CAES

The Client

A pioneer of advanced electronics for the most technologically challenging military and aerospace trusted systems, CAES (formerly Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions) is the largest provider of mixed-signal and radiation-hardened technology to the United States aerospace and defense industry. CAES delivers high-reliability radio frequency (RF), microwave and millimeter wave, microelectronic and digital solutions that enable its customers to ensure a safer, more secure world. On land, at sea, in the air, in space and in cyberspace, CAES’ extensive electronics and enhanced manufacturing capabilities are at the forefront of mission-critical military and aerospace innovation.

The Situation

CAES leadership wanted a newly defined brand and technology system that unified its 80-year-old technology giant identity while accelerating its capacity for marketing and digital innovation. They wanted to build a world-class website featuring crystal-clear brand messaging, user-centered design, intuitive navigation and direct calls to action.

CAES products are perpetually in high demand, but its previous website made it difficult for potential customers to find the products or capabilities they were searching for. In addition, existing customers found it challenging to reach the right person or team for product support. The site sent all questions to a general area, which created confusion for customers and CAES staff.

The Challenge

CAES had a very clear mission: to transform into an agile, customer-centric organization focused on meeting customer requirements. But the organization’s brand and digital ecosystem didn’t support this mission. Furthermore, the company’s legacy (an 80-year-old company that grew through acquisitions) created challenges when developing and executing a clear, unified message across modern digital channels. Given the scale of the challenge and desire for additional security and reliability, CAES leaders wanted a technology partner and platform that would help them launch an innovative, secure website while developing a cohesive brand and messaging strategy in parallel. 

The previous CAES website was built on an outdated legacy system that didn’t deliver on modern marketing KPIs. Additionally, the site would sometimes send users to a sister site, fragmenting the audience. All of these issues meant that CAES employees weren’t in the habit of using the site or recommending it to clients — the website had become a cause of frustration across all company business areas.

The Solution

Alongside digital partner Isovera, the teams worked together to break down silos and help CAES build its own brand identity. CAES was formerly known as Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions, part of Cobham PLC. The logos were the same, and there was very little to differentiate them from their parent company. Isovera rebranded Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions to become CAES and positioned them as an industry leader.

The new brand launch necessitated an updated logo and tagline, brand book, templates and collateral PDFs. To further highlight this differentiation, Isovera coordinated with CAES to acquire a new, four-letter domain that matched the company's new name. 

The new website leveraged Drupal 9 as the content management system and Layout Builder to manage, access and display database content in a format that is user-friendly for both site visitors and administrators. 

Ease of use and navigation were critical elements in redesigning the CAES website, but it was also crucial that the site be optimized for search engines, allowing CAES to attract and track users. Isovera implemented Acquia Search, which allowed users to easily navigate and filter hundreds of products with thousands of unique variations and specifications. In addition, Isovera integrated Salesforce to handle all sales and support requests, ensuring that user requests were promptly sent to the right departments, increasing overall satisfaction of users and internal teams.

Isovera also led an overhaul of site content, helping CAES establish a content hierarchy that included more than 80 product categories. Working together, CAES and Isovera developed new web content across all products and capabilities, including a steady flow of search-optimized articles, press releases and blog posts.

As a leader in the aerospace industry, CAES’ new site needed to maintain the company’s strict security standards. The new site achieved an even higher level of security through Acquia FedRAMP certification and two-factor authentication, ReCAPTCHA, Antibot and Honeypot functionality.

Isovera integrated numerous third-party solutions with the new web platform, including: 

• NewRelic for monitoring
• Salesforce
• Webform
• Google Analytics
• SEO metadata

The Results

CAES’ new site has shown impressive results in less than one month.

• New users are up 8.31% 
• Engaged visits are up 11.75% 
• Engaged sessions per user are up 2.83%
• Visibility is up 3.07% 
• Significant increases in SEO keyword rankings:
  • Ten keywords in the top 3
  • 34 keywords in the top 10
  • 51 keywords in the top 20
  • 171 keywords in the top 100

In addition, through intelligently routed inquiries and support cases and the elimination of spam via a combination of webforms and Salesforce mapping and routing, CAES established a much clearer, more direct line of communication with its customers.