Prophet Expands Digital Capabilities With Acquisition of Altimeter Group

Prophet, a global brand and marketing strategy consultancy, has announced it has acquired Altimeter Group, a technology research firm. The move demonstrates Prophet’s commitment to helping senior executives understand and act on digital as a transformative force in their business.

Altimeter will operate under the name Altimeter, a Prophet company, and will continue to deliver best-in-class research in digital transformation, social business and governance, customer experience, big data, and the Internet of Things.

The combination of Prophet and Altimeter is unique in the marketplace, as it marries research-based frameworks with customer insight, world-class consulting capabilities and deep digital expertise to bridge the gap between strategy and execution.

“The rapid advances in digital technology and data, along with seismic shifts in customer behavior have challenged many companies’ ability to stay relevant,” said Michael Dunn, CEO of Prophet.

“At Prophet, we are continuously looking for opportunities to help our clients take full advantage of these transformative changes. The addition of Altimeter’s roster of analysts – including Charlene Li, Brian Solis and Susan Etlinger, who have authored much of the influential research on these critical topics – is a key next step for our firm and our continued growth.”

“Altimeter has carved out a distinct and powerful value proposition that allows us to deliver a unique research-based model to our clients,” said Li, founder and CEO of Altimeter Group. “This partnership combines Altimeter’s pragmatic, insights-driven frameworks with Prophet’s deep consulting capabilities, enabling us to better partner with clients to unlock digital transformations.”

Altimeter will continue to publish research that helps companies understand and act on technology disruption, while Prophet’s global scale and resources will allow Altimeter to expand the breadth and depth of its research. In addition, Altimeter’s analysts will work closely with Prophet’s clients and internal strategists to provide insights on emerging business challenges and burgeoning technology trends.

“We saw a need in the market for forward-thinking, research-backed content to be coupled with the ability to act on those insights. The combination of Prophet and Altimeter enables us to help C-suite executives intelligently activate digital across their enterprise in a way few other consultancies can,” said Chan Suh, chief digital officer at Prophet.

“Altimeter shares our belief that digital can revolutionise businesses, but the change cannot begin with technology; it must first be rooted in a deep understanding of the customer to be successful.”

Prophet’s Asia Pacific market will also benefit from the strategic acquisition of Altimeter Group because this vast emerging market is ready to embrace more digital transformation to take businesses to the next level.

“The addition of the Altimeter team will allow us to bring global digital expertise to clients in Asia who are thirsting for that kind of knowledge”, said Jay Milliken, Senior Partner of Prophet Hong Kong.