Problem
Aubert, Benoit A., Carol Saunders, Martin Wiener, Reinhard Denk, and Tobias Wolfermann. "How Adidas Realized Benefits from a Contrary IT Multisourcing Strategy," MIS Quarterly Executive, 15, no. 3 (2016):179-194.
As mentioned in the case, Adidas' mission is "building a digital ecosystem for the enthusiastic consumer and the empowered employee." One of Adidas' new business ventures is investing in a start-up HERO that was recently acquired by Klarna through its digital sports accelerator program called Platform A. HERO provides a live shopping service which enables millions of shoppers around the world to use HERO on their favorite online stores to connect live with a product expert, often in a store nearby, through video, chat, and text. Is HERO a platform business? If not, please think of a way (or a revised design of HERO) to make it a platform business. What should be the pricing strategy (i.e., who should be the money-side, and who should be the subsidy-side) for HERO (if you think it is already a platform business) or for the proposed platform version of HERO? Please justify your answer.