Lapeyre
in a few words:
Lapeyre la maison is the B2C arm of the Saint Gobain Group and includes 3,000 employees and 140 stores throughout France, Belgium, Switzerland and DOMTOM. Lapeyre.fr received over 9 million visits in 2007. Lapeyre produces 5 main themed catalogues: Bathrooms, Kitchens, Interiors, Exteriors and a “Best of” which are sent out to over 10 million addresses worldwide.
Lapeyre’s key figures:
• 5 international markets: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Antilles and La Réunion.
• 14 catalogues approximately in 1 – 2 editions per year.
• 2 languages: French and Flemish.
• 5,700 pages.
• 15,000 images.
• 9,500 DTP files or 4 – 5 terabytes of data per production cycle.
• “Best of” catalogue extract also produced using time gained from the implementation of Perigee DAM.
Website
http://www.lapeyre.fr
Lapeyre Testimonial
We have definitely decreased the number of times that we must intervene for certain issues, so we no longer repeat the same task twice. In addition, I find that I manage my time much more efficiently than I used to and work much faster as a result. 
Lapeyre la maison, the B2C branch of the Saint Gobain Group, has achieved the goal of all great consumer brands; aligning branding and product offers resulting in coherent customer-facing messages.
In the course of achieving this goal, they have also seen a 30% boost in productivity and a 100% return on investment. How were they able to do this? With Perigee DAM.
Lapeyre had been outsourcing 100% of catalogue production, which was expensive and cumbersome as data sharing was mainly in the form of couriers, emails, CD’s and USB sticks.
Lapeyre sought a better way. DAM (Digital Asset Management) is only the first step in the implementation of a full Perigee Suite- the catalogue system that manages all product information as well as the production of product based communications such as print and web catalogues, in-store POS and sales support and direct marketing pieces like mailings and flyers.
Catalogues are Critical
Lapeyre la maison is a subsidiary of the Saint Gobain Group, originally a building supply manufacturer. Saint Gobain is present in 50 countries with over 35 billion € in turnover in 2007. Lapeyre la maision, or Lapeyre for short, is a multi-channel retailer with 140 stores, an e-Commerce site with over 9 million visits in 2007 and 5 printed catalogues sent to over 10 million addresses. Lapeyre is unique in that its stores are really showrooms with highly trained sales staff on hand to assist customers with DIY know-how and product recommendations. Customers peruse the aisles, catalogues in hand, much the same way they browse the e-Commerce site, page numbers noted to quickly find products. Printed catalogues drive web and store sales. As Christophe Demont, Catalogue Production Manager notes, “A delay in the delivery of a printed catalogue directly affects in-store sales.”
The Lapeyre headquarters located in the outskirts of Paris gives a glimpse into the brand itself. The compound consists of several buildings, and boasts a modern design aesthetic. Catalogues are packaged in palettes in the lobby and are displayed throughout the waiting area, hinting at how important they are as a sales tool and in setting the tone of the brand.
Lapeyre Remodelling Itself
Perigee DAM has allowed Lapeyre to move forward with business development initiatives designed to react to an extremely competitive Do-It-Yourself market in France, where several large groups dominate. Recently, thanks to efficiencies gained with Perigee DAM, the catalogue team was able to introduce a “Best of” catalogue which groups best-selling products across project and product lines. At the same time, they were able to re-vamp their traditional product presentation to be more decoration-oriented and less technical to attract a wider demographic of consumers, branching out from their traditional audience of professionals such as builders and contractors.
DIY Branding
“Originally, Lapeyre outsourced everything to an external agency without a central DAM or other solution to share information. Essentially we worked by hand, going back and forth with couriers for updates and approvals. And we found that this was expensive and time consuming,” explains Demont. “So in 2006 we launched an RFP and after looking at a number of different options, some established catalogue solutions and others more piecemeal, we came to the conclusion that Perigee was the only system that was proven to work. We don’t want to be DTP experts, we just want to have control over our branding and Perigee is allowing us to do just that.”
Lapeyre decided to implement the full Perigee Software Suite beginning with DAM. Their approach has been cautious, implementing a single product group at a time. However, they chose to implement all cross-channel assets related to a product group, thus ensuring coherent customer messages across channel lines. Eventually all content for a particular catalogue was available via Perigee DAM, then all catalogues and all marketing collateral.
Other Perigee Suite modules, Dynamic Product Information Management (D-PIM) and Multi-content Publishing are in-process, with Marketing-Business Intelligence coming down the road. While drastic process improvements have already been seen, Adeline Delécolle, Catalogue Manager for Lapeyre’s Exterior Edition, comments, “We are eagerly awaiting the implementation of the D-PIM module as it will further boost productivity notably by sending product information directly to the DTP catalogue page. Updates will be semi-automatic.”
Getting Back to Come Back
Part of the process overhaul at Lapeyre included having a graphic arts agency onsite to take over the more complex aspects of catalogue production such as image retouching, engraving and pre-flight issues as well as managing and redefining house styles and product presentation. In short, they work in collaboration with Lapeyre to create pages as well as final proofs and catalogue production.
Cedric Berthier, Come Back Studio Manager, explains that, “Given the diverse and numerous team members that contribute to Lapeyre’s communications, a system like Perigee was a necessity. We rely heavily on user rights to help us manage who has access to what and who can make modifications to visuals, DTP pages and other files. The fact that we have one central database greatly facilitates search/find. Team members each contribute to the collective marketing database and, of course, automatic backups are critical.” Anywhere from 3 to 10 Come Back team members may be on-site at Lapeyre depending on the production cycle.
Increased Efficiency
“ Files are much easier to find now. Visuals are arranged in one, well-defined structure and everyone has access. However, only the Photo Manager and the Administrator can add or delete files,” says Delécolle. “ Things are now in order. And we save a lot of time compared to the old system.”
Philippe Boutet, Catalogue Manager for Lapeyre’s Bathrooms Edition, notes, “We have definitely decreased the number of times that we must intervene for certain issues, so we no longer repeat the same task twice. In addition, I find that I manage my time much more efficiently than I used to and work much faster as a result.” He continues, “ Sharing information is transparent which greatly facilitates working with Come Back as well as internal teams.”
“In addition, now that we spend less time searching for files and approvals, we can afford to pay more attention to every detail. Perigee has helped us redefine our roles and to, in a sense, limit our responsibilities while also clearly defining those tasks for which we are responsible,” Delécolle adds, “We are now much more focused, which in turn, helps us be more proactive.”
Procurement
Product visuals are all custom-shot by several photo studios located in the Paris area and 80% of this production takes place between October and January. Photos are currently uploaded as shot but workflows will soon be put into place to automate this process complete with approvals and insertion onto the corresponding catalogue page or marketing piece.
“We currently produce about 5,700 pages, 15,000 images and 9,500 DPT pages per year. Approximately 4 - 5 terabytes of information so a simplified workflow helps us enormously,” comments Demont.
Eventually, workflows will also be put into place to manage the translation of the Belgian versions of the product information into Flemish. “This will be very important for us as managing the translation process with an external agency is cumbersome. Once implemented, Perigee workflows will manage the entire process from alerting the translator to approvals to associating the text with its corresponding product to placing it where it belongs on the DTP page,” elaborates Demont, “Much like what will happen with photos.”
A Fast ROI
Demont and his team make it clear that they have already seen impressive benefits and the Solution is not yet completely installed. “ Productivity has already increased 30% and we have seen a 100% return on our investment in just a few months. Now we can afford to take our time and focus not only on the changes being in our production process, but the change management itself.”
Benefits from the implementation have been numerous ranging from the obvious, such as having one up-to-date set of information, to the not so obvious, such as fully coherent product information even down to the details of the product warranties.
Increased Competitiveness
Data is now (or soon will be) shared between several enterprise-wide systems such as a media center, CRM and product information. The return on investment for each digital asset is now maximised and it is now easy to repurpose content to create new communications. “
But most importantly, our new system is not only saving money, but it is allowing us to be very flexible in how we prepare communications by including the contributions of the best suited team member. We can now quickly initiate and react to Lapeyre’s business and communications plans. Which ultimately means that we are more competitive.” states Demont.
