A global leader in lightweight construction services

Etex is a globally organised and locally embedded specialist in lightweight construction solutions. These include modular systems, fibre cement and plasterboard systems, applications for cladding, façade, roofing and terrace, high-performance fire protection and insulation for construction and OEM applications. The business operates from more than 160 facilities across 45 countries and employs over 13,500 personnel. With revenue of €3.8 billion in 2023, Etex is among the 10 largest Belgium-based companies by revenue.

A focus on collaboration, sharing and ease of use

Etex runs 33 different brands and websites. As Digital Product Manager (Web and Portal) Arne Rotty explained, the company migrated to Optimizely from a Sitecore legacy system that could not deliver the level of dynamic sharing and cross-system integrations that Etex strove to achieve.

Specifically, Etex approached Optimizely with a view to implementing a system of technologies that would allow their marketers to provide customers and prospects with personalized information and content– to be able to “communicate the right messaging to the right people, at the right time.” Furthermore, Etex is a corporation built on sharing, so marketing teams worldwide needed a centralized platform to share insights, expertise, and feedback.

On top of this functionality, Etex leadership were seeking a solution that would be easy-to-use, avoiding a complex architecture. Leadership wanted any potential solution to be simple for marketers to use to ensure that they had exactly what they needed to immediately create and distribute content, without having to compromise time by reading an instruction manual. Etex also craved a platform that would speak directly to a new breed of customer as the profile of a ‘typical’ buyer was shifting.

Working together across multiple websites and geographies

Etex worked alongside long-term partner Delaware to find the best Content Management System (CMS) solution, and soon concluded that Optimizely provided a better solution than the incumbent Sitecore, or other shortlisted providers such as Adobe.

Optimizely’s CMS met all Etex’s requirements. Using Optimizely, Etex marketers quickly realized that they could develop and work with content in a way that helped them establish and nurture relationships with their end users, while previously, Etex’s relationship strategy had been limited to contractors.

As Arne Rotty explained, Optimizely’s CMS provides a host of benefits that were absent from the legacy system. These include enhanced scalability, a shared component base and a single backend for 33 different websites. Rotty also noted that Optimizely’s pricing was more competitive and there were additional add-ons that had not been available previously.

Ease of use was also a critically important factor for Etex’s internal teams. Rotty remarked that Optimizely’s CMS “works fluently from a content creator point of view. It is easy and intuitive to navigate and create content. Also, the ‘shared’ content folder makes its very easy to reuse content.”

Once the new system was in place, downtime became a thing of the past. Rotty detailed that “the fact that the CMS is hosted as a SaaS solution enables our marketing personnel to work on their content worldwide without any performance drops.”

Cross collaboration is also core to Etex’s needs. By using the projects functionality, a large number of people can work on the platform simultaneously. In this case, that equates to 550 people at a time creating web content across 33 sites in more than 70 languages. 

Use of ODP and other integrations

Etex uses Optimizely Data Platform (ODP) to store customer related data. ODP can unify customer data, from every source, connecting at a single click to LinkedIn Lead Gen Ads, HubSpot, Salesforce CRM, and other platforms.

It can be used to build, deploy, and maintain custom integrations quickly and effectively. ODP then uses unified data to deliver comprehensive customer profiles, track behaviours, create segments, and activate through downstream channels.

The Optimizely CMS has also been integrated with multiple other platforms across the Etex network, including Inriver, Digizuite, SAP, Litmos, Metalocator, Onetrust and Lionbridge.

Building a content legacy

Content is king, and central to how Etex establishes touchpoints with their community, and how they build business relationships. To ensure that every piece of their content always meets its full potential and reaches every relevant person throughout varying customer journeys, Etex needed to integrate their CMS with a digital asset management (DAM) solution.

As Etex conducted their search for a new DAM solution – one that would maximize their experience with Optimizely – they reiterated their requirements for digital solutions: a platform that would allow users to provide personalized end-to-end customer experiences, and one that would also be easy to use.

Digizuite DAM, an Optimizely technology partner, offered a cloud-based DAM software solution that integrated seamlessly with Optimizely’s CMS, as well as the customer focus that Etex was accustomed to in their experience with Optimizely.

“Etex was in the process of moving multiple websites from the previous CMS to Optimizely, so it made sense that they were looking to add in DAM and PIM [product information management] solutions,” Peter Toft, Digizuite’s Vice President of Global Partnerships & Alliance, said. “Getting a DAM was always part of a larger digital marketing initiative for Etex.”

Etex initially procured the Digizuite DAM to function as a media library so that users – marketers and the account managers, business development teams who represent the Etex brand – could effectively manage product related information, like technical documents and reference cases.

With a growing number of users and assets in the system, Etex has found that Optimizely and Digizuite function like a well-oiled machine, as if the CMS and the DAM were one platform.

Going forward: Upgrading to CMS12 and beyond 

Etex is currently in the process of upgrading to CMS12. Rotty acknowledged that they approached the project with some trepidation, but they decided to proceed in January 2024 due to the numerous benefits of upgrading to CMS 12. The migration is almost complete. He said: “We knew that by postponing, we would miss out on future upgrades, and it would be a black cloud that kept on following us. So ultimately, we decided to fully commit and get it done as fast as possible.”

CMS12 brings significant benefits. Faster page loads equate to lower bounce rates and increased site engagement, contributing to higher customer satisfaction and revenue. The upgrade delivers 4x better response time and 5-10x faster user experiences for actions like Register/Login, Search, and Add to Cart. It also has three times more server request handling capability. It also brings increased search ranking and SEO scores based on Google Core Web Vitals.

Furthermore, there are new features and UX benefits that are only available with CMS12. These enable digital marketers and content editors to take advantage of faster and more efficient content authoring and an enhanced editing experience, with a new dashboard experience, in-line block editing, the ability to work with a page in different view modes and many other features. 

As it stands now, one thing is for sure: the story of Etex’s implementation of each element of its new-and-improved marketing stack has been a successful one. The deep-running theme of this story is end-to-end collaboration, which is all too appropriate for Etex, a company that considers collaboration invaluable. Optimizely is proud to be part of this collaborative effort.