In order to consolidate its positions and accelerate further in other foreign markets, it has strategically aligned itself with another industry leader, Ateme, which already has a strong international presence. Together, they offer an end-to-end service – from encoding to distribution to the terminal – giving them the means to be a global company in a globalized industry. The Ateme Group is present in many parts of the world, including Eastern and Western Europe, the Emirates, India, Russia, China, South-East Asia, Australia, and North and South America.
1. Why internationalize?
Our international expansion has been driven by opportunism and market necessity. Necessity, first of all, because our market, which is based on the Internet, knows no borders by definition. The sector’s expectations are therefore necessarily global. This constraint gave us the opportunity to think globally. If we hadn’t approached our development in this way from the outset, we would have risked being left behind by our competitors, who are adopting this global strategy. This approach is very important, as it guides our entire strategy in this area, and the means we use to achieve it. However, thinking global from the outset does not mean addressing all markets at the same time. Prioritization remains a highly strategic element, and a guarantee of controlled success.
2. How do you internationalize?
The “how” is the hardest part: how to create the strategy? What sales model should I propose? How do I adapt my offer? How do I enter the market? Which countries should I target? How do I recruit? How can I rely on partners? Implementing a strategy means making choices. It requires a great deal of humility and experience, because mistakes will always be made (poor assessment of commercial risks, exchange rates, resources to be deployed, etc.). That’s why it’s important and useful to get support from specialized public(Team France Export) and/or private(OSCI) players. Use these networks to build up your experience and skills. For example, Ateme, which has extensive international experience, recently called on Salveo to implement HR solutions to help it expand into different countries, thus securing our Group’s strategy.
With hindsight, if I had to do Anevia’s international development all over again, I’d be less opportunistic and more systematic in my preparation and analysis when choosing countries. All these decisions upstream of development are essential and time-consuming. They can’t be made to “attack” all countries at once. We need to adopt a phased, limited and prioritized approach.
3. Is the international dimension part of your strategy for bouncing back from the crisis?
This period of crisis was extremely useful for us, as it enabled us to speed up negotiations with Ateme. We had more time to refine our strategy and bring our two companies closer together in the best possible way. From an operational point of view, we were able to hold remote meetings almost every day in preparation for the merger. We also took advantage of this period to renew our equipment and offer the best working conditions to our employees. We also improved our presence on social networks. Up until September 2020, we managed this remote operation perfectly, and with great resilience. However, over the last few weeks, we’ve noticed a lack, even a loss of steam. We need to keep things informal, and digital technology is no substitute for time spent at the coffee machine. The latter are important, as they enable us to go into certain subjects in greater depth, and to have an ease of understanding and operational efficiency, thanks in particular to gestures and oral communication. In 2020, we signed more new projects than in 2019, except that these are actually prospects we met physically in 2019. We need to return to a normal world where physical exchange is possible.
