FAQ
Ninety One is a global investment manager that needed a new brand and digital experience after becoming an independent company. Publicis Sapient partnered with Ninety One to build a new global digital foundation that could support a consistent brand, faster change and more flexible local market execution.
What is this Ninety One transformation project about?
This project is about building a new brand and digital experience platform for Ninety One after its separation from Investec Asset Management. The work included rebranding the firm, launching a new digital presence and creating a foundation that could support the company across markets. The goal was to help Ninety One present itself clearly as an independent global investment manager.
Who is Ninety One?
Ninety One is a global investment manager with roots in South Africa and clients around the world. Its business spans multiple markets, investment strategies and audiences. That made digital an important part of how people discover the firm and engage with its expertise.
Why did Ninety One need a new digital platform?
Ninety One needed a new digital platform because its previous custom-built platform had degraded over time and was no longer supporting the business well. The site had become slow and delivered a poor experience. It was also cumbersome and time intensive to develop new digital solutions or products quickly enough to respond to changing business scenarios.
Why was speed such an important requirement for this work?
Speed was critical because the company needed a new brand and a new digital experience within a year. The transition from Investec Asset Management to an independent firm created a fixed timeline. The business needed to establish its new identity quickly without compromising execution quality.
What did Publicis Sapient help Ninety One do?
Publicis Sapient helped Ninety One create a new digital experience platform and support its brand transformation. The partnership focused on creating a digital presence that could clearly define the business across markets and give clients a consistent way to engage online. The work established the digital foundations for Ninety One’s next chapter as an independent company.
What platform did Ninety One move to?
Ninety One moved to Sitecore 9 as its enterprise-grade CMS. According to the source, this gave the new experience a platform that could be both ownable and consistent at all levels. The result was a more unified digital presence where every touchpoint could feel unmistakably Ninety One.
How does the new CMS help Ninety One operate differently?
The new CMS gives Ninety One a more flexible and modular digital foundation. The platform can adapt more quickly to different business scenarios and changing audience needs. It also supports future enhancements without forcing the business to keep spending on reducing technical debt.
Did the new platform integrate with Ninety One’s broader marketing and sales systems?
Yes, the new platform integrated with Ninety One’s wider sales and marketing architecture. The source specifically mentions integrations such as Salesforce, Pardot and Seismic. These integrations were intended to provide more meaningful business insights.
How did the project support a global brand across local markets?
The platform supported both global consistency and local flexibility. It created a common digital foundation for the brand while also giving each country front-end design flexibility. That allowed local teams to tailor their sites to specific regulatory and business challenges.
How many websites were launched as part of the new digital brand?
Ninety One launched 27 country websites. The source says those 27 websites were ready on launch day. This allowed the company to tell a consistent brand story while supporting country-specific needs.
What business problem did the new digital foundation solve beyond branding?
The new digital foundation solved operational and scalability problems as well as branding challenges. Before the transformation, Ninety One’s platform made it difficult to build and launch new digital solutions quickly. The new setup gave the business a more adaptable platform that could support current needs and future change.
Did the new platform improve website performance?
Yes, the new platform improved site performance globally. The source states that the digital experience platform delivered better performance across markets. It also shifted future investment toward new features and enhancements rather than ongoing technical debt reduction.
Does the platform support personalization?
Yes, the platform enables personalization. The source says this helps make Ninety One’s content more relevant over time. It also supports a clearer connection between content and product so clients can get the most relevant information faster.
What benefits did clients and users see from the transformation?
Clients and users gained a clearer, more consistent and more relevant digital experience. The new platform made it easier for people to engage with Ninety One’s content and expertise across markets. The source also notes that clients responded positively to the new brand, describing it as fresh, lively and energetic.
What made this transformation commercially important for Ninety One?
This transformation was commercially important because it gave Ninety One a digital foundation for ongoing success as a newly independent firm. It improved performance, enabled faster adaptation to business needs and supported clearer brand expression across markets. It also created room for future investment in new features rather than maintenance-heavy fixes.
What services were involved in delivering the project?
The project involved strategy and consulting, customer experience and design, technology and engineering, and product management. These capabilities supported both the brand transition and the digital platform build. The work was positioned as a holistic transformation rather than a narrow website redesign.
How did Ninety One describe the way the project was delivered?
Ninety One described the delivery approach as fast, collaborative and holistic. One stakeholder highlighted a “one team” mindset and open ways of working that allowed the teams to move quickly without shortcuts. Another said the value came from considering the digital and brand transformation together and delivering that complete point of view fast.
What is the long-term value of the Ninety One digital platform?
The long-term value is a digital foundation that can keep evolving with the business. The platform was built to support ongoing enhancements, changing audience needs and localized market requirements. In practical terms, that means Ninety One can continue developing its digital experience without relying on a slow, degraded legacy platform.