BDR Thermea Sitecore CMS Component Library
Best practice consultancy case study
Research, requirements, recommendations and specifications for a company-wide component library for website builds across Europe.
AlphaQuad worked with Baxi UK’s brands (Baxi, Remeha, Potterton Commercial, Andrews Water Heaters) for several years, developing content on their existing RedDot CMS platform. We were responsible for consulting on strategy and tactics alongside Baxi’s marketing team, writing content, creating banners and CTAs and monitoring and reporting on the results.
We were also key in the implementation of new visual identities for various brands on their legacy CMS as well as standalone projects and tools.
The project
When BDR Thermea, Baxi UK’s parent company, decided to move away from their RedDot CMS to take advantage of the more capable and feature-rich Sitecore platform. Their vision was to be able to take advantage of the personalisation features to deliver more tailored content to their key customer groups. AlphaQuad were brought into discussions about the future direction of BDR Thermea’s web presence with all of the group’s European brand owners to propose a cross-brand toolbox of essential web components (‘as few as possible, as many as necessary’ as it said in the proposal).
This approach acknowledged that most websites, especially those within a single business, are built of a core set of stylable functional elements. By using a common component library, development costs would be reduced and best practices would be shared. Regional brand stakeholders needed to be shown that using the same tools did not mean that their individual brand personalities wouldn’t be subsumed into a homogenous corporate mass.
The AlphaQuad team, working alongside BDR Thermea’s Sitecore implementation partners, successfully brought the brand stakeholders on board and helped build the foundations of a successful pan-European rollout of the CMS and component library.
The planned component library and layout approach fully embraced responsive design which was still relatively new and was developed shortly before Brad Frost brought the concept of Atomic Design to the implementation of large corporate sites.
Creating a standardised web platform for BDR Thermea’s regional brands.
Incorporating a set of components in to a White Label site as proof of concept.
Project summary
The project aimed to create a standardised web platform for BDR Thermea’s regional brands by developing a shareable collection of HTML components within the Sitecore CMS, known as the BDR Thermea Component Library.
Phase One focused on identifying and building a subset of components based on stakeholder discussions and incorporating them into a White Label site as a proof of concept.
Objectives included:
- Facilitating faster and more cost-effective website developments.
- Ensuring code suitability for the Sitecore platform.
- Creating a reusable library for future website builds.
- Training local agencies on using the Component Library.
- Providing ongoing support and management of the library.
