Accelerating online from 0 to 360 websites in 35 languages with Sitecore.
International Masters Publishers (IMP) is a global company that publishes a range of products with an appeal spanning regions, age groups and interests. From English language courses for Russians to DVDs about ancient Rome, IMP’s collections cover the publishing spectrum. But until two years ago, IMP’s Internet presence was weak. Only a few of its 44 markets had a website, and those sites were independently developed: the usability varied, and their variety diffused – rather than strengthened – the company’s image. So, using a Web Content Management System from Sitecore, IMP set about creating a web presence that reflects the true nature of the company: inspiring, informative, cheerful and family-oriented. The result is inspiring customers and employees alike.
“ Sitecore gave us a lot for our money, and the platform isn’t restrictive, so we could customize it to meet our exact needs. „
- Erik Bengtsson, Head of Internet Development, IMP
Challenge
From zero to hero
IMP’s tagline is Inspiring & Informing You – and that’s just what the site had to do. “We never really had an online presence,” says Erik Bengtsson, Head of Internet Development. “No-one in the company took real pride in what we had online. We have a lot of creative people at IMP, but none of them were inspired to put that creativity into the site. Changing that was important to us.” So Erik and his team needed to create a site that would put their tagline into action. It had to look inspiring, and it had to make all the necessary information easy for users to access. And because IMP’s customers range from kids to retirees, it had to be extremely user friendly.
According to Erik, one of the site’s long-term goals is to generate a great deal of return traffic. So the site needed to present the categories, such as Recipes & Cooking or Classical Music, in a way that would keep customers coming back to see what’s new. For this to happen, the system had to be simple enough for local markets to update the categories. Erik explains, “We are a global publisher, and not all of our products appeal to every market. The local companies are the experts in their markets, so there was no point in us creating a completely centrally-managed site. We needed a system that allowed us to manage the graphics and technical elements centrally, but could also be used locally by the markets to create content for the categories that interest their customers.”
Solution
A user-friendly, customizable and cost-effective platform
Perhaps unusual for a project of this scope, IMP deliberately set the ball rolling without a clear idea of where it was headed. “Obviously, we had some definite requirements for the site,” explains Erik. “But we’re a big company and we like to involve a lot of people, so we decided to run the project ourselves. This allowed us to change tack as desired and avoid any complicated negotiations if we ended up shifting the goalposts.”
IMP enlisted the expertise of Swedish-based IT consultancy Guide, and it was Guide that recommended Sitecore. “The decision to use Sitecore was based on a number of factors,” explains Erik. “But the two biggest were price and customization. Sitecore gave us a lot for our money, and the platform isn’t restrictive, so we could customize it to meet our exact needs.”
The Sitecore platform also provides the speed and flexibility that an off-the-shelf system can’t. IMP offers around 30 publications in different language versions, and has approximately 360 sites running at any one time. These sites alter depending on which campaigns are running, and campaigns change roughly every three months. All this means that IMP needs to put up and pull down sites very quickly – and the Sitecore system responds with the speed IMP needs. As Erik says, “We’re a very fast-moving company and we don’t want to be held back by technology.”
Result
Inspired employees and a united brand
Today IMP is running 360 sites, across 44 countries, in 35 languages. IMP’s web presence has gone from next-to-nothing to comprehensive in a short space of time. But has it achieved its goals? “It certainly has in terms of employee feedback,” says Erik. “Previously, IMP deliberately didn’t have a strong web presence, but that’s changed. A lot of our employees are now proud of our website. They are coming to us with ideas for content and new functionality.”
And what about customers? “In many countries, we didn’t have a web presence at all before last year, so it’s still a little hard to measure results in terms of sales or visitors. But we are starting to see some evidence of success. One big goal for us is to increase the number of repeat visitors. For this we need to make a very dynamic, living site that changes often so people come back again and again – and we can measure this through Google Analytics. The site is very easy for people in the local markets to use, so they are creating content and updating the site regularly, and this is beginning to have results in our more mature markets.”
One thing is certain, the new site has improved and unified IMP’s online brand: Inspiring, cheerful, family-oriented, playful. IMP is all these things – and now it looks it on the web. You can see for yourself on www.imponline.com.
Solution Special Ingredients: