EMO Unlimited and The Real Adventure Unlimited, the Bristol-based agencies owned by the Unlimited Group, are joining forces to create a new agency, Prophecy Unlimited. The move will create an agency of 200 people, making it among the largest in the UK outside of London at a time when the Unlimited Group is keen to pursue the post-Brexit opportunities that lie beyond the capital.
The creation of Prophecy Unlimited marks the first step in the Unlimited Group’s post-Brexit commitment to break out of the “Soho-bubble.” As part of this project, its established research agency, ICM Unlimited, collected the views of a representative UK sample on their attitudes towards marketing. This exclusive research revealed that 72% of those outside of London felt that people who work in London have very different views of Britain compared to those who work outside of London, and that those living outside of London were almost twice as likely to agree that marketing agencies’ activities and campaigns are too focused on what a London audience wants.
Prophecy Unlimited will focus on building a forward-looking service for clients, applying insight, creativity, data, and technology to pre-empt changes in customer behaviour. The creation of the new, Bristol-based offering represents a major milestone for the Unlimited Group. Having joined Unlimited in 2001 and 2002 respectively, The Real Adventure Unlimited and EMO Unlimited have built a trusted and renowned presence in the CRM and acquisition markets.
Peter Brown, formerly EMO Unlimited Managing Director, becomes CEO of the new agency, Matt Hardy, formerly Digital Director and Joint Managing Director at The Real Adventure Unlimited, becomes its Chief Technology Officer, and Ian Bates, former Creative Director at The Real Adventure Unlimited becomes Prophecy Unlimited’s Creative Director. Beth Pope, also formerly joint Managing Director at The Real Adventure Unlimited, is taking on a broader role as Chief Client Officer for Unlimited Group clients. Her immediate focus will be on building the Danone Unlimited offering for the Group, and as a result she will be closely involved with Prophecy Unlimited which leads this longstanding client relationship. Merry Scott Jones is Client & Change Director. Key clients of Prophecy Unlimited will include Toyota, Danone, Costa, and BMW and the new agency will become home to five of the Unlimited Group’s top 20 clients.
Tim Bonnet, Chairman of the Unlimited Group, said: “The creation of Prophecy Unlimited sees two great agencies coming together to create a best-in-class offering that explores every aspect of a customer’s interaction with a brand. This, in many respects, is a perfect marriage of equals as both agencies over-achieved last year in a tough market. Prophecy Unlimited’s launch also marks a step change because we have created one of the most relevant and dynamic offerings in the market. It’s timely, it’s got scale, and it’s one of the biggest agency offerings outside of London at a time, post-Brexit, when clients require true insight into the views and behaviours of the entire UK population.”
Peter Brown, the CEO of Prophecy Unlimited, added: “The changing nature of the consumer and client landscape led to our strong belief that we were best placed to deliver our ambition of providing seamless customer journeys, from acquisition to loyalty, by coming together to create a new type of agency with real scale and significance.”
