Beth Peters's Profile

This is fascinating, thanks Kiernan! I am really impressed at how RC has embedded technology throughout its operations. To take this a step further, I wonder how RC could use AR/VR aboard its ships. This could increase the variety of entertainment on offer for guests without the need for more costly space. For example, passengers could participate in a “real life” go-kart tournament with one another, or “swim” in the sea beneath them and witness the sealife they are amidst.

This is really interesting. Thanks, Dicle! I really like the approach Minerva is taking, including how it incorporates the social aspects of a typical undergraduate experience with a digitally-delivered core education. I know this is a key positive element of education for many, producing both friends and a professional network.

I wonder whether Minerva could market itself to potential students by partnering with high schools to deliver brief versions of its courses in e.g. critical thinking to students. I know this was taught at my high school but no teachers had a core competence in the subject. This would introduce students to the concept of online education, increasing awareness and generating applications.

It is very cool that such a historic organisation is actively looking to “move with the times” in this way. As T@HBS mentioned, scale will likely reduce the Berliner Philharmoniker’s dependence on outside funding. One way they might attract audiences in emerging markets is through programming targeted at local tastes, rather than just broadcasting content preferred by existing audiences.

I do also worry that consumers aren’t necessarily experiencing the “high-quality recordings” that are commanding a premium price if 50% of them are listening via their phones! This might encourage defection to e.g. Spotify or Youtube over time. I wonder whether there is potential to use the partnership with Sony to encourage users to ensure they are listening to these recordings using similarly high quality hardware.

This is fascinating, thanks Georgia. I can really see the value LinkedIn could provide here. However, to take a truly global view the company needs global coverage, which is something it currently does not have. For example, Xing is the leading player in Germany and Dajie is in China. Maybe this requires a more aggressive global M&A strategy? Or a greater organic growth push in key markets?

In countries where LinkedIn is the market leader I think there is also an opportunity to publish perhaps less noble, but highly valuable, reports on specific industries. As a consultant I used LinkedIn as a research tool for competitor analysis e.g. to determine what sectors specific companies are seeking to grow in by analysing job titles and joining dates, but at the time it was not set up for this use and this required manual work. We definitely would have paid for some custom analytics!

This really is a very clever business model, as is shown by Kayla’s large and devoted fan base. I agree with other posters that Kayla now needs to focus on maintaining momentum, particularly as fitness fans can be fickle and there is nothing currently locking them in to their app subscription. One thing that could help with this is recruitment of superfans who are familiar with the technical aspects of routines and could act as local community ambassadors around the world. The app could let these ambassadors tell people in their area when they are working out and invite them to join their sessions, which could include advice on how to do the exercises correctly. In exchange for recruitment and attendance of fans (who would still need to pay for the app) there could be small financial incentives and access to a “premium” tier of workouts and advice from Kayla. This would enable the online community to be strengthened through offline interactions, increasing stickiness without needing to build a physical presence (which is not currently a core capability).

Wow, it is fascinating to see how small incremental weight increases on flights can have a big carbon impact. I wonder whether China Airlines could introduce a new type of loyalty programme to incentivise luggage weight reduction. Imagine if travellers could earn green points for reducing their luggage weight below a specific benchmark? If these could be redeemed at a cost lower than the saving to China Airlines from this change in behaviour, this could actually reduce overall costs and help the environment!

As other commenters have said, it is indeed shocking to learn about the climate impact of fast fashion. In addition to this, as consumers we often know that cheaper, low quality clothes are a false economy as they wear out very quickly. However it is often hard to resist the low prices that retailers entice you with. I love Sophie’s idea of a more durable clothing range, perhaps combined with Aparna’s suggestion of lengthening the time these “timeless” products are available, as this could reduce ZARA’s climate footprint whilst also creating better outcomes for consumers.

I wonder whether Zara could also cut its products more efficiently in order to reduce the 60 billion square meters of textile are left on the cutting room floor each year. This would reduce environmental impact and cost. More broadly, there have to be innovative uses for such off cuts! Could you replace certain types of cushion stuffing? Use it for insulation? In cleaning aids? It would be exciting to investigate this further.

How interesting! It’s great to see that Kraft Heinz has made moves towards sustainability with Ketchup production. I am particularly interested in what happens to the bottles after they have been used. Whilst efforts are being made to reduce materials used in packaging (http://www.heinz.com/sustainability/supplychain/packaging.aspx) and allow for recycling, the latter is not an option everywhere in the world. I would love to see Kraft Heinz go one step further and invest in biodegradable plastics. I imagine that this would be an expensive move, but if one of the largest companies in the world doesn’t have a duty to think big on these topics, I don’t know who does.

This is really interesting! I particularly like the idea of Euglena being the next “superfood”. Greater consumption of it would have two great benefits: increasing carbon capture through its consumption, and a possible shift away from energy/resource intensive meat consumption. I wonder whether Euglena could be marketed similarly to e.g. kale as a trendy superfood to make this happen. The below article includes some mention the marketing strategy followed by PR Oberon Sinclair for this (although it seems that there is more to the story…). I look forward to seeing it on a menu near me soon!

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2016/08/who-owns-kale-/?utm_source+Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_twfd20160810kale&utm_campaign=Content&sf33000821=1

Thanks for this article, George. I agree that it is crucial for Vail to stand up and vocally advocate policy changes to curb climate change as losing snow will irreparably damage their business. Standing together globally, resorts like this would bring a new dimension to the debate. Per the image you used I can imagine some powerful advertising campaigns that raise awareness of the likely future of the slopes should temperatures continue to rise. The threat of losing winter sports could be an effective motivator for policymakers, who tend to be in the demographic that partake in them the most!