Brittany W

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Very interesting post! It’s interesting that many consulting firms have chosen to integrate digital expertise on their teams through acquisitions. Since these acquisitions are entirely new business models for traditional consulting agencies, I hope that once they acquire the businesses they are keeping the organization as a separate unit. As we learned in BSSE, “RBM” acquisitions are often more effective when kept as a separate unit since they don’t risk being absorbed by the larger, more mature organization. It will be interesting to explore how the companies have integrated these acquisitions into their broader organizations.

On April 26, 2018, Brittany W commented on BCG: Digitally disrupting … or disrupted? :

Great post! Industries like financial services are also dealing with similar issues as AI and Machine Learning are used to automate more redundant, mundane tasks and time is freed up for junior bankers to perform more value added services. The challenge comes in the implementation though – as many view their jobs to be at risk. I agree with the suggestion that a rotation within BCG Digital Ventures will help employees understand that their jobs aren’t at risk but instead their role is shifting from simply performing data analysis to instead providing insight and judgment to clients. BCG may also want to consider realigning incentives and reviewing employees based on their use of digital technology in analysis and integration with the BCG Digital Venture team. That way, the team is viewed less as a threat and more as a partner.

On April 26, 2018, Brittany W commented on Rethinking the Video Game Business Model :

Great post, James. I agree that the industry shift towards social gaming presents an opportunity for Activision Blizzard. Another area that the Company should explore are games targeted towards Virtual Reality Esports. Intel, Oculus and the Electronic Sporting League recently partnered to create the inaugural VR Challenger League, the world’s first VR Esports League. Currently, Echo Arena and the Unspoken are the two games played in the league. The growth of VR and esports presents a unique opportunity for Activision Blizzard to create new content.

On April 9, 2018, Brittany W commented on They know when you’re going to quit – even before you do :

Thanks for this post – very interesting! My view is that relying on this type of data opens a company up to more legal issues than its worth. I think that the discriminatory practices risk that you highlight is very legitimate and it is not a risk worth taking for the sake of “effectively managing talent”.

Very interesting and frightening post! I completely agree with you that the greatest challenge this Company faces is with customer adoption due to data privacy concerns. This risk may be mitigated by more and more millennials and centennials entering the workforce. Both generations have been found to be more trusting of institutions that harbor their personal data. Many believe this is largely due to the fact that Millennials and Centennials grew up with internet access and connected devices and they are more tech savvy than any generation before. While this may be frightening and does pose several risks, the Company may face less of a challenge with adoption as it considers the future millennials and centennials generations entering the workforce.

On April 9, 2018, Brittany W commented on The Most Data Driven Salad You Will Ever Eat :

Really interesting post! I’m a Sweetgreen loyalist and often use the app to avoid the long queue at the Harvard Square location. I wonder if this is a competitive advantage that Sweetgreen can sustain long-term though. My view is no. It won’t take long for another competitor to create an app and use data captured to drive menu decisions and promote customer loyalty. I wonder what may be next for Sweetgreen to ensure it maintains its competitive edge through the use of data and technology.

On March 26, 2018, Brittany W commented on Avocado Oreos? – Crowdsourcing in the CPG World :

Thanks for the interesting post! Through launching this campaign, a huge benefit is that Mondelez reduces the product launch timeline and associated R&D costs . One risk though is that any experienced short-term boost in sales may wear off once the novelty of the new flavors subsides. Other CPG companies such as Pepsico (“Do Us A Flavor” campaign) have been forced to discontinue product lines that eventually lost appeal despite being the “winning” flavors.

On March 26, 2018, Brittany W commented on Volition: Democratizing Beauty :

Interesting, I’ve never heard of Volition! I’ll have to check it out. One risk that I find with companies that use Crowdsourcing for product innovation is that it may lead to a short-term boost in sales (due to novelty effect) but may not be indicative of long-term customer interest. For example, this happened with the Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor” campaign and the Company had to discontinue products with consistently low sales.

Thanks for the post. I think another way that Glassdoor creates value is by helping to close the gender and racial pay-gap by making information like salary data much more transparent. Having this information in the public domain and also encouraging open discussion on items like salary are one step in the right direction to gender pay parity.

On March 5, 2018, Brittany W commented on Twitch: the ESPN of Esports :

Interesting post! Another way that some of the content providers are battling with multi-homing is by signing exclusive distribution contracts with specific distribution platforms (i.e. Twitch, YouTube or Facebook). By signing these agreements, the content providers and distribution platform providers are partnering to reduce the high level of multi-homing.

On March 5, 2018, Brittany W commented on Can OpenTable survive, or is it losing popularity? :

Great post! Another challenge OpenTable has is its ability to maintain restaurants in its ecosystem. In my personal experience, some restaurants (specifically trendy, upscale restaurants) are reluctant to allow for bookings on OpenTable because it tarnishes the exclusive brand of the restaurant. OpenTable will need to try and address this issue if it wishes to maintain higher end restaurants in its ecosystem.

On March 5, 2018, Brittany W commented on Etsy’s battle against Amazon :

Great post! I agree with you that Handmade at Amazon won’t be able to compete well with Etsy. Etsy is known for being a more “niche” platform where quality and creative products are preferred over efficiency and cost. Because of this, I think Etsy will still be able to command a significant market share against Amazon in this specific space.

On January 31, 2018, Brittany commented on Juicero: how much would you pay for your juice? :

Wow, very interesting post! I view this as a classic marketing issue. When I think of Juicero’s target customers, I think of health conscious individuals whose primary value proposition is to consume a healthy and fresh juice product. The product itself (with juice ingredients served in a pre-packaged pouches primarily) may inadvertently suggest to the consumer that the items are heavily processed – the complete opposite of healthy and fresh (even if this is not the case). I wonder if Juicero could have marketed the product differently to highlight the fresh nature of the ingredients, despite being in packaged juice packs. My view is that the clear issue is that the product is not aligned with the underlying value proposition of the target customers.

On January 31, 2018, Brittany commented on Starbucks: a tech company or your neighborhood coffee shop? :

Great post, Kat! It’s interesting to see retail companies such as Starbucks mitigate the risk of declining in-store retail sales through the use of digital innovation. Another huge value opportunity for Starbucks will be in the information that it can gather from its customers that use the mobile app options. Starbucks will be able to further upsell customers through sending push alerts of advertisements for coffee and food items that they may enjoy based on their previous search information and interests. It’s exciting (but also frightening!) to see retailers gather so much information from their customers and use it to influence customer buying decisions.

On January 31, 2018, Brittany commented on Netflix: The Media Killer :

Great post! I do agree that Netflix is a clear winner in the OTT media space. I do however feel that Netflix will have a difficult time competing against other players moving into the space – especially Disney following their acquisition of BAMTech and their recent decision to pull content from the Netflix library. Netflix also competes against other players like Hulu and Amazon through acquiring or creating content premier content which places severe pressure on the Company’s operating margins due to high content acquisition costs. Netflix is currently burning through cash, and I do wonder how viable the business model is when compared to other competitors (Disney, Amazon) that have healthier balance sheets and can withstand the continued cash outflows due to high content acquisition costs.