ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Michael J. Silverstein is one of BCG’s most prolific and published authors. He has written five consumer books since 2003, each published in a three-year sequence. He wrote Trading Up: The New American Luxury, the story of middle-class consumers trading up to luxury goods. Michael predicted dramatic growth in the top of the market in all consumer categories. He created the rule of 20-40-60: 20 percent of almost all consumer categories became premium, delivering 40 percent of volume and as much as 60 percent of category profitability. The companies identified in Trading Up and premium players have delivered total shareholder return dramatically higher than the market. In 2006, he launched Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer, a book about the consumer search for higher-value goods at lower prices. In this book, he showed how consumers were going to cut back on their spending and begin the road to savings. He predicted a global recession as a result. In 2009, he led BCG’s largest consumer-research effort with women. This culminated in Women Want More: How to Capture Your Share of the World’s Largest, Fastest-Growing Market. He predicted dramatic growth in the value of purchases controlled by women. He also found that women want more time, more money, and more love. His fourth book was The $10 Trillion Prize: Captivating the Newly Affluent in China and India. The book forecast the size of the consumer market in China and India in the year 2020. The forecast is on track.

Michael joined BCG in 1980, after completing his MBA with honors at Harvard University and an AB degree in economics and history at Brown University. Based in Chicago, he has been a worldwide leader of BCG’s consumer practice and a member of the firm’s executive committee. He actively serves global clients in retail and consumer packaged goods. He is considered one of the firm’s experts in branding and innovation.

Dylan Bolden is the head of BCG’s loyalty practice. Based in Dallas, he joined BCG in 2002, and he is an expert on global branding, customer experience, multichannel retailing, and turnaround strategy. Dylan earned an MBA with highest honors from Columbia Business School, graduating Beta Gamma Sigma, and a BS in chemical engineering with honors from Florida State University.

Rune Jacobsen is the worldwide head of the firm’s global consumer retail sector practice. Based in Oslo, and a graduate of the Norwegian School of Business, he joined BCG in 1999. He has led more than 80 retail projects around the world. Rune is an expert in market turnaround, growth strategy, private-label development, retail transformation, and change management. He has worked in food, nonfood, DIY, apparel, sports, and home retailing.

Rohan Sajdeh is a senior partner who joined BCG in 1995. Based in Chicago, he has extensive consumer goods experience, advising companies around the world. Rohan has a master of management degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, an MPhil in international relations from Cambridge University, and a bachelor of business degree with the university medal from the University of Technology, Sydney.