading the healthcare practice at frog Design and has worked with a number of leading healthcare organizations including Pfizer Consumer Health; The Mayo Clinic; Kaiser Permanente; Johnson & Johnson; Merck, and Cigna.

“I am delighted to begin my journey at Prophet,” Lindsey said. “This consultancy has had great success solving clients’ unique challenges and developing strategies to help them unlock uncommon growth. I look forward to helping healthcare organizations – the known and the new – create empowering, and even delightful, health and wellness experiences that resonate with the people they serve.”

LONDON – Prophet, the global growth and transformation consultancy, announced today that Dan Truman has joined the firm as a partner in its London office. Truman will take on a key role in driving the continued growth and digital transformation of Prophet’s marketing and sales practice in EMEA, bringing his extensive expertise to help Prophet’s clients drive uncommon growth.

Truman, who will also serve on the EMEA Leadership Team, brings 20 years of digital transformation consulting experience and joins Prophet from Infosys Consulting where he led the European digital practice, delivering customer-centric growth strategies for global organizations across multiple industries. Prior to this, Truman held senior consulting positions at Publicis Sapient and spent 11 years at Capgemini (now Capgemini Invent), where he helped to grow its digital transformation capability. Earlier in his career, Truman also held brand-side positions at UBS and Merrill Lynch HSBC.

“I‘m super excited to be joining Prophet at this time to help expand their digital transformation consulting footprint in the EMEA market,” said Truman. “Given Prophet’s heralded pedigree in transformation consulting, I look forward to helping our clients leverage their digital investments to drive enhanced customer experiences at scale.”

Throughout his career, Truman has provided strategic guidance to renowned companies, helping the likes of Burberry, Unilever, SABMiller, Sky and Lloyds Banking Group accelerate their digital transformation agendas.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dan to our ever-growing team of transformational growth leaders at Prophet,” said Tobias Bärschneider, senior partner and EMEA regional lead at Prophet. “Our firm remains focused on serving our clients in a time of unprecedented change. Dan’s customer-centric approach and wealth of experience working in industry, consulting and digital agencies will be of critical value to our clients as they look to accelerate their digital transformation journeys.”

About Prophet

ZURICH – Prophet, the global growth and transformation consultancy, has announced that Thomas Wildberger, the former CEO and creative director at Publicis Switzerland, has joined as a partner. Wildberger will be part of the EMEA Leadership Team as well as heading up the firm’s office in Zurich where he will bring his extensive creative and brand expertise to drive the transformation of Prophet’s Swiss and international clients.

“It’s the age of transformation, so, why not start with myself?” said Wildberger on his move. “It’s time to reframe the real value great creativity can bring to the strategic challenges of business growth and transformation today and its implementation into organizational development. Having also had the pleasure of working with Prophet in the past, on the relaunch of Orange and development of the Salt brand, I’m delighted – and safe in the knowledge – to be joining such a high caliber team of strategic and creative experts.”

Prior to Publicis, Wildberger worked for many years in Germany, including at Jung von Matt and Springer & Jacoby in Hamburg, as well as at his own agency, Römer Wildberger, in Berlin. He has advised national and international corporations such as Migros, Ferrero, UBS, BMW and Mini. Wildberger was named “Advertiser of the Year” in 2016 by Werbewoche magazine and has been recognized for the award-winning campaigns he designed for SWISS.

“Switzerland is a strong market for our EMEA business and having Thomas at the helm in Zurich, with his broad expertise and strong client relationships, will make him an indispensable partner, to our clients and their transformation journeys,” said Tobias Barschneider, senior partner and EMEA regional lead at Prophet. ” We are thrilled to welcome Thomas, as he is an excellent fit for Prophet’s philosophy of closely combining creativity and strategy.”