The Real Adventure Unlimited and EMO Unlimited, the Bristol-based agencies owned by the Unlimited Group, have teamed up to create a new agency, Prophecy Unlimited.

The move creates 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.

Best-in-class offering

Chairman of the Unlimited Group, Tim Bonnet, 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.”

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:

• 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’.
• 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.

Bonnet said: “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.”

Launched on May 2, Prophecy Unlimited is focusing on building a forward-looking service for clients, applying insight, creativity, data, and technology to pre-empt changes in customer behaviour.

Prophecy Unlimited CEO Peter Brown said: “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.”

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 MD, has been named CEO of the new agency, Matt Hardy, formerly digital director and joint MD at The Real Adventure Unlimited, has become its CTO, and Ian Bates, former creative director at The Real Adventure Unlimited is now Prophecy Unlimited’s creative director.

Beth Pope, also formerly joint MD 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.

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.