Client
Absa is a member of Barclays Africa Group and one of the five big banks in South Africa. They approached VML Commerce to give their content management system a much needed overhaul. The bank's retail site no longer offered the agile marketing environment that its customers were demanding.
At the same time, Absa made the strategic decision to switch to the cloud and, as part of the ensuing digital transformation, asked us to help them create a brand new site, built on Adobe Experience Manager.
Using our own pioneering Adobe Experience Manager accelerator and atomic design principles, we created a modular concept for efficient scalability.
A key driver was to improve the customer experience. In order to do so, Absa had to dramatically improve their author experience. This would enable the bank’s inhouse teams and their agencies to push content out to customers at the right time, on their chosen device and with a personal touch.
Using our own pioneering AEM accelerator and atomic design principles, we created a modular concept using 80% out-of-the-box components. Not only would this ensure consistency and efficient scalability, it also meant that designs were mobile responsive by default.
We also introduced a Touch UI interface, further enhancing the author experience and making it accessible to content creators on both desktop and mobile devices. This new author environment was designed not only to give the Absa publishing team new-found agility but to enable their agencies to create campaigns and microsites within hours rather than days.
Finally, by integrating Adobe Target and Analytics, we ensured that Absa customers enjoyed a richer journey with enhanced features and a more personalised experience.
Working with Absa in a unique blended team, we were able to onboard their publishing team during the later sprint phases. This meant that, even prior to launch, they were trained to make content updates, build templates and deliver new components. This accelerated delivery approach significantly reduced the publishing team’s dependency on software development and shifted the power from developer to content creator.
In just 6 months, Absa shifted to the cloud; migrated their retail presence to Adobe Experience Manager; moved processes from waterfall to agile and created a rich, personalised customer experience. The brand new author toolkit has enabled consistent, responsive, scalable publishing to happen when the customer demands it.
