For more than 200 years, DuPont has used science and innovation to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Many of DuPont’s high-performance polymers like nylon, Teflon® and Kevlar® are household names, but the company is equally committed to applying science in biotechnology, agriculture, and nutrition. Global digital marketing lead Joanne Hewitson is particularly passionate about her work in the Crop Protection Division.
“In 1975 there were four billion people on the planet. This grew to seven billion in 2011 and is expected to hit nine billion by 2050,” says Hewitson. “That puts an enormous amount of pressure on resources, and pressure on us to be as productive as possible with available land. We focus on developing better insect, disease, and weed control products so farmers can support a growing population.”
The Crop Protection Division reaches millions of farmers in 130 countries. It’s up to the division’s team of more than 10,000 sales representatives to take highly technical product information and communicate it to audiences based on the crops, pests, and regulations in each area.
“We’re dealing with a huge amount of product and marketing information, and while we centralize as much as we can, we also have to give the countries enough flexibility to deliver the right message to farmers in their regions,” says Hewitson.
Going beyond languages and channels
DuPont decided it needed to transform its digital strategy with a platform flexible enough to adapt across diverse product lines in hundreds of markets. The company chose Adobe Experience Manager in Adobe Marketing Cloud because it can easily combine branding and customization using reusable assets and templates.
While the assets stored in Experience Manager can be published on websites worldwide, they can also be reused across digital channels. As part of the company’s efforts to transform engagement, DuPont challenged the Crop Protection Division to explore how Adobe Experience Manager Mobile could help reach even more customers through mobile apps.
Cultivating conversations
DuPont’s products are built on leading-edge and sometimes complicated science. Detailed slides, charts, and other visuals can be a vital part of helping sales representatives communicate benefits to customers.
The Crop Protection Division also used Adobe Experience Manager Mobile to pilot a sales enablement app in Brazil. Presentations were quickly converted into app-friendly slides that sales representatives can access on any mobile device. App authentication keeps files secure by allowing access only by approved sales representatives.
One of the biggest benefits of the app is the ability to quickly share new information. Unlike traditional presentation files, which could be downloaded and shared hundreds of times, the app retrieves materials directly from a centralized asset management system in Adobe Experience Manager. Even simple changes to files in Experience Manager are made available instantly to all sales representatives, who know they have updated information at their disposal.
“Rich, reliable sales content enhances conversations between DuPont and customers,” says Hewitson. “Eventually, we can use this app to upload and share the best sales materials worldwide to help make strong connections with farmers.”
Information at their fingertips
Every year, the Crop Protection team in Germany printed a 400-page customer book filled with labels and safety sheets for all products. Farmers who wanted to reference it in the field had to take the book with them and store it in their tractor or truck. Using Adobe Experience Manager Mobile, the team created a simple app that puts everything farmers need to know in the palm of their hands in a tablet or smartphone.
Publishing the information in an app instead of on paper saves time and money for DuPont. But more importantly, it offers incredible convenience for customers. Searchable product lists help farmers find the labels and data sheets without having to flip through hundreds of pages.
DuPont is looking to expand the app to integrate functions like calculators or pest identification tools. Since crops depend so much on environment, geolocation could be used to make sure that farmers only hear about products and deals relevant to their areas.
“We want to make it so easy and convenient for people to work with DuPont that they’d never trust their crops with anyone else,” says Hewitson. “By integrating more tools into the app, we’re looking to create a one-stop DuPont experience for farmers.”
Adds Hewitson, “We work in a highly regulated industry, so one of the biggest benefits with Adobe Experience Assets is that we can set up a single trusted source of information. Our teams will be able to update content in one location and push it out to the website or app.”
Seeding future growth
While still in the initial stages of app development, the Crop Protection Division knows that the key to continued convenience and use is to constantly improve the service. Using built-in analytics in Adobe Experience Manager Mobile, the marketing team can study downloads, usage, and asset statistics to determine what people want to see.
“We have limited time and budget, and we want to focus our teams effectively and not waste time creating materials they won’t use,” says Hewitson. “The information from Adobe Experience Manager helps us clarify our opportunities.”
Divisions across DuPont are watching the Crop Protection division to see how successful its apps will become. “At DuPont, the business units all like to forge new ground for each other,” says Hewitson. “Once other groups see how we’re using Adobe Experience Manager Mobile to make it better and easier for everyone to work with DuPont, they’ll be eager to join in.”
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