Evonik, a global leader in specialty chemicals, partnered with Comwrap Reply to implement Adobe Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) as part of its Digital Customer Experience initiative. The project delivered a unified, GDPR-compliant analytics framework that connects customer interactions across corporate websites, product microsites, and customer portals—starting with elements.evonik.com. The result: faster, data-driven decision-making, operational efficiency, and a scalable foundation for AI-powered insights.

The Challenge

Evonik’s digital analytics was fragmented, with multiple websites and portals operating in silos and inconsistent tracking methods. Legacy tools couldn’t connect cross-site journeys or provide role-specific, real-time insights. Manual reporting slowed decisions, and the existing architecture couldn’t easily scale to new sites or regions. Additionally, GDPR and regional privacy requirements demanded strict consent management and localized data handling.

The Solution

A Unified, Compliant Analytics Framework

To break down data silos and enable a unified, privacy-compliant view of customer journeys, Evonik partnered with Comwrap Reply to implement Adobe Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) on top of Adobe Experience Platform (AEP). The goal was not only to consolidate data from multiple digital touchpoints but also to make it actionable for diverse stakeholder groups—marketing, IT, and business units—while ensuring global scalability and GDPR compliance from day one.

We began by deploying Adobe Web SDK across the targeted sites, replacing fragmented tracking methods with a standardized, real-time data collection approach. This was underpinned by a custom XDM schema (“Evonik Web Event Schema”) designed to model interactions consistently across corporate websites, product microsites, and customer portals. To support controlled, high-quality releases, we established environment-specific datastreams for development, staging, and production.

Recognizing the complexity of Evonik’s compliance requirements, we integrated Usercentrics CMP v2 directly into Adobe Tags, ensuring no data is captured without explicit consent. A Mapping Table Extension was created to centralize and manage consent rules across multiple domains and languages, streamlining governance and reducing operational effort.

At the analytics layer, CJA Data Views were configured to merge datasets from different sandboxes while respecting regional data residency laws, with ECID-based identity stitching enabling the connection of anonymous and authenticated behaviors into a single customer journey timeline. Business-specific logic—such as classifying datasheet downloads as “Consideration” events—was embedded directly in the data model to align outputs with stakeholder KPIs and decision-making needs.

The foundation was built for scale: a modular tagging framework enables rapid rollout to new sites, and the architecture supports future integration of offline, CRM, or marketing automation data. Special use cases included enabling cross-site journey analysis, making it possible to track how visitors transition between product-specific sites and the main corporate portal—a level of insight that was previously impossible with legacy tools.

This framework set the stage for the Adobe Customer Journey Analytics Migration Accelerator to be used in the next phase, ensuring a smooth transition from historical Adobe Analytics data to CJA while preserving continuity in business-critical reporting.

How we did it

Discovery Phase – Building the Foundation

We began with a clear goal: understand Evonik’s analytics landscape, business needs, and long-term ambitions, and create a unified, scalable, and privacy-compliant framework.

Our six-step approach ensured every critical area was addressed:

• Stakeholder Alignment & Scope – Engaged Marketing, IT, business lines, and the Marketo team; agreed on a pilot with elements.evonik.com before global rollout.
• Current-State Assessment – Audited Adobe Analytics, consent management, and data flows; uncovered fragmented tracking, inconsistent KPIs, and governance gaps.
• Pain Point & Opportunity Mapping – Identified siloed metrics, limited journey visibility, GDPR inconsistencies, and reporting bottlenecks; defined opportunities for standardized event models, cross-site tracking, and role-based dashboards.
• Data & Event Model Requirements – Established an Adobe XDM-based schema with lifecycle-linked events and ECID-based identity stitching.
• Compliance & Privacy Review – Selected Usercentrics CMP v2 and designed GDPR-compliant suppression logic.
• Success Criteria – Set measurable business, technical, and scalability goals.

Architecture Phase – Turning Plans into Action

With requirements in place, Comwrap Reply designed and delivered a scalable, privacy-compliant analytics framework on Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) and Customer Journey Analytics (CJA).

Key actions:

• Seamless Migration – Leveraged the CJA Migration Accelerator to preserve historical data during the move from Adobe Analytics.
• Standardized Event Tracking – Deployed Adobe Web SDK with a custom XDM schema and environment-specific datastreams.
• GDPR Compliance – Integrated Usercentrics CMP v2 into Adobe Tags with multi-domain, multi-language consent mapping.
• Unified Data Views – Combined datasets while respecting data residency laws and embedding stakeholder KPI logic.
• Identity Stitching – Connected anonymous and authenticated journeys via ECID for a 360° customer view.
• Role-Based Dashboards – Delivered self-service dashboards, cutting reporting cycles by over 40%.
• Scalable Architecture – Built a modular tagging framework for rapid rollout across regions.
• Advanced Features – Activated anomaly detection, natural-language insights, and cross-site journey tracking.

Outcomes – From Insight to Activation
The result: a unified analytics landscape delivering accurate, GDPR-compliant insights, deep cross-site analysis, and a scalable foundation for AI-driven optimization and personalization across Evonik’s global digital ecosystem.

Live in 6 Months – Early High-Impact Activations
Within just six months, the new framework was already powering high-value initiatives across marketing and sales. These early activations:

• Transformed raw interaction data into timely, actionable insights.
• Delivered measurable engagement improvements through targeted follow-up at key moments in the customer journey.
• Strengthened alignment between teams by creating a shared, real-time view of activity and intent signals.
• Proved the scalability of the new architecture for rapid deployment of additional “insight-to-action” scenarios.

Why It Matters
The initial results demonstrate how a connected, privacy-compliant data foundation can:

• Reveal opportunities that were previously hidden in disconnected systems.
• Enable faster, more relevant engagement without adding complexity.
• Provide a repeatable model for expanding to new markets, channels, and use cases.

“We have shown that the technology can stitch data together across systems in real time, making data visible and actionable. The foundation is built to scale further use cases.”

About the Client

Evonik Industries AG is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies, headquartered in Essen, Germany, with operations in more than 100 countries. Known for innovation and sustainability, Evonik serves industries from automotive and healthcare to agriculture and consumer goods. Its Digital Customer Experience program is central to its strategy of leveraging technology to enhance customer engagement and operational excellence.