Strategic partnership for digital innovation and growth

Digitalisation allows companies to engage with their customers in a variety of ways. This is both an opportunity and a challenge; while customers often automatically reach for their preferred cleaning products or cosmetics in a shop on the high street, the competition online is much higher – and rival brands are always just a few clicks away. In addition to high-quality products, the customer experience plays such an important role in brand loyalty.

Personalised customer communications, relevant content at the right time on the right channel, and seamless shopping experiences are all something consumers expect as standard today. This is no longer only true in B2C; B2B buyers also expect comparable experiences in a business context.

This is why Adobe and Henkel have formed a strategic partnership to accelerate digital innovation across Henkel’s existing and future brands to ensure business growth.

Commenting on the partnership, Carsten Knobel, chief executive officer of Henkel said: “Adobe is globally recognised for its leading expertise in enabling partners to make a step change in their digital marketing, consumer and customer insights and e-commerce capabilities. With the development of our data-driven digital business and e-commerce platform, our businesses will be able to launch products and services faster, in a more targeted, personalised and efficient manner to our consumers and customer.”

Adobe’s president and chief executive officer, Shantanu Narayen, also commented on the partnership and said: “The digital economy runs on customer connections and delivering compelling digital experiences across every channel is now a business imperative. We are proud to partner with Henkel on their mission to become a digital business. Adobe Experience Cloud will power a comprehensive digital platform for Henkel, providing a unified customer profile and delivering real-time, personalized engagements that result in customer loyalty and business growth.”

Henkel relies on Adobe’s technology and expertise

At the heart of the partnership is Henkel’s digital platform RAQN, which is based on Adobe Experience Cloud. With RAQN, the company aims to expand its e-commerce activities while addressing individual consumer and customer preferences, accelerating time-to-market and improving performance marketing based on data analytics and insights. This allows the brand to address the individual needs of its customers with tailored communication and product offerings and provide them with a seamless customer journey.

“We observe a fundamental consumer and customer gravitation shift towards on-demand and hyper-personalised digital commerce. Through the partnership with Adobe, we will gain leading-edge digital experience capabilities, as well as access to Adobe’s innovation power and ecosystem to boost our digital business,” said Michael Nilles, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Henkel. “Henkel will leverage Adobe’s Experience Platform for a wide range of D2C, B2C and B2B business models to provide a superior and personalized experience across all online and offline channels for our consumers and customers.”

For this, Henkel is using unified customer profiles, based on Adobe Experience Platform, as well as personalised interactions in real time to expand its business growth in the future.

The future is digital

With a customised hair care line for men, ‘M:ID’, and the skincare brand ‘Kaloon Mindful Care’, two digitally-native brands have already been successfully launched on the new RAQN platform, and in record time. There were just six months between the first brainstorming sessions and the launch of these new products. Furthermore, a brand new knowledge and community platform, Henkel Laundry & Home Care’s ‘Ask Team Clean’ is already available to consumers in five countries, and a global roll-out is planned.

The past few months in particular have clearly highlighted the importance of outstanding digital experiences. The focus on customers and their individual needs is key for brands to stand out from the competition. With its expertise – Adobe successfully digitised its own business model several years ago – the company will now support Henkel on its way to become a digital business.

Learn more about how Henkel is driving its own digital transformation with its Innovation Hub “Henkel dx” (from 47:00) and how the company uses and develops suitable products that meet the needs of its customers.