Booz buys Axon Advisory and launches Booz Digital
Booz & Company has bought Axon Advisory Partners, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in digital advisory. The consultants will be integrated into a newly launched department called Booz Digital. Booz Digital is a full-service team of strategy consultants, designers and technologists who help companies turn ideas into digital business. By founding Booz Digital, the strategic advisory firm says to be the "first global top strategy consulting firm to offer end-to-end digital solutions, from strategy to design to execution".
Jeff Schumacher, founding partner of Axon Advisory Partners, has been appointed as a partner within Booz Digital. Prior to working at Axon Advisory Partners, he was Executive Vice President at retailer Sports Authority, partner at McKinsey & Company, Senior Manager at Deloitte and IBM and Consultant at Accenture. "Creating the right digital solutions affects every aspect of the value chain. Booz & Company has a unique mix of strategic and functional expertise. We believe that by combining strategy, design, and execution, Booz Digital will offer clients a differentiating proposition" says Schumacher.
Strategy and execution
It is striking that Booz Digital next to advisory also heavily emphasizes execution. This is not what normally belongs to the core competencies of strategy consultants. In the case of Booz Digital, moving down the implementation value chain is seen as an asset: "By fielding a multidisciplinary team of strategic thought leaders, customer experience designers, and functional business experts with real-world operator experience, Booz Digital partners with clients through the entire value chain to capture incremental value and deliver an end-to-end digital solution. In short, we bridge the strategy-to-execution gap" says Schumacher.
Booz Digital
In a press statement Booz & Company states that Booz Digital will be based in the U.S. yet will also serve international clients of the consultancy firm. Earlier this year, Booz & Company signed a partnership with Bazaarvoice, a software and data-analytics firm that helps firms monitor and engage with social communities. The Bazaarvoice partnership will be integrated into Booz Digital.