Magnolia CMS Helps $7B Utility Build its Brand on the Web
New case study details how SWM employed Magnolia’s STK to connect with customers and slash administrative costs
Magnolia, the open source content management vendor that delivers simplicity on an enterprise scale, today announced publication of a major case study detailing how Magnolia CMS helped Munich-based utility SWM upgrade its web image to engage with customers and promote environmental goals of green energy and sustainability.
Stadtwerke München (SWM) is Germany’s biggest communal utility company, with 1.3 million customers and $7 billion in annual revenues. It is 100 percent owned by the City of Munich, and its 7,300 employees provide customers with electricity, gas, water, district heating and cooling, and public pools.
SWM had been using a proprietary CMS with obsolete layouts that were cumbersome to update. As a result, information was limited, and their site was unattractive and intimidating to users. In the face of stiff competition from private utilities, SWM realized that since the web had become its primary communications channel, it needed a more exciting and dynamic site to attract and retain customers.
“It was clear to us that the site was in urgent need of an overhaul. As a result, we were reducing marketing and sales opportunities and we found it difficult to communicate our brand identity and value proposition,” said Silke Radlherr, Team Leader, SWM.
Their initial Magnolia Community Edition launch enabled SWM to connect with customers through an attractive, easy-to-navigate site that reinforces the SWM brand and environmental messaging. A subsequent Enterprise Edition relaunch in 2010 enhanced their web branding through interactive channels with a simplified design and content layout.
The Standard Templating Kit (STK) turned out to be the “killer feature” of their 2010 relaunch. After the switch, SWM was able to connect with customers through an attractive, easy-to-navigate site that reinforces the SWM brand and environmental messaging. Training and administrative costs plummeted, and authors now find it easy to add and update content.
“The STK greatly reduces development time. Integrating a design, plugging in reusable content, and enabling interactive communication across multiple sites can be done quickly and efficiently,” said Dr. Maximilian Störzer, SWM’s Relaunch Project Leader. “The STK also made it easy to integrate Magnolia CMS with the Google Web Toolkit and our in-house applications.”
So successful was their Magnolia experience, that SWM was asked to overhaul the web site for the City of Munich as well – a dynamic multi-lingual site with multiple instances and custom workflows.
SWM case study available online
The SWM case study is available for immediate viewing and download at:
www.magnolia-cms.com/clients/case-studies/swm.html
About Magnolia Americas
Magnolia Americas, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Magnolia International Ltd, whose open source content management system delivers simplicity on an enterprise scale. Its outstanding combination of ease-of-use with a flexible, standards-based Java architecture has led to its adoption by enterprises and governments throughout the world, including ING, JBoss.org, Johnson & Johnson, Lloyds TSB, Sony, Seat, Unilever, and the US Department of Defense. To find out more about Magnolia, including service, support, implementation, consulting, training, and our international network of qualified partners, please visit www.magnolia-cms.com.