Keeping global businesses connected

Warehouses, hospitals, and retail stores around the world rely on connected solutions from Zebra Technologies Corporation. From wristbands that help nurses instantly access critical patient information to scanners that track inventory in warehouses, Zebra® delivers hardware, software, and services that give organizations an edge through easy, real-time access to information.

Zebra is always looking for ways to better serve customers. Most customers turn to Zebra’s website for the latest product information, but with so many products serving so many industries and markets, keeping all of the regional websites up to date was no easy task.

Zebra enlisted the help of customer experience agency ICF Olson to transform its digital properties and better engage with customers. Together, the companies determined that Zebra needed to centralize its websites and assets to better leverage resources and support regional teams.

ICF recommended that Zebra look at Adobe Experience Manager, part of Adobe Marketing Cloud, to create a central point of control for all Zebra content. Data from Adobe Analytics completes the picture, helping content creators and marketers make smart digital decisions for every audience.

Centralizing existing websites was only the first step. By tapping into the power of Adobe solutions, Zebra can support digital marketing strategies at twice its previous scale, which is critical given the company’s acquisition of Motorola Solutions’ Enterprise business.

“Building on our strong digital foundation in Adobe solutions, we’re combining two businesses into a single brand to meet more customer needs worldwide,” says John Mathews, Senior Manager of Digital IT for Zebra. “ICF is the perfect partner with an understanding of our business to help us offer our customers even stronger solutions.”

Setting a solid foundation

Customers visit the Zebra website for many reasons: to research new technologies, look for a Zebra implementation partner, or find support for an existing Zebra device. When customers can quickly find the information they need, they not only gain a positive view of Zebra, but Zebra can cut costs by reducing follow-on emails or calls to customer support teams.

Working with Adobe Experience Manager Sites, Zebra created templates that unify branding and appearance across websites, making navigation more intuitive. Reusable templates improve the speed of creating web pages, which allows content and marketing teams to easily update product and campaign information. With built-in support for responsive design, content created in Experience Manager templates displays reliably and is easy to navigate on any size screen—including smartphones—without requiring Zebra teams to build multiple websites.

Adobe Experience Manager Assets takes the ability to share and reuse assets to new levels by giving Zebra a single location to store over 130,000 assets, including spec sheets, user guides, firmware, drivers, and anything else customers may want to download. By storing all assets in one location, Zebra can easily keep track of versions and direct customers to support materials as needed.

“With ICF’s expertise and guidance, we relaunched a global website built to scale in only eight months with Adobe Experience Manager,” says Mathews. “ICF knows the best practices to accomplish our goals, so our projects can develop quickly and naturally. They’re not just partners; they’re a part of our team.”

Going global

By centralizing content development and asset storage with Adobe Experience Manager, Zebra has taken major steps to reach global markets more effectively. Previously, regional teams were often put in charge of each regional website. Rebuilding and translating content for regions was slow and costly. Some regional teams simply lacked the bandwidth to handle updates, resulting in websites that eventually became outdated.

Zebra now operates under a hub and spoke model where content is developed centrally and pushed out to teams. Regional teams access new content through Adobe Experience Manager and add the final touches that speak to local audiences. Centralizing translation efforts saves costs, as Zebra can negotiate better contracts with a single agency for bulk translation requests.

“Experience Manager Sites makes it simple to manage sites and rollout content globally,” says Mathews. “We’re splitting labor and costs more efficiently, which reduces the burden on regional teams and we deliver consistently better experiences for global customers with the newest content in their native languages.”

Doubling in size

After acquiring Motorola Solutions’ Enterprise business, Zebra sought to transfer all product and support information under the Zebra banner as quickly as possible to provide customers with a consistent experience. After considering the logistics of building a new website for former Motorola customers, Mathews realized that by reusing templates and assets in Experience Manager, teams could scale the existing website for a fraction of the cost and effort.

“In general, every time we had a new campaign or product release, we would work with an agency to build out a separate microsite,” says Mathews. “With Adobe Experience Manager, we can eliminate the cost of a big agency push and easily roll out the information to global websites, providing a better experience for lower cost.”

Creating relevant experiences

With Adobe Experience Manager, Zebra now has the potential to change and update information faster than ever. Using data from Adobe Analytics, marketers and content creators gain understanding into how they can provide even more of the content that customers want.

“We tag everything we can to get a better view into how people interact with the site so we can improve their journeys,” says Sarah Bryowsky, Director of Digital Marketing at Zebra. “Accurate tagging is key to getting information we need. The Activation core service within Adobe Marketing Cloud is a big help when working with so many different web pages, agencies, and translations.”

By analyzing website traffic and downloads, Zebra can determine what content people like. Looking at the data across regions can also give hints into areas of potential growth, such as customers researching products not yet available in a certain region.

“Adobe Analytics simplifies reporting. We can create segments on the fly, customize dashboards, and build reports without exporting data,” says Bryowsky. “We’re already seeing returns from improving our digital experiences. Organic keyword rankings have gone up 300% year-over-year on average, while our global website traffic is up about 13% year-over-year. We’ve also seen the time spent on site rise for high-value pages—a key indicator we’re delivering more valuable content.”

Connecting to the future

Zebra continues to work with ICF to deliver a better website through personalized experiences that give customers the information they need. “We invested in Adobe solutions as the platform that will help us grow and evolve digitally,” says Bryowsky. “ICF is a fantastic partner that enables us to get the most out of our Adobe investment and keep us growing for years to come.”

About Zebra

A global leader respected for innovation and reliability, Zebra offers technologies that give a virtual voice to an organization’s assets, people and transactions, enabling organizations to unlock greater business value. The company’s extensive portfolio of marking and printing technologies, including RFID and real-time location solutions, illuminates mission-critical information to help customers take smarter business actions.

About ICF Olson

ICF Olson is a full-service customer experience agency purpose built to address the new realities facing organizations today. ICF Olson helps brands engage with their connected customers through brand and creative campaigns as well as development and deployment of digital properties. The company also helps brands increase customer retention with relationship and loyalty programs, and promotes advocacy and sharing through social and media channels. ICF Olson creates and delivers holistic solutions where they matter most.

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