Global consultancy Prophet to set up shop in Dubai, as GCC market shows buoyancy

Prophet, a leading global growth and business transformation consultancy, is starting its operations in Dubai to serve the growth market in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Tosson Noshokaty, Managing Partner at Prophet, shed light on the inspiration behind the name that resonates well in the Middle East.

“Our essential commitment is to unleash the power of people, businesses and brands. We’re working with clients in the region that are shaping the cultural future and collaborating with a global mission.”

The company, which has been advising a vast portfolio of leading regional and international companies across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, including Saudi Aramco, Qatar Media City, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Metlife, MiSK Foundation, Ora Developers and Kitopi, has identified Dubai as a key market for global consultancy services.

“The Middle East is home to some of the most exciting business developments and transformations. The region has experienced significant growth in transformative projects across all sectors over the past few years,” Noshokaty said.

He elaborated on his company’s business models.

“We’ve a standardised approach based on human-centred design methodology when working on business model innovation projects. We’ve recently been working with a host of clients to reframe a direct-to-consumer business model for their business-to-business (B2B)/business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) enterprises to uncover customer growth and loyalty. There has been massive growth and adoption of digital-native companies in the region, and legacy businesses need to act fast to keep pace with and find new ways to view content, community and commerce that can help reframe their outdated business models. Applying direct to customer (DTC) principles and tactics might be the secret sauce a business has been looking for in transformative growth. We’re trying to create business models that are in harmony with getting the experience right,” he added.

Prophet has been working on introducing a new brand in-market to the methodical and intentional approach needed to build a new service or product.

“Each product calls for a carefully orchestrated plan that needs to take every stakeholder into account: employees, customers, shareholders and the broader community. We pay close attention to the hundreds of details that maximise the impact of a new brand/product/service. Because we know the devil is in the details, we weave every touchpoint into our plans, adding maximum firepower to each step,” he added.

The consulting market in the region, especially Dubai, has seen a rapid return to growth over the past two years, helped by the UAE government’s efforts to push on with investments and economic transformation programmes across the region like Expo 2020 Dubai and Vision 2030 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

How to boost regional businesses?

Tosson Noshokaty, Managing Partner at Prophet, lists ways to boost regional businesses.

• Brand Strategy (Brand launch, positioning, purpose, design & visual identity).

• Business Strategy (growth strategy, environmental, social and governance, or ESG)

• Organisational transformation strategy (culture transformation & employee engagement)

The following are likely to be talking points in the region for next three years:

• Unlocking sustainable growth through ESG: This will be the next big driver of growth and transformation in the coming decade. So, companies need to think about how to link their ESG strategy to business objectives to drive growth and shared value. They need to integrate ESG into every aspect of their business such as how to attract and retain talent.

• Destination branding: It’s crucial to recoup interest after Covid-19 pandemic to attract investments, tourists and talented workforce and support programmes such as Vision 2030 in the KSA to pave the way for a successful customer-driven approach.

• Future-proofing: This has never been more important for businesses. Companies in the Middle East must seize opportunities that unpredictable changes deliver. From purposeful leadership and a focus on employee wellbeing to working models, firms must look at strategic workforce planning and business model innovation.

— joydeep@khaleejtimes.com