How Solvay uses social to sustain innovation and tell a powerful story
The Challenge
Belgium-based Solvay was founded in 1863 by Ernest Solvay, who developed a groundbreaking method of producing soda ash using salt, ammonia and carbonic acid.
Soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate or washing soda, is used in many essential everyday items including dyes and coloring agents, glass, paper, cleaning products, and much more.
The company grew quickly, establishing outposts around the world, including a plant in Syracuse, NY, that opened in 1881, and gradually became one of the largest advanced materials and specialty chemical groups in the world.
Today, over a century and a half removed from Solvay’s industry-changing discovery, his namesake company is still innovating across a wide range of markets: healthcare, automotive, industrial, environmental, consumer, and many more — a breadth that might have even surprised Ernest himself.
Finding the right social solution
As often happens, the company’s success and ambition have presented a new set of challenges. With a stake in several different industries and a growing global footprint, the company needed a better way to organize its many many customer-facing channels (especially when it came to social media).
Solvay ultimately opted for Sprinklr’s unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM) platform, and has harnessed the platform to generate a bird’s eye view of its external strategy around the globe and across markets — allowing the company to accelerate its digital transformation journey and continue Ernest and Alfred’s history of innovation.
The Solution
One of the most pressing objectives for Vincent Colegrave, Head of Digital & Social for Solvay, and his team was aligning goals across Solvay’s global organization and ensuring that the company had a strategic, unified approach to publishing on its many external channels.
Aligning a widespread team
To ensure a coordinated effort around the world, Solvay tapped several Sprinklr products, including Sprinklr Social (which includes social listening) and Sprinklr Marketing. Using Sprinklr, the company can speak to its customers in an organized way.
“With Sprinklr, we are empowered to communicate, share, and comment directly with our customers,” says Vincent. Armed with Sprinklr, Solvay has developed an around-the-clock social media nerve center to help the company tell its story in the most powerful possible manner. “We know exactly what’s happening worldwide,” Vincent adds. “It’s important because one third of our business is based in the U.S., one third in Europe, and one third in China.”
Shining a light on Solvay’s top exec
Solvay also uses Sprinklr Social Listening to elevate the profile of CEO Ilham Kadri. When it comes to keeping Kadri in the public eye day-to-day, Sprinklr provides the necessary tools.
“We are able to monitor [his social presence] through listening, identify key accounts that are talking about us and make the right decisions for paid advertising and whether to invest or not,” Vincent says.
The Outcome
Solvay uses Sprinklr to generate a bird’s eye view of its external strategy around the globe and across markets — allowing the company to accelerate its digital transformation journey.
We use Sprinklr to position our CEO on a daily basis by listening to what people are saying about her. It also helps ensure we understand our audience when we’re building and promoting her presence.”
Head of Digital & Social, Solvay
Understanding customers with greater clarity
With Sprinklr’s social listening tool, Solvay can understand what consumers are saying — about the company, its products, the industries in which it operates, and even its competitors. “Machine learning capabilities help us understand what’s being said about a particular product or market,” Vincent says.
Having such a sharp ear for digital chatter enables Solvay to better understand what its customers (and potential customers) want. “We want to meet market needs,” he says. “And by listening to exactly what the customer wants, we can meet their needs.”