Teouma Group go digital in Vanuatu
Consumer behaviour has changed massively in the last 10 years. Nowadays in developed countries half of retail sales are “digitally impulsed”, which means that consumers have digital contact with the “brand” before the payment. This happens through channels such as social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Tripadvisor), web pages, market places (Alibaba, ebay, Amazon), email and SMS.
The digital contact with customers requires omni-channel marketing, a customer centricity, an understanding of the consumer’s needs and behaviours through data analysis. This is the scope of the “digital transformation”. Here, the word “transformation” is more important than the word “digital”. A common mistake is to consider that the “digital transformation” can be achieved with just an e-shop. Yet, there is no doubt that most businesses will have to modernize their marketing sooner or later in order to remain competitive.
At Pacific Digital Transformation Consulting Ltd, we believe that this process of “digital transformation” has barely started in countries like Vanuatu, not because of the lack of demand, but rather the lack of offer. Private and public sectors have not seriously innovated yet because they are challenged by an archaic digital ecosystem consisting of poor electronic payment solutions and few modern IT providers.
Teouma Group is a family business created in 1985. It aims to develop sustainable businesses in Vanuatu; an 80 island archipelago located between Fiji and Australia. The Teouma group employs 400 staff in 7 industries: Organic coconut oil (works with 500 copra providers certified organic), Aquaculture (premium, organically grown prawns), Cattle farms (grade A grass fed beef), Abattoirs (main one in Vanuatu), Tourism (boutique hotel in Tukutuk), Construction, and Shipping.
In 2017 Teouma’s directors decided to start its “digital transformation” with the clear objective of increasing sales while activating synergies between their existing channels and brands.
Advised by Pacific Digital Transformation Consulting Ltd, the Teouma group started its digital transformation with the following methodology:
- Step One, the definition of objective of the digital transformation, which in this case was to improve customers’ experience.
- Step Two, the implementation of the web presence as follows:
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- Content production: Group’s logo and professional photography and create relevant and authentic storytelling.
- Company’s web page: www.teouma.com, with an e-shop
- Establish social network channels: Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
- Implementation of tools like Google Suite (Google Analytics, Google Drive and Google Ads), Mailchimp (powerful tool to send emails!)
- Step Three, making sure the team felt comfortable using those analytical and communication tools.
As a result of the transformation, Teouma is currently generating additional sales and taking advantage of those new capabilities. Teouma also increased local demand for fresh organically grown prawns, with attractive communication on social network. Nicolas Monvoisin from Teouma Group reports:
“After our digital transformation, we receive requests for quotation every week. We are recruiting customers (mainly final consumers) and are consolidating the loyalty of our existing B2C customers (mainly restaurants).”
“Last month we participated in the SIAL in Paris, which is the world’s largest food innovation exhibition. We felt that international buyers were attracted by the upgraded, consistent omni channel marketing. We received about 60 requests for quotation, from huge actors such as Carrefour or Andros, for each one of our three organic coconut oils (premium oil in glass jar, cooking oil in sachet, and bulk options).”
Pacific Digital Transformation Consulting Ltd ‘s partners are Marc Gerard and Martin Saint Hilaire. Currently most of our clients’ problematics deal with digital transformation (strategy, processes, tools), but we work on other topics such as Due Diligence, Supply Chain, Category Management.