Rune Jacobsen
Managing Director & Senior Partner
Hong Kong
Rune Jacobsen is a core member of the Consumer and People & Organization practices for The Boston Consulting Group, and leader of the firm’s Consumer Retail sector. He is an expert with BCG TURN, which helps clients deliver rapid, visible performance improvements in the short term while strengthening their organizations and positioning them to win in the future. He also leads BCG's Hong Kong office.
Since joining BCG in 1999, Rune has acquired deep client experience from more than 120 retail projects with many of the world’s leading retailers in a range of sectors, including do-it-yourself, apparel, sports, electronics, furniture, and home.
Rune understands that companies in the consumer products industry inhabit a world where change is the only constant and where the surest way to generate value is to constantly reinvent the business. It’s a world in which he works with retail CEOs to lead and orchestrate transformation and reinvention programs. Rune is recognized worldwide as a leading expert in grocery retailing.
Before joining BCG, Rune was director of the Norwegian Center for Media Economics.
To counter increasing threats from value players and online competitors, established grocers should up their retailer brand game.
Discount grocers now offer more products with better quality—while maintaining their low prices. Established grocers will need to decide on the right strategic response.
No one has ever dramatically changed a market by offering timid, incremental improvements. To win, you need to take giant leaps.
Apostle brands like Apple, Amazon, and Starbucks represent a new class of brand winners. They also highlight important lessons for converting customers into die-hard followers and ardent advocates.
Consumer companies continue to meet or exceed investor expectations. There is no single right strategy for delivering value in this industry, as top performers know.
Traditional retailers face an increasingly urgent need to reinvent multiple aspects of their businesses to ensure that their models are competitively viable today and sustainable for the future.
The retail industry is undergoing a profound transformation. Forward-looking companies must adapt and stay relevant today and into the next decade.
