Prophet Taps James Walker as Senior Partner, Heading New Analytics Practice

LONDON, December 12, 2011 -

Prophet today announced that it has hired James Walker, an entrepreneur with a large agency and consultancy background focused on the marketing sciences, as a senior partner to lead a new practice dedicated to analytics.

“This move reflects Prophet’s belief in the future of big data - the increasing asset base around customer beliefs and behaviours,” said Michael Dunn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Prophet.

He added: “Best-in-class marketers will figure out how to leverage this data along with creativity and strategy to build powerful brands and businesses. We are committed to helping them succeed by building our analytics expertise in bigger and bolder ways. James has the experience, skills, and vision to help us achieve this. “

Prophet, a strategic brand and marketing consultancy, offers a variety of analytic services that help its global clients win in the marketplace. The firm applies its proprietary approaches across the following types of analytics: Operational, Marketing, CRM, Digital, Insight, and Customer Experience.

Walker’s 20-year career covers a comprehensive range of analytics - from brand equity and marketing mix modeling to microsegmentation to sales and marketing process improvement. He has led consulting projects in more than 40 countries and for a diverse range of clients, including Johnson & Johnson, Coca Cola, Honda, Barclays, AT&T, Fosters, Intel and Dell.  He will work from Prophet’s London and New York offices.

“I am impressed by Prophet’s seriousness of intent to build an analytics business at scale. There is an opportunity to build a uniquely 21st century analytics capability for our clients. We’re building on the core Prophet DNA of understanding brands, and with tools, talent, and processes that acknowledge the marketing communications revolution of the last decade,” said Walker.

Walker has a record of launching successful businesses in the marketing sciences arena, including Brand Science and Edge Consulting. The former, a joint venture, was ultimately sold to one of its partners, Omnicom, and became Omnicom Media Group’s global econometrics business. Edge Consulting carved out a niche using software tools to deliver sales and marketing optimisation projects, and was sold to Accenture. It became a building block of the Accenture Marketing Science practice, which Walker led outside of North America until leaving in 2009 to pursue other interests.

Earlier in his career, which was begun in econometric modeling in the media industry, Walker held various leadership roles at WPP. He led J. Walter Thompson’s global marketing analytics business, and helped launch MindShare, today the world’s second largest media agency.

More recently, Walker has been involved in several independent ventures, including  helping to launching Mofilm, one of the world’s largest crowd-sourcing creative agencies. Mofilm works to connect filmmakers and brand owners through innovative competitions, festivals, and commissioned content.

Walker, who resides outside London, is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of London.

Prophet (www.prophet.com) is a strategic brand and marketing consultancy that helps its clients win by delivering inspired and actionable ideas.

Media contact: Karen Woon, kwoon@prophet.com, +1-415-271-0575.