[1] is what I do a lot of discovery on in my own work. The complexity of the digital domain to the sales funnel, as well as the increased reach to new populations, makes simple A/B testing inadequate for accurate causal analysis. I think BigCorp has beneficial scale benefits here.

[2] I've only seen massive product movement when the analysts and idea folks work together. I've never seen an idea wonk hit the bullseye contrary to simple economic theory/reasoning on their customer target.