Resistance to change is a natural reaction. It takes energy to change our mindset and create new habits, whether it is in the private or professional sphere. Hence, this is equally true for organizational transformations. The COVID-19 outbreak forced us to rapidly adapt all professional and social aspects of our lives. The extreme situation exposed our resilience and flexibility creating momentum and openness to leap forward and set up your organization for digital success. In this article, we share with you our approach and learnings from a decade of digital transformations across industries.
Digital transformations help your business to better organize around the customer through cross-functional processes, relevant KPIs, and digital capability-building. We recognize four building blocks in doing so:
For a decade, SparkOptimus has supported her clients to achieve concrete results in areas that are now more relevant than ever. This has resulted in our fourth #1 position in digital consultancy in the Netherlands. Especially in these days of turmoil, we are determined to help you navigate current and post-Corona times, setting up your (online) business for success. Feel free to reach out – we are here to help.
The huge – and probably permanent – shift towards digital brought about by the Corona measures has resulted in a surge in e-commerce sales across categories. Businesses had to act fast to adapt to new customer preferences in order to recover their revenues. For example, PepsiCo quickly pivoted to a “direct-to-consumer”-business model by setting up two webshops for their U.S. snacks business within 30 days. Clearly, there is a big advantage for businesses that already have access to the digital technology and resources to launch such a platform. But even if that’s not the case, we would like to share why you should start thinking about going direct-to-consumer (D2C) – especially now.
Owning the end-user relationship and data can result in a fundamental profitability advantage through higher margins and better-tailored products and services. SparkOptimus has supported leading businesses in designing, building, and further accelerating D2C propositions. In these – usually longer-term – engagements we work shoulder-to-shoulder with our clients, empowering them with the right skills and tools to further accelerate.
For HEINEKEN, we jointly designed and launched their Beerwulf D2C proposition within nine months. To do so, we used a three-step approach:
Read the full Heineken’s Beerwulf case here
For Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE), we jointly accelerated their D2C strategy in a one-year journey to:
Read the full JDE case here
Imaginably, the current Corona-crisis shifted your business’s priorities. Although it remains important to take time to establish a longer-term vision on D2C to ensure all initiatives come together as a whole, there are ways to start benefiting from incremental sales through D2C in the short term. We have four tips to get you started:
For a decade, SparkOptimus has supported her clients to achieve concrete results in areas that are now more relevant than ever. This has resulted in our fourth #1 position in digital consultancy in the Netherlands. Especially in these days of turmoil, we are determined to help you navigate current- and post-Corona times, setting up your (online) business for success. Feel free to reach out, we are here to help.
Over the past decade, SparkOptimus has nurtured “disruptive thinking” to make disruption work. The crux of this thinking is to let go of daily routines and think out-of-the-box about how to better serve (existing or new) customers, putting their needs first rather than products or services. Interestingly, the COVID-19 outbreak forced us all to apply disruptive thinking, maybe without even noticing. Jobs that couldn’t be done from home suddenly could and supply chain gaps were filled by local sourcing. Digitization is further accelerated, with new challenges but also opportunities ahead, as we are moving towards a “1.5-meter-distance-society”.
Positive side-effects of the COVID-19 outbreak – such as eliminated reservations against digitization, opened minds, accelerated adaptability, and re-prioritized schedules – create a perfect environment to incubate disruptive thinking. In this thinking, we distinguish three levels to design your business’s future:
When ‘Sparking’ disruptive thinking together with our clients, SparkOptimus uses several formats such as inspirational masterclasses, ideation sessions, workshops, and agile pilots. Driven by the current circumstances, we fully virtualized our approaches, leveraging digital collaboration and communication tools. Greatly appreciating the positive feedback we already received from clients, we keep challenging ourselves to exceed expectations and maximize the relevance and output of these virtual sessions! Read more about our tips for digital workshops here.
For a decade, SparkOptimus has supported her clients to achieve concrete results in areas that are now more relevant than ever. This has resulted in our fourth #1 position in digital consultancy in the Netherlands. Especially in these days of turmoil, we are determined to help you navigate current- and post-Corona times, setting up your (online) business for success. Feel free to reach out, we are here to help.