Ingredients player Indena embraces social media

Until recently it has been the big finished goods players who were first off the block to engage in the various social media channels, but gradually the trend has been filtering down the supply chain, where its use has been adapted to the point that communication has to be tailored to the business-to-business arena, rather than consumers.

Indena says that the revamp has come about primarily because of the need to redesign its web communication channels around the growing influence of social media, ultimately to exploit the potential of the web to improve relations with both customers and stakeholders.

New technology is key to reaching customers​

“New technologies represent a big opportunity for a global company like Indena to be interactive for prospect clients, researchers and journalists around the world,”​ said Christian Artaria, Indena marketing director.

“The way we distribute contents and work in the marketplace has lately been affected by new forms of communication we now must take into account and integrate within our communication, marketing and business strategies, without neglecting the scientific communication that has always been the true differentiator of Indena.”​

The company, which develops and manufacturers ingredients derived from plants for the pharma and food industries, as well as the cosmetics sector, launched its website in 1996, during which time it has become a key trading portal for the business.

The company says that following the website re-design, indena.com​ is now more of a ‘gateway’ to the industry, to include a faster search engine and single click access to its three primary areas of business activity.

Forget Facebook, roll with YouTube, Flickr and Linkedin​

However, what is perhaps most interesting about the redesign is the fact that the site now incorporates direct navigation to the company’s YouTube channel, Flickr account as well as its business profile on LinkedIn.

Although Facebook has made a big splash in the consumer arena, the absence of such a page for the new Indena communications model underlines the fact that this particular social media does not have a major role to play in the business-to-business area.

LinkedIn, however, is proving to be the social media hotspot for companies such as Indena to gravitate towards, allowing for a range of functions, from networking to platforming new product launches.

The YouTube channel will feature the company’s promotional video footage, including shoots from trade shows and congresses and interviews with management, whereas the Flickr account will be used to illustrate photos of the flowers and plants that the company uses to source its ingredients from.