Speedo: E-Commerce with High Performance CMS from e-Spirit

FirstSpirit™ integration with IBM WebSphere commerce for a streamlined, multilingual website

Relaunch for Speedo.com: Speedo, the world’s leading swimwear brand is getting a makeover of its global website using FirstSpirit™. With its capacity for seamless integration with IBM WebSphere Commerce, the FirstSpirit™ content management system (CMS) allows Speedo to distribute the massive volumes of content elements on its website to its sales markets while automating it for its online shop. The CMS allows content to be published for each specific country while also maintaining a consistent look & feel.

The elaborate relaunch project was completed in just three months, with specific country sites for France, Italy, UK, and an international site. Additional sites in different languages will follow.

Managing multilingual content automatically

For Speedo the website is the primary communication channel it uses to interact directly with its customers. In the past, maintaining a multilingual website meant high coordination costs, but by introducing a central CMS the company has significantly lowered these. In addition, Speedo has introduced the FirstSpirit™ PackagePool module which allows content elements and predefined pages from the master project to be used for country-specific projects. When new data or news is added to the English site in the UK, FirstSpirit™ sends copies to the different target projects following a predefined workflow process. The editors in the target markets can then translate it and publish it in the local language after tailoring it to meet specific country needs. The advantage here is that the technical aspects of maintaining the website can be centrally controlled from the Speedo International Head Office in the UK. Templates and style sheets are predefined and ensure a consistent, recognizable look and feel for the Speedo brand across all the global sites whilst, editors of the specific country sites also have leeway to make adjustments for cultural nuances and common issues that come up for each particular country. For example, each country features different content around its local heroes and sponsored athletes. Likewise, you might update sites with information on the swimming competitions currently being held in that country.

User-friendly and powerful

By combining FirstSpirit™ with the Speedo graphics and image database based on Adobe Scene7, all editors have direct access in the CMS to the visual themes that are available for editing work or for a product. The integrated preview function in FirstSpirit™ shows you exactly how selected graphic data is going to look on the final page that is generated. Through the seamless integration of the CMS in IBM WebSphere Commerce, the online shop can also be easily maintained from the FirstSpirit™ interface. The setup of the new website required very little technical support. After receiving training in template development and design support from e-Spirit, the IT team in Speedo was able to set up the e-commerce site 100% in-house. The CMS is intuitive to use for editors in the different countries, and simple forms and templates make editing processes more efficient. Website updates can be made in real time, thus allowing Speedo to promptly announce the latest feats of its athletes, especially when a world championship or other major swimming events are taking place.

Speedo is very satisfied with the Content Management System from e-Spirit: "We have one of the most sophisticated web presences in the industry and FirstSpirit™ is an indispensable technical foundation for keeping the site running smoothly. Our editors can make updates very easily and the system as a whole is flexible and simple to set up and use", said Dan Mahoney, technical project manager for Speedo. "We will use FirstSpirit™ for additional requirements as we grow and continue developing our e-commerce features in the future".

At Speedo, in addition to the worldwide rollout of FirstSpirit™, there are currently plans to set up an athlete database for information searches on athletes from the Speedo website.