Saint-Gobain

How does a 359-year-old industrial leader adapt to the digital age? Through the power of innovation and strategic collaboration.

Saint-Gobain, a French multinational corporation with a rich history dating back to 1665, has constantly reinvented itself to remain a leader in the building materials industry. Together with VML, a world-renowned creative agency, Saint-Gobain initiated a transformative digital project to modernise its online presence and improve the user experience, using the Drupal platform as a technology foundation and Metadrop as a technology partner.

Introduction: A Partnership for Success

Saint-Gobain has evolved far beyond its roots as a royal glass manufacturer to become a global leader in sustainable construction, energy efficiency, and high-performance materials. Operating in 76 countries and employing over 160,000 people, the company generates over €47 billion annually by delivering innovative solutions that improve the built environment.

VML, a creative powerhouse formed by the merger of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, specializes in brand growth and transformation. With a global network spanning 60+ markets and 30,000 professionals, VML combines cutting-edge marketing technology and platform expertise to drive client success.

This partnership brought together Saint-Gobain’s vision of "Making the World a Better Home" and VML’s creative and technical acumen to deliver a robust, future-proof digital platform.

Origins: The starting point of a fruitful collaboration.

Saint-Gobain's digital transformation journey was guided by two main objectives: to upgrade its platform to the latest Drupal standards and to improve the user experience through innovative features.

When the project started, the first challenge was the migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9, which was not only that, but also a powerful simplification, refactoring and reorganisation of the website architecture, taking advantage of the situation. The goal? to achieve a simpler and, at the same time, more powerful tool.

To this end, content types were reduced, functionalities were moved to reusable components (a more modular design), and an automated migration was carried out, resulting in 5700 migrated contents, 2100 transformed elements, only 6 content types (out of 20) and 22 reusable designs (out of 48). The editors and site infrastructure certainly appreciated this.
Another initial highlight was the external service integrations, which a company of Saint Gobain's size requires quite a lot and which are essential for them:

• Connection with the stock exchange through Symex: Creating a custom component to introduce it.
• Integration with Scoop.it: To present, correctly styled, the news that Saint-Gobain shares between the various platforms and channels through this service.
• GDPR using OneTrust: The necessary integrations were provided to cover all cases: in particular, the requirement for prior consent in videos hosted on YouTube and its integration with the OneTrust cookie system.
• Search engine for headquarters and subsidiaries through OpenDataSoft: This solution was integrated with Drupal so that the results can be consulted remotely, cached and displayed as if they were part of the website itself.

Finally, as part of this renovation process, were also undertaken:

• A completely new design: Provided by the client, it was done as accurately as possible, even carrying out custom developments of complex elements, such as a 3D animated globe where to locate the company's headquarters or masonry type visualisations for large lists of content. Visual testing tools and auto-generation of content were applied to detect errors and regressions ahead of time.
• Implementation of the demanded accessibility standards: that allow navigation for people with disabilities.
• Performance improvement through code optimisation, finding alternatives to the use of third party scripts, use of caching layers, etc.
• Improving the search engine to add indexing within the loaded PDF documents, including searching for words and expressions that appear within the text of the documents themselves.
• SEO optimisation by providing tools for social networking and improving the tagging of pages for search engine indexing.

Crafting the Future: Objectives, Challenges, and Key Innovations

This partnership has been maintained over time, and has allowed the Saint-Gobains website to continue to grow progressively and to develop new functionalities. For example, when Drupal 10 came on the scene, the upgrade went smoothly. Today, apart from those already mentioned, these are some of the features that have been implemented or improved over time:

• Multilingual Functionality: Robust support for multiple languages ensures a consistent and accessible experience for users around the world.
• Increased Third-Party integrations: Seamless connections with platforms such as voiceflow, etc. enrich the variety and functionality of content.
• Customisable Landing Pages: Publishers were able to create custom landing pages with modular components, simplifying content updates.
• Interactive Events Calendar: A public calendar of events featuring details on Saint-Gobain's financial results and initiatives, enhancing stakeholder engagement.
• Corporate Reporting Centre: A dedicated section for corporate reports and documents ensured easy access to critical information for investors and partners.
• Scheduled Content Management through Scheduler module allows for automated publishing and updates for a more efficient editorial flow.
• Optimised Navigation: The user experience is enhanced with intuitive navigation tools such as previous/next links, so visitors can browse content effortlessly.
• Dark Mode: An energy-efficient design option that allows users to switch to a darker interface, improving readability and reducing battery consumption.

The Technology That Powered Transformation

The project leveraged several advanced Drupal modules and themes to bring these features to life:

• Acquia Connector: This integration streamlined site management and optimization using Acquia’s powerful hosting solutions.
• Dark Mode Switch: Delivered an eco-friendly interface option, aligned with Saint-Gobain’s sustainability goals.
• Masonry Views: Enabled dynamic, responsive layouts that kept the design modern and visually engaging.
• Search API Solr: Boosted search functionality by delivering precise and speedy search results.
• Paragraphs: Empowered editors with flexible, reusable content components, reducing time-to-publish for new pages.
• Scheduler: Automated content workflows for improved operational efficiency.
• Voiceflow Module: Seamlessly integrated conversational chatbots, enhancing interactivity and user engagement.
• Webform: Facilitated the creation of intuitive forms to capture user feedback and inquiries.

Contributions to the Drupal Community

In the spirit of open-source collaboration, the project team developed and contributed the Voiceflow module to the Drupal community. This tool allows developers to integrate Voiceflow’s conversational chatbot capabilities into their Drupal websites with ease. Features include customizable chatbot settings, path exclusions, and a user-friendly interface. This contribution extends the project’s impact beyond Saint-Gobain, enriching the broader Drupal ecosystem.

Top 5 reasons why Drupal was the clear choice

Saint-Gobain’s global footprint, diverse audience, and evolving digital needs demanded a platform that was flexible, secure, and scalable. Drupal was the natural choice, offering features that aligned perfectly with the project’s ambitious goals:

• Flexibility and Customization: Drupal’s modular architecture made it easy to tailor solutions for Saint-Gobain’s complex requirements.

• Scalability: As a multinational enterprise with high traffic volumes, Saint-Gobain needed a platform that could grow with its needs.

• Multilingual Capabilities: With operations in dozens of countries, seamless support for multiple languages was essential.

• Integration Readiness: Drupal’s robust API ecosystem allowed for smooth integrations with critical third-party tools and platforms.

• World-Class Security: For a corporation of this scale, Drupal’s focus on security offered invaluable peace of mind.

A Legacy Reinvented: The Outcome

The Saint-Gobain digital transformation project stands as a testament to the power of collaboration and technological innovation. By modernizing its online presence and introducing user-centric features, Saint-Gobain reinforced its leadership in sustainable construction while delivering value to stakeholders and users worldwide.
What’s Next for Your Brand?
If you’re looking to drive your digital transformation or unlock new opportunities for growth, we’re here to help. With proven expertise in Drupal and a passion for collaborative problem-solving, let’s create a digital solution that moves your business forward. Contact us today to begin your journey.