Our cases

Henkel Consumer Brands (HCB) offers a wide range of consumer goods, represented by leading and well-known brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf, and Dial. Committed to sustainability, HCB is transforming its product portfolio by integrating more sustainable solutions. The aim is to empower consumers to make sustainable choices not only in their purchase decisions but also in the usage of the products. To accelerate this journey, HCB collaborated with SparkOptimus to develop a comprehensive approach on shifting consumer behaviors and establishing sustainable choices as the new norm.

Zijerveld (a subsidiary of FrieslandCampina) is one of the largest cheese wholesalers in Europe. Recognizing the vast potential AI can bring to their business, they approached SparkOptimus for a one-week data scan. The scan consisted of identifying and prioritizing potential AI use cases across Zijerveld’s business and creating a first view of business value for selected use cases.

Gamma Belgium is a top 3 player in the Belgian DIY market. Every week 160,000 customers shop at one of 80+ stores in Flanders or Wallonia. As part of the Intergamma cross-channel strategy, Gamma Belgium launched their webshop in early 2014. SparkOptimus was asked to help build an adaptive and self-learning e-commerce organization with a constant focus on growth and profit maximization.

Emesa (VakantieVeilingen.nl) had been growing at a tremendous pace over the last few years. Leaving the start-up years behind, the shareholder and its management felt a new level of strategic focus and professionalization of its structure and processes was key to ignite the next phase of significant growth.

The partners of the Air Miles loyalty program: Shell, Ahold, V&D and Praxis, acknowledged the fact that the joint program was not in line with modern standards. They wanted to redesign the program so that it would increase engagement with their customers, make use of the data and insights to run their business, and ensure a setup that would benefit all partners in their business.

The overall objective of a digital due diligence is to provide a perspective on the value of a potential acquisition, its risks, and its opportunities. Typically, three types of clients request digital due diligences: a seller, a strategic buyer, or an independent investor. This case focuses on a typical ‘buying side’ digital due diligence.

ECI is one of the oldest Dutch online book stores. After a restart in early 2014, ECI rebuilt its core business processes and organizational foundation and was ready for the next step. They asked us to define a minimum viable product (MVP) for its new proposition and support the MVP implementation and launch of this new proposition.

The Accell Group wanted to perform a detailed technical and commercial due diligence on one of its online platforms. Specifically, they wanted to know if the platform held certain valuable assets that Accell could use to accelerate its overall digital ambitions.

Our client, a notable private equity firm, was looking at a specific investment opportunity in a digital business to expand their portfolio. They asked SparkOptimus to support them in assessing this opportunity, from both a value and a strategic perspective.

In this vendor due diligence, our client asked SparkOptimus to support them in reviewing plans and drafting reports that would enable them to raise additional capital or equity in a sale process.

Eneco has significantly increased its digital capabilities and plays an important role in ‘smart’ solutions, e.g. via it’s Toon platform. Eneco is continuously seeking to expand its relevance for customers and grow its product and service offering. Eneco asked SparkOptimus to advise on future developments and jointly seek for potential disruptive growth options.

Walvis Participaties is a venture capitalist that invests in Dutch internet technology companies. Walvis Fund III focusses on companies in (early) growth stages and with global ambitions. They received a funding request for a minority equity stake in a Dutch online platform that wants to expand their proposition globally. Walvis asked SparkOptimus to conduct a commercial due diligence to evaluate this proposition.

Royal Auping is the leading producer and brand for sleep comfort in the Benelux. The omnichannel customer journey was a key pillar in their future strategy. Auping asked SparkOptimus to support them in making its omnichannel strategy and transition plan towards its digital ambitions concrete.

Nederlandse Loterij (NLO) is the leading player in the Dutch lottery market, with brands such as Staatsloterij, Lotto, Krasloten, and TOTO sportsbetting. To maintain its leading position and prepare for new opportunities and changes in the market, NLO wanted to restructure its organisation and redesign its way of working to be more customer focused, agile, and data driven.

In the fall of 2016, AH to go launched a brand-new loyalty app for consumers together with strategic partners (i.e. suppliers) and continuous support of SparkOptimus. Nearing the end of development of the 1st version of the app, AH to go wanted to create a future outlook and roadmap for the AH to go loyalty app, including functionality and the role of mobile in AH to go’s broader proposition.

The Rijksmuseum is the largest museum of the Netherlands with almost 2.5 million visitors per year. In February 2015, the Rijksmuseum opened its doors for the internationally acclaimed 'Late Rembrandt' exhibition. The museum had set the ambition to sell a vast majority of tickets online and to become an international online frontrunner. Rijksmuseum asked SparkOptimus to support them in professionalizing their online marketing and ticket sales.

Schiphol is a leading global airport, serving around52 million passengers annually. It has already established itself as a frontrunner in digital services, winning the Skytrax Award for World’s Best Airport Website & Digital Services in both 2022 and 2023. To strengthen its position and align with the broader vision of creating the world’s most sustainable and high-quality airport, Schiphol engaged SparkOptimus to develop the three-year vision for Schiphol’s digital passenger experience.

BAM, a leading European construction-services business, has started the transition from an operational, process-oriented business to a company with a proactive, holistic customer approach and relationship. This way, BAM can anticipate (latent) customer needs and focus innovation based on relevant developments in the world. BAM asked SparkOptimus to support them in translating their strategic themes into value propositions based on customer needs.

As the largest railway company in the Netherlands, NS operates the EU’s busiest railway system and serves nearly 6% of the Dutch population on a daily basis. To keep up with increasing customer demands, NS felt the need to create an integrated omnichannel vision and to strongly expand on the digital customer experience. NS asked SparkOptimus to jointly design NS’ omnichannel vision and bring expertise on how to position technology & organization as key enablers of change.

Independer is the leading comparison website and online broker for financial products in the Netherlands. Founded in 1999 to improve the financial industry and support consumers in their decision-making process, it now enables consumers to compare prices and T&C on a range of insurance and financial products, including car insurances, health insurances and mortgages. Aiming to further accelerate growth, Independer identified next-level CRM as a key opportunity.