Digital Excellence: Naturade

Claude Tellis, Chief Executive Officer, Naturade

September 1st, 2016

Topics: Culture Entrepreneurial Tech Organizational Structure Process Management

Tuck School’s Center for Digital Strategies takes part in several Executive Education programs offered throughout the year, and in a number of locations. The “Digital Excellence Program“, offered in partnership with Google, was first offered in June 2015 and is geared towards the Minority Entrepreneur. The goal of this program is to provide participants with the tools needed to bring their digital marketing and communication skills to the next level. Sessions vary in topic from Google Analytics, to AdWords, to business leadership skills. The next iteration will be held in Chicago, on October 21-23, 2016.

Naturade sent two participants (Claude Tellis, CEO & Kareem Cook, CMO) to attend the 2015 December program in Google’s Seattle headquarters.

How does the use of digital technology or strategy help enhance your business?
As a company which has a limited marketing budget, digital technology has allowed us to compete with much bigger companies. Our products are not only sold online through our website and others, we are also distributed in national retail shops like The Vitamin Shoppe, CVS, Sam’s Club and Whole Foods. These stores are where the “big boys” play and spend millions of dollars advertising on TV, radio and other expensive mediums. Digital technology levels the playing field to an extent.

What was a key takeaway for you at the Digital Excellence Program that has helped your business?
There were many key takeaways from the program. Learning the value of Google adwords was a key takeaway. Learning how to implement and execute on Google was extremely valuable. SEO optimization component was a key takeaway. We left the program feeling equipped to evaluate our own efforts up that point and make the necessary changes.

Are there any specific digital or tech policies that have helped create a positive internal culture for your team?
We’ve expanded the size of our digital team and have made it a number one marketing initiative of the company. The has been positive and injected great energy into the company.

What has been one big surprise around the impact or influence of digital on your company?
Our digital initiative has allowed us to discover exactly who our consumers are. We can tell by who reposts and forwards our post who our customers are. We knew that we were selling well on www.iherb.com and www.amazon.com, but we didn’t know where those sales were going. We were amazed to discover we have a huge customer base in S. Korea and Russia, as well as other international locations. We were then able to create targeted marketing campaigns to those consumers.

Executive Bio:
Claude Tellis, Chief Executive Officer, Naturade
Digital Excellence Program, December 2015
Kareem Cook, Chief Marketing Officer, Naturade
Digital Excellence Program, December 2015