Prophet opens Shanghai office, names two executives

Brand and marketing agency Prophet has opened a new office in Shanghai, naming Benoit Garbe senior partner and appointing Leon Zhang a partner.The Shanghai office is Prophet’s second in Asia after it opened an office in Hong Kong in 2012, making the number of its staff members in Asia around 40 people.Garbe will join Prophet next month to bring deep expertise in global brand building, and a specific understanding of what it takes to win in the region. He was previously one of the founding partners of Millward Brown Optimor, which became Kantar Vermeer, a brand and business strategy consultancy part of the WPP group. He had also led Vermeer China and oversaw the regional expansion of its consulting business across Asia.As for Zhang, he worked for the business strategy practices of Accenture and Deloitte, and most recently for Kantar Vermeer."Benoit and Leon possess extensive experience in China. They have helped some of world’s leading brands develop and execute successful market entry and growth strategies in China, and have advised many Chinese business leaders with their brand-led business transformation. Their combined knowledge and experience will be instrumental in helping companies take advantage of the fast-changing landscape and unique digital ecosystem of the Chinese market,” said Michael Dunn, chairman and CEO of Prophet.