BCG in the News

Forbes

How to Write an Email Subject Line That Prompts Clear Actions

In her column for Forbes, BCG’s Julia Dhar discusses how frustrated people are with the delay in email response times as the volume of messages continues to grow—and how effective communication plays a key role in triggering an email response. Dhar highlights a BCG study that shows how different subject lines can affect email open rates. “Competition for attention amid this online deluge is intense,” she says. “If you want yours read, focus on the subject line and make it personal.”

Expansion

Mercadona, Carrefour y Lidl aumentan su liderazgo en plena batalla de precios

En el último año, los tres líderes del sector por cuota de mercado han aumentado su peso. Expertos como Adriana de José, socia de distribución y consumo de Boston Consulting Group, apuntan a las aperturas y a la preferencia por la marca blanca. Además, la socia destaca entre los motivos que explican la ganancia de clientes "algunos players están empezando a usar los datos que tienen los clientes para moverse a la personalización, para crear ofertas más relevantes para ellos".

Forbes

Taylor Swift: What Brands Can Learn from a Tortured Poet’s Magic

In her Forbes column, BCG’s Julia Dhar examines what brands can learn from Taylor Swift’s marketing and revenue management playbook. She outlines three key takeaways for mapping out a go-to-market strategy for new products: treat partnerships as core assets to boost media attention, leverage both traditional and nontraditional sales methods to create demand, and give customers more than they expect to expand the power of each product launch.

City A.M.

Fintechs Set for a Spike in IPO Activity Following a Bumpy 2023

In City A.M., BCG’s Kunal Jhanji explains that the UK’s fintech sector is primed for a “substantial uptick” in IPO activity this year as investor sentiment around UK startups rebounds. According to a new report from BCG and QED Investors, the global fintech sector is expected to grow to $1.5 trillion in revenue by 2030, up from $320 billion today. The report reveals that investors are now embracing sustainable, profitable growth for fintechs over a “growth at all costs” mentality.

Business Insider

How CMOs Can Prove Marketing’s Impact

At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, BCG’s global CMO, Jessica Apotheker, speaks to Business Insider about how CMOs can ensure that marketing initiatives are front of mind for business stakeholders. She outlines three ways to demonstrate marketing’s impact: lead with data and insights, use consistent measures and KPIs to show impact, and think thoughtfully about the top talent who will interact directly with the business.

Financial Times

$10 Trillion of Insurance Needed to Cover Net Zero Transition

In the Financial Times, BCG’s Raphael Troitzsch outlines how the insurance sector can derisk—and therefore accelerate—a just, resilient climate transition. According to a new report from BCG and Howden, a global insurance intermediary group, at least $10 trillion of additional insurance coverage will be needed for the energy, road transport, and building sectors by 2030. This is a wake-up call about the essential role of insurance in the net zero transition.

Fortune

CEOs Wake Up from Their “Geopolitical Nap”

In Fortune, BCG’s Nikolaus Lang says that between regional conflicts and the resurgence of trade wars, business leaders around the world are placing geopolitics at the top of their agendas. Lang, who is the chair of BCG’s newly launched Center for Geopolitics, explains that many of today’s C-suite executives have always operated in an environment where geopolitics did not play an outsized role. “But in the past five years, [they] experienced a series of exogenous shocks they were simply not prepared for,” he says. “It puts a lot of pressure on leaders.”

Forbes

To Meet or Not to Meet: That Is The Question

In her Forbes column, BCG’s Julia Dhar provides tips on how to evaluate when workplace meetings are worth the time and when they’re not. When a meeting is necessary, Dhar gives advice for leading a productive one, such as defining a clear purpose, providing pre-reads and clearly defined roles for the meeting in advance, and keeping the discussion on target once things are underway. “The truth is: with advanced planning, meetings can be useful tools,” she writes. “It’s up to you to use them properly.”

Inc. Magazine

The “Global Innovation Readiness” Gap

Forbes and Inc. Magazine highlight the findings from BCG’s 18th annual “Most Innovative Companies” report which reveals that 83% of companies see innovation as a top-three priority, but only 3% are ready to translate those priorities into results. BCG’s Justin Manly recommends that innovators struggling with the cost of capital look for outside partnerships for funding, not just at traditional banks and venture capital firms.

ABC News

The Shift Towards Low- and No-Alcohol Beverages

On Australia’s ABC News, BCG’s Elfrun von Koeller speaks about the growing low-alcohol and no-alcohol drink market. She partially attributes this to a generational trend: roughly one-quarter of Gen Z and millennial consumers say they buy non-alcoholic beer, compared to just 5% to 10% of older generations. Many beverage companies have begun adjusting to this trend by growing their brands’ low-alcohol and alcohol-free offerings, von Koeller says.

El País

Empleos verdes, una revolución en ciernes

La demanda de empleos asociados a la sostenibilidad corporativa aumentará en los próximos años debido a la transición hacia una economía verde. “Habrá una necesidad creciente de expertos en tecnologías limpias”, afirma Juan Ferrer, Managing Director and Partner de BCG en España.

Bloomberg

European Companies Under Intense Pressure to Transform

In Bloomberg, BCG’s Jochen Schönfelder explains that about one in 15 European companies are facing significant pressure to restructure this year due to higher financing costs and weakening consumer demand. New BCG research reveals that, compared to the rest of Europe, companies in Austria and Germany are facing particularly intense transformation pressure, with a third of businesses showing early warning signs of weakening performance and financial stability.