A Content Management System (CMS) is more than just a tool by which to organise a website. Instead, it is part of the larger digital landscape which lays the foundation for creating a personalized customer experience. One of the predominant trends of today is the use of a headless CMS. When investigating whether a headless CMS is right for your organisation, it’s useful to look at its advantages and disadvantages compared to a classic CMS.
What is a headless CMS?
Let’s start with the basics. The term “headless” comes from the analogy of cutting the “head”, which is the front-end in this scenario, from the “body” which is the back-end. Essentially, a headless CMS views the front-end and back-end as separate systems and focuses only on the back-end. Because of this, content is disassociated from its presentation layer, meaning marketers don’t have to mill around in code and can easily create content and then reuse it on any current or future channels such as a website, an app and a smartwatch, to name a few examples. Also, developers can create new digital channels and experiences without being tied to any framework or language. The CMS delivers the content raw via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to any channel available, such as websites, apps, IoT devices, digital kiosks and so on, to create an omnichannel experience. It’s similar to a database which serves your content, via an API, to any channel such as website, app and so on, that may depend on it. Similar to database tables, a content model is a core concept of any headless CMS, that when defined, gives structure to the data.
The advantages of a headless CMS
A headless CMS has numerous advantages which make managing content across different delivery formats easier. From lower operating costs to an easy setup, here are a few benefits of using a headless CMS system:
- It’s flexible: Content editors can work with whichever headless CMS they like while developers can build the front-end using their preferred language and the two can be connected simply by using APIs. This gives both marketers and developers full flexibility and can enable more creativity.
- Faster time-to-market: A headless CMS system promotes an agile way of working. Since content creators don’t have to worry about the presentation aspect of the content, this can speed up the production process. Simultaneously, developers can work on their projects. This means companies can roll out updates without compromising their website performance.
- Extra security: Given that a headless CMS separates content production from distribution this lowers the risk of a denial-of-service attack. Also, the API used to provide content can be placed behind one or more layers of code making it less vulnerable to attacks.
- Stability: An established headless CMS system will generally be well tested, stable, and bug-free. It will save you the stress of writing a custom user interface for data input, much like a classic CMS will.
Headless vs. classic CMS
So far, a headless CMS seems to have many advantages over a simple database, but what sets it apart from a classic CMS? The answer depends on what you are trying to build. If your brand is building a website, then a classic CMS could be a good choice as it will allow users to access it directly and preview any changes while editing the data. If you are dealing with a classic open-source CMS you will perhaps be able to alter it and install custom plugins to allow more functionality.
But what happens when you want to build a complex platform? For example, say you need to build multiple websites and a mobile application for both Android and Apple which in turn share data with the website. Hypothetically, this might even involve additional services that run on Linux and Windows servers. And what if you want to support third-party developers? This is an over-exaggerated scenario but the point is that a classic CMS would fail to deliver in this scenario. However, a headless CMS would provide these features because of the API which acts as a connector between your various platforms and your content.
The downsides of a headless CMS
While boasting many advantages, a headless CMS is not perfect. It might make some scenarios more complicated to deal with, such as testing new features without affecting live environments, or the fact that data exists on a server that you do not control are just a few examples.
- Testing difficulties: For example, testing code for various environments (test, integration, production) may not be as straightforward on a headless CMS because many of them do not support this feature. It’s likely that there will be a single environment and one set of data. This causes issues when developing new features or changing existing ones forcing companies to adapt their current data models. Some headless CMS products on the market may include rudimentary tools for duplicating data and allowing one to access it separately from the original. However, when making changes to content models or the data itself and the time comes to release the new feature, developers often face problems in propagating those changes back to the original environment without damaging it or causing data corruption. Thus, manual data model adjustments will need to be done using a headless CMS.
- Always online problems: Despite the benefits of a constant online presence, it can be a problem when your client software loses access to the internet. Unless you put in a lot of effort to cache your data and properly synchronize any changes with the headless CMS, it may cause a lot of headaches when the various mobile apps, services, and applications come online and start injecting old data into the existing system.
- Data behind a paywall: Paid headless CMS products might require companies to shell out a monthly subscription. However, if you stop paying, your data may no longer be available. This might be avoided if you are using a free product but free products often have a stigma of being of lower quality due to low incentives for developers to maintain and update them. In most cases, it will be possible to retrieve data via support staff but unless you pay a subscription fee, your API access is going to be blocked
Is a headless CMS right for me?
The answer to that question depends on your needs. A classic CMS system might be a better option for brands looking to develop a simple website. But if you want to customize your website or want to add functionalities which a classic CMS does not offer, then a headless CMS might be better.
However, if neither of these options perfectly fits your company’s needs, don’t fret. Download our whitepaper which can help you find a CMS that will fit your unique needs and specific business goals. With strategic considerations, insights from field specialists and hands-on best practices, you’ll find everything in this whitepaper to kick-start your CMS selection.
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Integrations Director
Jasper Steenweg
Bissell
From click to clean: Building a digital flagship experience
( Services )
- AI Transformation
- Brand & Media
- Commerce
- Customer Experience
- Tech & Data
When BISSELL, a household name in floor care, set out to revolutionize its digital presence, it needed a partner who could bring bold ideas and flawless execution to the table.
To future-proof the brand’s position as a leader in the increasingly competitive home care and cleaning products space, DEPT® knew BISSELL’s digital store and direct-to-consumer offerings had to be as advanced and sleek as the products it sells.
Through a multipronged partnership spanning creative, content, and commerce, DEPT® created a best-in-class digital ecosystem that not only streamlined the path to purchase but also redefined how BISSELL connects with its customers. The result is a multichannel flagship experience that elevates the BISSELL brand and provides customers more value across every touchpoint.
The strategy for transformation
Grounded in data and designed for impact, DEPT® and BISSELL’s strategy put customer experience and brand identity at the forefront. Our approach focused on three key pillars: enhancing the user experience, driving growth through digital excellence, and building a scalable, future-ready foundation.
Putting the customer first
The cornerstone of the strategy was to create an intuitive, engaging online platform tailored to customer needs. By mapping the user journey, we identified pain points and opportunities to inform what a seamless shopping experience would look like across off- and online channels.
Driving growth through data and design
With a focus on aligning design with data insights, we needed to build a platform that reflected BISSELL’s updated brand identity and resonated with its target audience. From high-quality photography and 3D animations to SEO-optimized copy, every element would be crafted to engage users and drive conversions.
Building for the future
Recognizing the importance of flexibility and scalability, DEPT® sought to modernize BISSELL’s tech stack with a headless commerce architecture powered by Salesforce.
A digital flagship, redefined
DEPT® collaborated with Godfrey Dadich to translate BISSELL’s updated brand identity into a sleek and modern digital design. By enhancing navigation and reworking the information hierarchy, the team made the customer journey intuitive and engaging from the first click to checkout. The new platform includes features like a product finder tool to simplify the decision-making process and interactive content to bring BISSELL’s products—and their value—to life.
To ensure a cohesive omnichannel experience for customers, we also revamped BISSELL’s approach to email with redesigned email templates that align with the new BISSELL.com. By integrating them with the updated website and broader digital ecosystem, BISSELL’s enhanced brand identity remained consistent across its owned channels.
Storytelling that sells
DEPT® took a strategic approach to BISSELL’s content to ensure all of the visuals and copy across the site were consistent with the brand, showcased its values, and resonated with its audience. This included both a tactical component—migrating hundreds of pages of content into BISSELL’s new CMS, Contentstack—and creative services.
By establishing a consistent tone of voice and defining clear content pillars, we helped BISSELL create a framework for making sure all written content meets brand standards and identity. We also bolstered BISSELL’s storytelling capabilities by providing them with visuals to use across the digital ecosystem. In addition to orchestrating a 10-day, five-location photo and video shoot, we developed interactive 3D models to spotlight hero products, highlighting their standout features in an engaging and informative format.
Scaling copywriting with AI
DEPT® combined AI technology with human expertise to optimize over 560 pages of BISSELL’s digital content. This hybrid approach resulted in engaging, user-centric copy for 24 category landing pages (CLPs), 59 product listing pages (PLPs), and 373 product pages. By blending AI efficiency with human creativity we ensured all content was SEO-optimized and true to BISSELL’s brand voice. This scalable process allowed for rapid delivery of high-quality, conversion-focused copy, refined by human editors to ensure clarity, tone, and consistency.
-
560
Pages filled with digital content
-
59
Product listing pages
-
373
Product pages
Proving prowess with pets
BISSELL’s dedication to effective pet-specific cleaning solutions has made it a favorite among pet owners. We worked to integrate BISSELL’s animal love and expertise across the digital journey.
Our “Spick and Span” influencer campaign connected with pet parents through creators aligned with BISSELL’s values, driving 15.5M+ organic impressions. Influencer content amplified BISSELL’s “Pet Proven™” messaging, boosting awareness, traffic, and trust, achieving an impressive 7.09% ROI in its pilot rollout.
We also supported the launch of BISSELL’s industry-first Pet Proven™ certification program, simplifying shopping for pet owners. DEPT® ensured Pet Proven™ badges are prominently featured on BISSELL’s updated website, helping customers find high-performing, pet-friendly products with ease.
Results that shine
The success of BISSELL’s digital transformation is rooted in a truly collaborative process. From day one, DEPT® and BISSELL worked hand-in-hand, holding regular workshops, stakeholder interviews, and feedback sessions to ensure every decision aligned with BISSELL’s vision and goals. This close partnership allowed for seamless integration of strategy, design, and execution, ensuring no detail was overlooked.
Together, we redefined BISSELL’s e-commerce experience, creating a platform that is both intuitive and visually stunning. The revamped site now offers a streamlined customer journey, engaging content, and interactive product features that showcase BISSELL’s innovative solutions.
-
+33.5%
Conversions during the holiday season.
-
+24%
Avg. session duration during the holiday season.
-
-85%
in bounce rate.
HSE
Giving Irish citizens better access to health services
( Services )
- Customer Experience
- Tech & Data
The Health Service Executive (HSE) is Ireland’s public health organization, providing healthcare services to everyone in the country.
DEPT® has been a strategic partner since 2017, helping HSE improve Irish citizens’ digital access to healthcare services. Through innovation, accessibility, and a user-focused approach, we’ve helped transform HSE into a digital ecosystem that truly serves the people of Ireland.
The vision that started it all
HSE approached DEPT® with a clear goal: to give Irish citizens better digital access to healthcare services.
While they had the vision, they needed help to innovate and bring it to life. We embedded ourselves within their organization, working as one team. This collaboration enabled us to combine strategy, design, technology, and content to create exceptional digital experiences for patients and employees alike.
How could we use design and technology to make life easier for Irish citizens? By prioritizing accessibility and addressing the varying needs of the HSE ecosystem, we helped users find the right content, understand it, and engage confidently with the Irish health service online.
Aligning technology
Technology was the cornerstone of future success. However, HSE faced challenges with an outdated CMS, a rigid tech stack, and limited automation, all of which hindered innovation and scalability.
We implemented the following solutions to align their vision with a robust technical foundation:
- New architecture: Improved service reliability (resulting in zero downtime since launch) and reduced response times by more than 50%. The system now autoscalates during periods of high demand and includes regional redundancy for disaster recovery.
- Built-in security: We embedded security protocols from the outset, including penetration testing, reducing risks, and ensuring adherence to high standards. Automated testing allows efficient deployment of developments without additional effort or cost.
- A new content management system: Wagtail, the CMS that powers NHS and Gov.co.uk, was selected for its headless capabilities, security, and flexibility. This approach enabled streamlined content management and the swift deployment of new products.
Improving accessibility for HSE.ie
HSE.ie is the main domain where most users begin their healthcare journey. Our research highlighted key issues:
- Users struggled to find help or engage with the organization.
- Content was outdated and failed to meet basic accessibility standards.
- Information often did not align with user intent on search engines, leading to confusion about services.
To address this, we created tailored experiences across dedicated subdomains:
- hse.ie: Supports users seeking healthcare services.
- healthservice.hse.ie: Provides resources for staff to perform their duties.
- about.hse.ie: Explains how HSE operates to the general public.
By prioritizing accessibility, we transformed the digital experience for millions. The old site’s accessibility score of 65% has now risen to 92%, far exceeding industry benchmarks.
Accelerating products and services
With a new technical foundation and improved accessibility, we turned to HSE’s next major goal: launching new products and services to enhance health outcomes for Irish users.
Thanks to streamlined processes, a headless CMS, and a containerized approach, agile development and deployment became seamless. Within a year, we launched several key products, including:
- Mental Health MindPlan: This tool, developed using Wagtail/Django, React and Salesforce Service Cloud, provides tailored mental health advice. It features a fully accessible user experience, with a 96%+ completion rate since launch.
- My Diabetes & My Pregnancy support: To deliver consistent health reminders, we created an automated digital messaging workflow, complete with data management, email design, and a user-friendly interface.
These initiatives now serve thousands of users and continue to drive meaningful health outcomes.
-
92%
Accessibility score
-
96%
Completion rate for
My Mental Health Plan -
0
Downtime since launch
Looking to the future
We’re proud to support HSE’s mission to improve healthcare for Ireland. By focusing on accessibility, simplicity, and innovation, we continue to deliver value through consulting, technology, and marketing.
What’s next? Our roadmap includes AI integration, supporting the new HSE Patient App, strengthening security measures, and delivering managed technology training. All of this will ensure we provide the best possible service for Irish citizens.
Awards & recognition
Award
Year
Category
Ireland eGovernment Awards
2024
Digital Health & Telemedicine
HDFC Ltd.
Transforming digital experience with Adobe Experience Manager
( Services )
- Tech & Data
HDFC Ltd. has provided mortgage services in India for 45 years, with a high satisfaction rate among its customers.
Appreciating what home buying means for its customers, the brand wanted to make the borrowing process seamless. So they turned to DEPT® to transform their digital experience ecosystem.
Enhancing the digital experience
HDFC Ltd. aimed to deliver higher performance, greater scalability, and more efficient marketing workflows. They also wanted to establish a consistent customer experience across all channels, from the website to the mobile app.
The transition to the new platform was challenging, as the company needed to migrate everything without disrupting current business operations.
In just three months, we deployed a new digital experience ecosystem in seven languages through our Adobe Experience Manager managed services.
Leveraging AEM for seamless migration and enhanced efficiency
First, we performed a necessary site migration to a new CMS. The pre-built core components of Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) helped to speed up website development, reduce costs, and accelerate deployment. Extensive customization options allowed us to meet unique internal requirements and seamlessly integrate website components.
Next, we created a headless architecture for the new environment, which made it easier to optimise content management across channels. This helped the company quickly provide up-to-date and consistent information to home loan applicants.
We also reduced the time of tracking interest rate changes. What used to take up to six hours of a single person’s working day can now be easily accomplished in less than 30 minutes. AEM automation has simplified many other day-to-day processes as well, allowing the team to deliver timely marketing information much faster.
Simplified compliance and lead management
By using Content Snippets, we made it easy to publish disclaimers and other regulatory information that must appear on different pages of loan products. The combined capabilities for creating and automatically publishing from a single console ensured accuracy and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Dynamic real-time creation of forms provided flexibility in the lead generation approach. And a professionally organized AWS database setup using Lambda secured efficient storage and retrieval of lead data.
This made it easy to meet the changing demands of a large enterprise and established a consistent, high-performance experience across various devices and platforms.
Boosting website performance
During the website optimization phase, we implemented sophisticated performance optimization strategies which improved the speed and operational efficiency of the website and helped us meet the needs of HDFC Ltd’s global audience.
We customized SEO changes to accelerate time to market while maintaining flexibility. The changes quickly began to have a positive impact on website traffic and performance.
Delivering tangible business benefits
The HDFC Ltd. expected the site’s performance to improve by about 60% and was pleasantly surprised that the new, faster page load times exceeded those expectations. The site’s performance improved by 75%, which goes a long way in ensuring a positive customer experience.
-
+75%
in site performance
-
+11%
in SEO performance
-
12X
reduction in time tracking interest rates
In the most recent episode of our Ship It! Podcast, we interviewed Jonah Jolley, Director of Engineering, and Stephanie Bressan, PSM, CSPO of DEPT®, about the relationship between product and engineering teams.
What makes a good partnership? What doesn’t make a good partnership? We also talk about the importance of empathy, trust, keeping priorities visible, and how you must come prepared with snacks! We wrap up with thoughts on Agile: Does it help or hurt? Do velocity metrics matter? Are standups even helpful?
Listen to the full episode and read our top takeaways below.
How engineering can help product
Stephanie Bressan: The most meaningful engagements happen when engineers are ready and willing to explain concepts somewhere between layman and technical speak.
Productive and pleasant collaboration happens when they know how to walk that line and explain proposed features, their ideas, and the gap between the two. They’ll also share helpful information about the engineering team e.g., who the best team member is to work on a particular feature. These small pieces of information are things product can take into account, and help them understand the work and its challenges.
While these meetings can be exhausting, they can also be fun because they can start great conversations and increases everyone’s ownership of the product roadmap. It also creates an environment where everyone knows what everyone else is working on which results in transparency, fewer meetings, and more meaningful work. I always say, “bring snacks!” It helps get people in the right mindset for long, hard conversations.
How product can help engineering
Jonah Jolley: It’s crucial for engineers to understand the prioritization of product features, and ideally, the why behind them.
Engineers often get committed to what they’re working on. When sudden changes happen, they can be jarring. So when decisions change mid-project, it’s all about communicating accurately and honestly. And always, repeat priorities on a regular basis. This focus builds the team’s confidence in what they are working on.
Both sides seek empathy and agency
Across all walks of product and engineering, there are insecurities.
Stephanie: Product people can be fearful of sounding not “technical enough.” They can feel immense pressure to deliver on their product roadmap within tight timeframes. In the podcast, Stephanie shared, “I want to be seen as reliable. If I don’t routinely deliver what I said, that reliability slips.”
Jonah: Devs are no different, and it sometimes plays out in estimations. But often, estimations are declared in front of colleagues, who they seek respect from. They say things that aren’t actually feasible because there is an element of peer pressure.
Matt: And no matter which department you sit in, no one wants to be handed tasks or commands. That’s the definition of a terrible job. Give your team agency and they’ll return it.
Want to hear the full conversation? Listen to the podcast here.
Podcasts Podcasts
Harmony between product and engineering is simpler than you think
13.03.2023
DEPT® Dash – A way to bootstrap headless CMS projects
06.02.2023
Machine Learning – Explain it Like I’m Five
23.02.2022
Digital Nomads
27.06.2022
Is your organization ready for continuous product innovation?
The sustainable Swiss brand FREITAG, known for their bags and accessories made from used truck tarpaulins, has always stood for individualism. With the new digital tool F-Cut, FREITAG now offers its customers the opportunity to design their very own super unique items. The idea behind it was born 20 years ago – and comes from a DEPT® employee.
Desire for more uniqueness
Each of the approximately 300,000 FREITAG bags and accessories produced each year is unique. A large proportion is manufactured in Zurich, where the truck tarpaulins are dismantled and washed by FREITAG employees before the bag designers cut out the best motifs with their cutter knives and templates and these are then processed into bags.
So far, so good. But more and more often, customers inquire in the FREITAG stores whether a specific bag is also available in another color, with this or that motif. The bag makers have taken these requests for (even) more uniqueness to heart – and fell back on the diploma thesis in which DEPT® employee Severin Klaus invented, designed and programmed the first F-Cut for FREITAG 20 years ago.
Democratisation of bag design
The DEPT® team in Switzerland has been working with FREITAG since 2020 and has, among other things, implemented a bag swapping campaign on Tinder for the brand. Now FREITAG approached us to awaken the online cutting table F-Cut from its slumber together with bag and UX designers, logisticians and many other experts.
The following positioning and visions were defined in a preliminary project:
Democratisation of bag design
Every interested customer should have the opportunity to design their own unique bag according to their own taste, beyond all design guidelines.
Bringing FREITAG’s values to life
Sustainability and individualism come first. The FREITAG Sweat-Yourself-Shops are to be transported from the physical to the digital world by means of F-Cut.
Revival of a classic
The new F-Cut is to be as good as the multiple award-winning 20-year-old original, but even more user-friendly and contemporary.
Linking the offline world with the online world
F-Cut offers a unique combination of rough & real materials with digital perfection and a smooth product configuration – no matter on which device, including 3D preview in real time. In this way, the offline world of FREITAG is linked to the online world thanks to a unique experience.
For F-Cut, DEPT® not only implemented the UX, UI and the 3D preview, but also the back- and frontend. The visual identity, creative direction and copy were done by FREITAG.
From a technical perspective, F-Cut is a web application that combines various systems. On the one hand, there is of course the F-Cut app – the GUI – in which FREITAG customers configure their bags. Then there is the F-Cut backend with a headless CMS, which primarily provides a database and communicates via API with the checkout (FREITAG online store) and of course the F-Cut app. In addition, there are further admin interfaces with everyday tarpaulin management functions (configuration, orders, etc.) and tarpaulin upload, editor and export (DXF) for production.
Bag dreams come true
For the first release, the focus was on the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid): we limited ourselves to one bag type, the Messenger Bag F712 DRAGNET, which can be designed using four virtual templates from a selection of 20-50 different truck tarps. The designable bag types could be expanded in the future or the bag type could change at fixed intervals.
In order to ensure fairness and equality, new tarpaulins are silently added to the system to exclude disputes about the “good” tarpaulin pieces. Another important aspect for FREITAG was the balance between maximum design freedom and sustainability: leftover tarpaulins are used for accessory products.
A few numbers
The response to the F-Cut has been overwhelming, especially from Japan, Germany and FREITAG’s home market Switzerland.
- The virtual cutting table is very busy – between 40-60 users at a time are designing their own F712 DRAGNET Messenger Bag online every day.
- Since the launch in May 2022, more than 300 digitised truck tarpaulins have been used.
- In addition, FREITAG also received many requests from their fans to introduce F-Cut for other bag models as well.
What’s next?
Already before the go-live, F-Cut triggered enthusiasm both among the DEPT® and FREITAG teams. Several further development projects are already planned: more products and features are to follow. 20 years after the birth of the idea, F-Cut has finally awoken from its slumber and will continue to grow steadily.
Over 20 years ago, I got to implement F-Cut as a student one-man show – to rethink this project now, with the support of a fantastic team, both on the DEPT® side and on the customer side, while exploiting the possibilities of today’s technology, is a great privilege.
Severin Klaus, Tech Director, DEPT®
The sustainable Swiss brand FREITAG, known for their bags and accessories made from used truck tarpaulins, has always stood for individualism. With the new digital tool F-Cut, FREITAG now offers its customers the opportunity to design their very own super unique items. The idea behind it was born 20 years ago – and comes from a DEPT® employee.
Desire for more uniqueness
Each of the approximately 400,000 FREITAG bags and accessories produced each year is unique. A large proportion is manufactured in Zurich, where the truck tarpaulins are dismantled and washed by FREITAG employees before the bag designers cut out the best motifs with their cutter knives and templates and these are then processed into bags.
So far, so good. But more and more often, customers inquire in the FREITAG stores whether a specific bag is also available in another color, with this or that motif. For them, FREITAG in collaboration with DEPT® developed a digital cutting table where customers can forget about design guidelines and customize a one-off FREITAG bag to suit their very own taste, that once finished, will be shipped home to the proud owner.
Incidentally, the F-Cut idea tracks back to almost 20 years ago, when DEPT® employee Severin Klaus invented, designed and programmed the first F-Cut for FREITAG as part of his diploma thesis.
Democratisation of bag design
The DEPT® team in Switzerland has been working with FREITAG since 2020 and has, among other things, implemented a bag swapping campaign on Tinder for the brand. Now FREITAG approached us to awaken the online cutting table F-Cut from its slumber together with bag and UX designers, logisticians and many other experts.
The following positioning and visions were defined in a preliminary project:
Democratisation of bag design
Every interested customer should have the opportunity to design their own unique bag according to their own taste, beyond all design guidelines.
Bringing FREITAG’s values to life
Sustainability and individualism come first. The FREITAG Sweat-Yourself-Shops are to be transported from the physical to the digital world by means of F-Cut.
Revival of a classic
The new F-Cut is to be as good as the multiple award-winning 20-year-old original, but even more user-friendly and contemporary.
Linking the offline world with the online world
F-Cut offers a unique combination of rough & real materials with digital perfection and a smooth product configuration – no matter on which device, including 3D preview in real time. In this way, the offline world of FREITAG is linked to the online world thanks to a unique experience.
For F-Cut, DEPT® not only implemented the UX, UI and the 3D preview, but also the back- and frontend. The visual identity, creative direction and copy were done by FREITAG.
From a technical perspective, F-Cut is a web application that combines various systems. On the one hand, there is of course the F-Cut app – the GUI – in which FREITAG customers configure their bags. Then there is the F-Cut backend with a headless CMS, which primarily provides a database and communicates via API with the checkout (FREITAG online store) and of course the F-Cut app. In addition, there are further admin interfaces with everyday tarpaulin management functions (configuration, orders, etc.) and tarpaulin upload, editor and export (DXF) for production.
Bag dreams come true
For the first release, the focus was on the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid): we limited ourselves to one bag type, the Messenger Bag F712 DRAGNET, which can be designed using four virtual templates from a selection of 20-50 different truck tarps. The designable bag types could be expanded in the future or the bag type could change at fixed intervals.
In order to ensure fairness and equality, new tarpaulins are silently added to the system to exclude disputes about the “good” tarpaulin pieces. Another important aspect for FREITAG was the balance between maximum design freedom and sustainability: leftover tarpaulins are used for accessory products.
A few numbers
The response to the F-Cut has been overwhelming, especially from Japan, Germany and FREITAG’s home market Switzerland.
- The virtual cutting table is very busy – between 40-60 users at a time are designing their own F712 DRAGNET Messenger Bag online every day.
- Since the launch in May 2022, more than 800 digitised truck tarpaulins have been used.
- In addition, FREITAG also received many requests from their fans to introduce F-Cut for other bag models as well.
What’s next?
Already before the go-live, F-Cut triggered enthusiasm both among the DEPT® and FREITAG teams. 20 years after the birth of the idea, F-Cut has finally awoken from its slumber and will continue to grow steadily. Several further development projects are already planned: more products and features are to follow.
Over 20 years ago, I got to implement F-Cut as a student one-man show – to rethink this project now, with the support of a fantastic team, both on the DEPT® side and on the customer side, while exploiting the possibilities of today’s technology, is a great privilege.
Severin Klaus, Tech Director, DEPT®
More than ever, quality content reigns supreme when it comes to building the experiences that customers seek and crave. Content today needs to be rich, relevant and fitting to the format across all touchpoints and channels. But how do you publish and distribute your content effectively and consistently? Content teams working with an enterprise (headless) CMS find their content manager experience often lacking in flexibility and creative freedom. As a new approach to content management, server-driven UI helps you build better experiences for both customers and content managers.
In today’s marketing landscape, the mantra content is king is truer than ever before. With digital transformation kicking into high gear across almost all markets and branches, the amount of digital content is surging. From engaging with employees working remotely to building a new online presence and expanding the portfolio of online products and services. Media consumption is booming, older generations adapted swiftly to digital and marketers are investing 17% more budget in content marketing in 2021.
There’s a second reason why investing in quality content is currently on the rise: the death of the cookie. As Cristian van Nispen, our Head of Data, explains in his whitepaper Navigating the Cookieless World, premium content is one of the crucial steps for digital marketing to survive in a cookieless world. With third-party cookies set to disappear next year, it will be much harder to piece together the customer journey across touchpoints. By offering premium content in exchange for contact details, marketers can identify online visitors and keep building customer engagement.
So, with content marketing more important for organisations than ever, how do you serve and publish your content effectively and consistently?
The need for content & control
Content teams and managers feel the heat: they need to put quality content out there as fast and efficiently as possible and consistently across all channels. But while using enterprise level CMSs or headless CMSs guarantees security, availability and stability, these systems often also come with a rigidity when it comes to playing around with content layout and structure.
Originally, the front-end application works based on static templates that were designed once by a front-end developer and are then continuously filled by a content manager. Problems arise when the content manager has content to publish that doesn’t fit in the template, like, for example, two images while there is only space for one image. Or when the text is rather long, and variation is needed to keep the customer’s attention. All too often, the content manager needs to ask support from a front-end developer to customise the content piece. The solution to this challenge is to get rid of templates and focus on separate components instead.
Baking a cake with component-based content modelling
With myriad target groups, purposes and channels, content within your organisation can have many different shapes and forms. In that sense, publishing content has certain similarities with baking a cake. The ingredients can vary wildly, but there are some basics to keep in mind and there is a certain order to things.
With component-based content modelling, you divide your content into recognisable ingredients such as a text block, an image gallery, a hero, a quote, a form, a call-to-action, a carousel of images, folded text for a FAQ or an embedded video. There can be tens or even hundreds of different components, matching the specific needs of local teams or departments.
Once the components are defined by the front-end developer, the content manager can use these ingredients to put the publication together. Per content type the components can be pre-defined, like specific CTAs for landing pages for example. Additionally, the order in which the components are shown on the publication can be set, ensuring a logical build up that is recognisable and meets the customers expectation. Every new component that is added can be used throughout the site, and when a CTA changes, you’ll only need to apply the change in one place to update it everywhere. Using component-based content modelling ensures less dependence on the development team and gives content managers a lot more autonomy. Sounds perfect, but how do you enable this?
Server-driven UI lets the server decide
The solution for replacing templates with component-based content modelling is called server-driven UI, or SDUI for short. It’s when the API tells the client what components to render and with which content. Server-driven UI can be implemented in all modern CMSs for websites and mobile platforms. The difference with the traditional client/server architecture is that the client doesn’t decide how to render the domain objects, but the server does.
As the user interacts, a request is sent to a server which gives a JSON response in which there will be logic for what to inflate on the screen. Based on this logic, the natively developed UI components are rendered and shown. In a way, you can compare this with how HTML works, but on a higher level.
Autonomy over the content
In practice, a server-driven UI gives content managers more immediate control over their content. A good example for this is given by TUI, the largest leisure, travel and tourism company in the world. When it comes to helping travellers to orient, choose, and book their next vacation destination, content plays a crucial role. DEPT® worked with TUI to apply server-driven UI to create a fluid content experience that’s managed by a flexible CMS. Have a look at this personalised selection made by travel agent Joost (fictive). By making a few simple selections in the CMS, content from different sources is put together to match the customer’s specific interests.
Best practices for server-driven UI
As an improved method to deliver and present content, we see many organisations currently making the step to component-based content modelling using server-driven UI. When you are making this switch, keep the following best practices in mind:
- Naming your components: From the start, ensure you give your components proper and descriptive names that are easy to search and use. The more logical components are named, the easier content managers can work with them.
- Consider configurations: Not every different instance of content requires a new component. Consider adding a configuration with which you can tweak the presentation, like for example the option to add an additional CTA button and change the button colour.
- Model your content: While server-driven UI allows for more creative freedom, it’s by no means meant to be a God Mode. Especially with larger teams working from different locations, it really helps to pin down the set of standards to adhere to in a style guide or brand book. For example, you can determine how a standard blogpost should be built up or how certain components should be used.
Are you ready to bring your content to the next level? Our technical teams are ready to help you improve the user experiences for both your customers and content managers.
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Integrations Director
Jasper Steenweg
Bloomreach
Bloomreach is an open Digital Experience Platform (DXP) for creating and optimising digital experiences.
3
Years of experience
15
Specialized developers
Understand your users and improve the customer experience
The platform combines a comprehensive and user-friendly CMS with advanced applications for site search and online merchandising, SEO and rule-based analytics.
DEPT® is proud to be a Bloomreach partner which offers the following functionalities via both the cloud and on-premise:
Maximum return on content
Marketers can develop, publish and manage their content and campaigns from a single visual interface for web, mobile, commerce channels, billboards, IoT or in-store.
Optimal relevance
Profile, segment and drive target groups with targeted content on all pages and sites.
AI-driven experiences
Bloomreach DXP takes the guesswork out of designing personal, digital experiences.
Real-time action-focused insights
Channel-transcending real-time analytics provide complete insight into the effectiveness of your content.
Innovative and a fast time to market
Bloomreach’s DTAP (Develop, Test, Acceptance, Production) environment automates the delivery of new IT functionalities.
Bloomreach client cases
DEPT® supports multiple companies with the implementation and application of Bloomreach. For example, we have played a major role in the digital transformation for Brenntag – the largest chemical distributor in the world. The company chose Bloomreach since it best fits their digital ambitions and was ideal to support DigiB, a platform which manages the customer experience for a global collection of websites. The solution is based on a headless architecture that React uses in conjunction with Bloomreach DXP.
We worked together with the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) to boost the brand awareness of the sunny holiday destination in order to attract more tourists to Aruba. DEPT® also takes care of the maintenance of the multilingual Aruba.com platform based on Bloomreach Experience Manager.
Publisher ThiemeMeulenhof is currently running 70 websites on Bloomreach which are based on three practical blueprints. After an extensive selection, ThiemeMeulenhof and DEPT® opted for an upgrade of their current Bloomreach platform to the latest version. By concentrating on practical solutions and overcoming overlap, we expect to be able to realise substantial cost savings measures for ThiemeMeulenhof.
Check the platforms of our customers to see how Bloomreach ensures optimal digital experiences in the experience age.
Our Clients
We value a great working relationship with our clients above all else. It’s why many of them have worked with us for years as their trusted partner.
Approach
At DEPT®, we combine creativity and data with technological solutions such as Bloomreach to help organizations grow and accelerate. Below are five reasons why DEPT® is the ideal partner to get the most out of Bloomreach:
Bloomreach Gold Partner
Our developers are certified on Bloomreach technology and optimally equipped to create great digital experiences.
Experienced and successful
We have worked successfully with a wide range of technology leaders for many years. With our experience in numerous sectors, we are able to help a wide range of customers to embrace digital.
Full-approach
Digital growth does not stop with the successful deployment of Bloomreach. As a fully integrated digital agency, we also support SEO, creative campaigns, e-commerce, strategy and organization, branding, data intelligence and more to help your organization grow and develop.
Widely deployable
Our teams have broad experience with both the technical aspects of a CMS as well as setting up the organizational processes to use BloomReach successfully. Besides tackling projects, we can also temporarily strengthen an existing team with our specialists.
In-house experts
Our years of expertise in designing experiences, expandable architecture, and integration of technology is not just for ourselves. We share our knowledge as a Bloomreach expert in in-depth blogs in which we tackle practical challenges.
Talk to us about Bloomreach
Global SVP Technology & Engineering
Jonathan Whiteside
Contentful
Contentful is a modern cloud-native content management system that is ready for the future like no other.
4
Years of experience
5
Contentful cases
Accelerate your digital business with Contentful
Contentful gives its users the tools they need to create and manage their content. Thanks to its headless architecture, developers can use this tool with any programming language, on any platform. As a certified Contentful partner, DEPT® is equipped to help companies implement and use this tool.
The modern digital landscape requires brands to have much more than a simple website. Companies want to offer their customers a uniform, personalised omni-channel experience with websites, apps, chatbots and marketplaces. Contentful offers its customers a user-friendly ‘unified content hub’ for content management across all channels. Developers can also use this tool because it has a powerful API which can be used on any channel, with any programming language. Contentful is also ideally suited to add content management capabilities to existing digital applications, where content changes now need to be made by developers.
As a SaaS, Contentful is built directly in the cloud and therefore also takes advantage of the associated benefits such as scalability, availability and speed. It also eliminates expensive upgrades.
Contentful has the following features which distinguish it as a modern CMS:
- API first: Since API’s are at the core of this system, all content can be accessed via the API’s
- Cloud-native: Contentful is built in the cloud, which makes the system infinitely scalable and uses cloud services as a standard CDN.
- SaaS solution: Every Contentful customer uses the same system (just like Gmail, Dropbox, Netflix, Uber or Facebook, for example), so no management is required and upgrades are a thing of the past.
- Freedom for developers: The APIs of Contentful can be used with any programming language. For fast onboarding SDK’s are available for Javascript, .Net, PHP, Java, Android, IOS, Ruby and more. A matter of ready, set, code.
- Headless/ decoupled: The world is changing, we are moving away from monolithic systems and headless is the answer. With headless and best-in-class documentation, Contentful can support even the most complex digital ecosystems.
As a Contentful agency, DEPT® supports various companies with the successful application of Contentful. Here are some examples where Contentful contributes to optimal digital experiences in the experience-age.
Our Clients
We value a great working relationship with our clients. It’s why many of them have worked with us for years as their trusted partner.
The DEPT® way
At DEPT®, we combine creativity and data with technological solutions such as Contentful to help organizations grow and accelerate. Below are five reasons why DEPT® is the ideal partner to get the most out of Contentful:
- Contentful professional partner: Our developers are certified on Contentful technology and optimally equipped to create great digital experiences.
- Experienced and successful: We have been working successfully with a wide range of technology leaders for many years. With our experience in diverse sectors, we help a wide range of customers to embrace digital.
- Full approach: Digital growth does not stop with the successful deployment of Contentful. As a fully integrated digital agency, we also support SEO, creative campaigns, e-commerce, strategy and organisation, branding, data intelligence and more to help your organization grow and develop.
- Widely deployable: Our teams have broad experience in both the technical aspects of a CMS as well as in setting up the organizational processes to use Contentful successfully. Besides projects, we can also temporarily strengthen an existing team with our specialists.
- In-house experts: Our years of expertise in designing experiences, expandable architecture and integration of technology is not something we want to keep to ourselves. We share our knowledge as Contentful experts in our in-depth blogs in which we tackle practical challenges
We’d love to be your Contentful partner
Sales Director