Going Global
with
Client Success Stories
Client Success Stories
Colgate Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive Company engages their global consumer base through a number of contact centers and a
variety of methods. These important points of contact rely in part on technology and solutions from Wilke Global.
As a leading worldwide consumer packaged goods company, Colgate manages the daily challenges of multichannel
consumer interactions with the assurance and focus necessary to reinforce company goals and support their
brands.
The Business Drivers
Colgate’s Global Consumer Affairs organization is charged with three primary
initiatives:
• Delivering best-in-class services on a worldwide scale while simultaneously
ensuring compliance with local and international regulatory requirements.
• Enhancing profitable sales growth through relationship marketing and harvesting
valuable consumer insights.
• Providing an early warning on any emerging issue to mitigate damage to the
company and to brand reputation.
A Decision for Decades
To support this emphasis on strong consumer affairs, Colgate began working
with Wilke Global in 1992 to provide the technology that underpins its comprehensive
consumer engagement strategy. Over the past decades Colgate has continued to work
with Wilke Global as a strategic partner in Consumer Affairs. Throughout this time, the
CRS solutions have evolved from logging consumer contacts for just one product line
in the U.S. to now handling Colgate’s global consumer affairs operation. This includes
engaging with Colgate’s consumers in more than 40 countries worldwide as well as its
vast network of regional plants, hubs and other facilities.
Now, Colgate has real-time access to consumer interactions across the globe
through its CRS solution.
Profile: Chip
Horner,
Global Director of
Consumer Relations,
Colgate Palmolive
Chip began his career in
product management at
a leading pharmaceutical
organization, and moved
to Colgate eight years ago.
In his role at Colgate, Chip
leads the consumer service
organization in over 100
countries. He relishes the
challenges of his role as
Worldwide
Director
of
Global Consumer Affairs.
He is a former SOCAP board
member and past Chairman.
His experiences at Colgate
and before have given
him a holistic perspective
on consumer affairs best
practices.
Colgate’s Key Benefits from Wilke Global’s Solutions
•
Real-time visibility to global quality control of any complaints in order to protect the company’s
worldwide reputation.
•
Support for relationship marketing as CRS allows the team to easily indicate which consumers have
opted-in to receive future marketing messages, product information and consumer surveys.
•
Rapid data discovery to quickly find insights and better understand trends in consumer reported issues, to
stay ahead of emerging concerns and provide an all-around better consumer experience across all channels
and across the globe.
•
Handling multichannel contacts within the same solution. Colgate monitors and manages the Facebook
pages of several of their key brands. Wilke’s SMART platform provides a highly efficient way to log consumer
issues raised on social media channels directly into the same global database as contacts received through
more traditional channels, creating one integrated and consistent approach to consumer feedback
regardless of channel.
Wilke Global uses industry standard security measures to protect the data housed in our systems, like CRS; including the use
of encryption, firewalls, and virus detection. Wilke Global’s servers are hosted in secure locations with 24×7 security and physical
access controls. Only authorized employees have physical or electronic access to the hosted systems.
Looking to the Future
Going forward, Colgate continues to be focused on meeting
consumer expectations. As Chip explains, “I see the future for
Consumer Affairs is both mobile and digital. Our vision is to
have a complete consumer record held in one central place,
whether the contact has been via email, social media or the
increasingly popular web chat.
In addition, the new Wilke Global INCITE reporting solution
will make it very easy for non-CRS users to access valuable
data.” Chip also believes Colgate’s global database will act as
a foundation as the department strives to develop stronger
relationship marketing and deliver more top-line value to the
business.
A Long Term Partnership
“The team at Wilke has always made it
their priority to understand our requirements.
Through participating in various client events
both at a senior management level and
within the operational teams, we have always
had the opportunity to feed into their product
development process, and Wilke has always
been very oriented toward understanding
and supporting our strategic direction.
The team from Wilke that supports
Colgate is very willing to listen, and we are
able to have candid discussions with all
of them and they have a very responsive
attitude to that feedback. We have seen
that feedback incorporated into key areas
of product development over the years of
working together.
In addition, it has been important for
us, as a global organization, to work with a
partner who also has a global footprint, and
Wilke has been able to support our global
rollout, working with us to address challenges
across the many different countries that we
operate in and support.”
- Chip Horner,
Global Director of Consumer Relations
Colgate Palmolive
About Colgate-Palmolive Company
Colgate-Palmolive is a leading global consumer products company, tightly focused on Oral Care, Personal Care,
Home Care and Pet Nutrition. Colgate sells its products in over 200 countries and territories around the world
under such internationally recognized brand names as Colgate, Palmolive, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Protex, Sorriso,
Kolynos, elmex, Tom’s of Maine, Sanex, Ajax, Axion, Soupline, and Suavitel, as well as Hill’s Science Diet, Hill’s
Prescription Diet and Hill’s Ideal Balance. For more information about Colgate’s global business, visit the Company’s
web site at http://www.colgatepalmolive.com. To learn more about Colgate’s global oral health education program,
Bright Smiles, Bright Futures™, please visit http://www.colgatebsbf.com.
About Wilke Global
Wilke Global has been a pioneer in Consumer Affairs solutions and technologies for over 30 years. Throughout
this time, we have consistently adapted as new technologies and contact channels emerge and as the industry
changes. We remain committed to helping our clients effectively and efficiently manage customer feedback. Our
products address every aspect of Customer Relationship Management, including validated systems for regulated
industries and global systems for worldwide operations.
Wilke Global
614.792.6900 x 4
info@wilkeglobal.com
545 Metro Place South, Suite 200, Dublin, OH 43017
www.wilkeglobal.com
facebook.com/WilkeGlobal
@WilkeGlobal