KWS, the family-owned German plant breeder and the world's fifth largest seed producer, had added digital tools over the years without a clear customer focus, just as B2B customers began expecting more transparency and service. Vivaldi Group scored KWS's existing initiatives, benchmarked competitors and best practices from other industries, and built a digital roadmap for its customer platform and communications. KWS implemented quick wins and focused on the initiatives that add most value, increasing efficiency and reducing costs.
Rising expectations of transparency and service in B2B agriculture were pushing KWS to change how it communicated its products and services. Its digital tools had been introduced sporadically, without clear customer focus or strategic alignment, and the company was missing the chance to build stronger customer relationships.
Vivaldi assessed KWS's existing digital initiatives with a scorecard model, benchmarked competitors and best practices outside the industry, and built a digital roadmap that revamped existing initiatives, added new platform features and launched new digital initiatives.
KWS implemented several of the recommended quick wins and now uses the strategy as a reference guide for digital decisions, especially for its digital customer platform. Focusing on the initiatives that add most value to customers and the company increased efficiency, leveraged synergies and reduced costs.
| Client | KWS SAAT, family-owned plant breeding company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Agriculture, seeds |
| Region | About 70 countries, headquartered in Germany |
| Scale | Fifth largest seed producer worldwide by sales; breeding crops for more than 150 years |
| Vivaldi scope | Digital readiness assessment and scorecard, competitor and best-practice benchmarking, digital customer strategy, digital roadmap and rollout plan |
| Outcome | Quick wins implemented; a reference guide for digital decisions; higher efficiency, more synergies and lower costs |
KWS SAAT is an independent, family-owned German company that has been breeding crops for the moderate climatic zone for more than 150 years. It is the fifth largest seed producer in the world by sales, active in about 70 countries, with seed varieties for sugar beet, corn, cereals, rapeseed and potatoes.
As B2B markets evolved, customers expected more transparency and better service. KWS had introduced digital tools and services over the years, but sporadically and without a clear customer focus or strategic alignment. It wanted a digital customer communication strategy that would sharpen its customer orientation, let it collect customer data and build more direct relationships, and create synergies across offline and online channels.
Vivaldi started by establishing how digitally prepared the organization was. A scorecard model assessed each existing initiative on criteria such as benefits for KWS and for customers, channel integration potential, major pros and cons, and improvement potential in quick wins and big wins. The initiatives were then prioritized.
Next, extensive benchmarking against competitors identified new features, tools and services for KWS’s digital customer platform, while research into best practices outside agriculture surfaced new high-potential initiatives. Vivaldi then built the roadmap: revamp existing initiatives, add new platform features and launch new digital initiatives, with key activities and timing for implementation and rollout agreed with the KWS team. Vivaldi’s digital transformation strategy framework describes the wider approach.
For turning a roadmap into day-to-day customer experience, see Vivaldi’s guide to customer journey implementation.
KWS, the family-owned German plant breeder and fifth largest seed producer worldwide, engaged Vivaldi to replace piecemeal digital tools with a customer-focused digital strategy. Vivaldi scored existing initiatives, benchmarked competitors and best practices outside agriculture, and built a digital roadmap for the customer platform and communications. KWS implemented quick wins and focused on its highest-value initiatives, increasing efficiency, leveraging synergies and reducing costs.
KWS SAAT is an independent, family-owned plant breeding company headquartered in Germany. It is the fifth largest seed producer in the world by sales, active in about 70 countries, and has bred crops for the moderate climatic zone for more than 150 years, including sugar beet, corn, cereals, rapeseed and potatoes.
Vivaldi assessed KWS’s existing digital initiatives, benchmarked competitors and best practices from other industries, and built a digital customer strategy and roadmap. KWS implemented quick wins and uses the strategy as a reference for digital decisions.
A scorecard rated each initiative on benefits for KWS and customers, channel integration potential, pros and cons, and improvement potential. That ranking decided what to revamp, what to add and what to launch.
Farmers and distributors now expect the transparency and service they get elsewhere. Without a strategy, digital tools multiply without improving the customer relationship or giving the company better customer data.
Concentrating on the initiatives that add most value to customers and the company increased efficiency, leveraged synergies across channels and reduced costs.
