Adient.com + Digital Branding
““Pernilla creates: delightful experiences and beautiful design. Pernilla leads: insightful delivery with calm expertise and influential messages. In short, Pernilla is the woman you want leading the room of global executives working through digital opportunities.””
role: Creative Director
Responsibilities: client management, creative direction, detailed design, experience oversight, development QA
“Who knew foam and trim could be so sexy?”
The Challenge
In 2014, Johnson Controls began the process of spinning off their automotive seating division. This new, independent entity, Adient, needed to balance the freshness of a new brand with its heritage of leadership in the automotive industry.
Adient needed to launch their brand with impact. It was crafted to embody their core of innovation and precision design, and the web site would be hub of activity when they rang the bell at the NYSE on October 31st, 2016.
Every aspect of the digital experience would not only need to reflect Adient’s principles, but amplify them to a diverse audience consisting of current and prospective partners, industry analysts, media, and employees.
Insights & Strategy
Defining the soul of the company internally, and paying it off externally to a broad range of global site visitors.
After a robust discovery phase which included deep competitive research and stakeholder interviews we unearthed several themes which all lead us to one true aha insight:
There may only be 50 people in the world that buy from Adient.
But there are thousands that can influence that buy.
“Our experiences would focus on influencing the influencer.”
We introduced a new brand to the world.
Working in concert with a large team at Adient and specialized agency partners, we interpreted the newly-developed brand story and design language for a modern digital experience that would speak to a global audience, starting with conceptual direction:
We spoke the language of influencers.
After aligning on a revised conceptual direction we honed in on our main target. And not just with words. The content strategy included a written and visual approach that would articulate a relentless passion for precision and commitment to innovation, not only to their small circle of direct customers, but to the host of influencers—from artists to engineers to product manufacturers—who impact the buying decisions.
We created a platform for flexible and frequent content expansion.
Based on the powerful Sitecore Experience Platform, we ensured that Adient’s new team of digital content specialists would not only have a system that was easy-to-use, but can support the planned and unplanned content that would inevitably be developed. This now includes the ability to provide new experiences for Adient’s presence at auto shows around the world.
How we solved it:
Digital Strategy
Stakeholder Interviews
Content Strategy & Creation
Visual Design
Technical Design & Implementation
Information Architecture & UX
CMS Training
Technologies & Platforms
Sitecore XP 8.1
Outcomes
When Adient launched on October 31st, 2016 with the ringing of the NYSE bell, Adient.com was referenced in all supporting launch communication. It’s breadth of content and impactful approach to storytelling have set the standard for future brand communications.
Adient.com launched on time and under budget, receiving Interactive Media’s Best in Class: Automotive and Best in Class Marcom Platinum awards. While awards are great, my biggest success has been a long standing trusted partnership with our main client, landing us continuous work through the years while being implicitly trusted.