Best known for its core categories of Beauty, Baby and Hygiene – from Carex and Imperial Leather to Charles Worthington, Original Source and St. Tropez – PZ Cussons is home to some of the world’s best-loved and most trusted brands. In 2021, it reported a +7.1% rise in organic revenue growth across its international markets and core categories, with an unprecedented growth in demand for its hygiene brands prompted in particular by the pandemic.
With a renewed and accelerated focus on marketplaces and resellers as part of its go-to-market strategy, PZ Cussons wanted to digitally transform its business to deliver exceptional digital experiences to drive growth both on- and off-line, while further strengthening its relationships with retail marketplace and wholesale partners.
As part of this strategy, PZ Cussons recognised the need to overhaul its Product Information Management (PIM) systems to improve sales and grow brand loyalty, as well as centralising data and information to improve productivity in lifecycle processes and reduce operational silos. It also sought to help its marketplace and reseller partners deliver exceptional, engaging and compelling content at the point of sale to meet the evolved needs of increasingly digital-first shoppers.
Following a competitive RFP process, PZ Cussons selected Akeneo’s PXM Platform, with Akeneo recently named as a ‘Strong Performer’ in Forrester’s latest PIM Wave and as a ‘Leader’ in IDC’s ‘MarketScape: Worldwide PIM Applications for Commerce 2019-2020 Vendor Assessment’ report. Akeneo was selected for its ease of use, helping enable quicker and stronger adoption by PZ Cussons’ brand and marketing teams, and its extensive connectivity, with open APIs able to integrate seamlessly with the platforms used within the CPG’s existing systems infrastructure.
This, along with its global scale and functionality – especially when localising and translating content across international markets – combined with region-specific support teams to offer expertise and advice, made Akeneo the perfect choice.
Deployed first amongst its beauty category, the solution was rolled out across PZ Cussons’ St. Tropez, Sanctuary Spa and Fudge haircare brands, with the implementation delivered at speed and going live in under 3 months.
Now, with a dedicated platform for all product information, PZ Cussons can reduce time to market, and boost productivity while streamlining internal processes and removing siloes. And, because its centralised product information platform creates a single source of truth, the CPG can now quickly evaluate the quality and consistency of product data, better enabling it to drive compelling, consistent and personalised product experiences across all of its sales channels and buying journey touchpoints.
Michael Cornwall, Head of Corporate Services at PZ Cussons, explains: “Our brands are loved by our customers not only for the product quality, but because each one has its own distinct brand identity and personality, making it even more important that we create consistent, brand-immersive experiences at every shopper touchpoint. In selecting Akeneo, we were confident we could achieve this consistent, high quality product experience across all channels to drive improved sales and drive long-term loyalty, all whilst making the operational process for our teams to deliver to these high standards much more seamless.”
Frederic de Gombert, CEO at Akeneo, adds: “Shoppers expect the brands they love to deliver rich, accurate and consistent product information – this not only helps them validate their immediate purchasing decisions, but also gives them a reason to keep coming back to a brand, turning first-time browsers into long-term brand advocates. With marketplace strategies, it’s all too easy for brand identity to become diluted – or worst, lost – so by investing in a PIM solution, PZ Cussons can be confident the quality and accuracy of its product information continues to deliver the same brand-immersive experiences its shoppers now expect across all sales channels.”
PZ Cussons will roll-out the Akeneo solution to three additional brands by the June 2023.
