The Woolworths challenge: Simplifying a complex process

Woolworths South Africa is one of only a handful of major retailers worldwide with a 'single brand' philosophy, and is the only store in South Africa that offers textiles, food, homeware and financial services under its own brand name. Because of its strong reputation for quality and high standards, the value and consistency of the brand is critically important to shareholders.

The product development team needed a simple way to manage their complex product development process from beginning to end, including all packaging. The process involved everything from recipes and quality processes to packaging photographs and post-launch analysis.

The brand was implemented through fifteen design and advertising agencies, as well as several repro houses and printers. The large in-house new product development team launched thousands of products every year, requiring the co-ordinated production of products, campaigns, packaging and promotional material. The business case for automation showed massive potential returns through faster cycle times and lower costs.

The solution: BrandDirector

BrandDirector was identified as the single-system solution capable of managing the company’s design and packaging operations, marketing campaigns and foods new product development. The system was to be extended to provide the core food product information database for Woolworths.

Results

BrandDirector has delivered the following benefits:

• Faster time to market through online approvals
• Reduced cost of product development
• Integrated product development and packaging processes
• Improved planning ability
• Simpler re-use of marketing assets
• Easier detection of project delays
• Simpler communication between marketers, packaging suppliers and food manufacturers
• Reduced data entry effort