SIEGWERK:
How we turned a technical SAP conversion into a change people across the business got behind
Client
Siegwerk
Industry
Printing inks and coatings for packaging and labels
Size
Around 5,000 employees, in more than 35 countries
A mandatory move to S/4HANA does not sell itself. There are no new features to show off, and the best possible outcome is a go-live nobody notices. Siegwerk still needed its sites to commit a full year of testing to it. So we gave the programme a story, an identity, and a reason for people to take part. One Core stopped being an IT project and became a future the whole business could see itself in.
The Challenge
Siegwerk had already globalised its ERP landscape with a programme called One World: a single global template and a harmonised master data model, running as the stable backbone across almost all sites. The next step, a conversion to SAP S/4HANA on a Brownfield+ approach, was a sound and necessary technical decision. The platform underneath the business was built on technology from more than twenty years ago and had reached its limits.
But the move carried two problems that had nothing to do with technology. First, it had a perception problem. It looked like another long, technical IT exercise with little bearing on their daily work. Second, and harder, the first phase offered no visible reward. By design, it changed as little as possible: no new features, no redesigned ways of working, only the mandatory adjustments needed to run on the new system. The measure of success was an uneventful go-live.
That created an awkward ask. Siegwerk needed its local teams across 13 sites to invest a year in careful testing, the single biggest factor in a safe go-live, in return for a change they would barely notice when it landed. Without a clear reason to care, that effort was at risk.
The Goal
Siegwerk wanted to turn a technical necessity into a change people understood and actively supported. Together we set out to:
Replace the image of "another IT project" with a clear, strategic story, tied directly to Siegwerk's 2030 strategy
Give teams across 13 sites a reason to commit to a year of testing, even without an immediate payoff
Make the programme visible and recognisable, so it stood apart from the everyday noise of change
Define clear roles and a practical way for local teams to take part with confidence
The Solution
Strategy and reframe: We ran a series of Change Playbook workshops with the programme team to shape the roll-out strategy and reframe what One Core was really about. The technical conversion became the first phase of a deliberate two-step move: build a strong, stable foundation first, then choose which innovations to switch on later. That turned a one-off IT task into a strategic investment in Siegwerk's digital future, and gave the team a story they owned from the start.
Narrative and identity: We built the core narrative around a single, honest idea. What got us here today will not get us there tomorrow. One World globalised the company. One Core makes it future-ready. It is not a replacement, it is the evolution of a proven foundation. We carried that story into a distinctive visual identity, the One Core brand, with its own mark and a bold, recognisable design language in Siegwerk's colours. It gave the programme a face of its own and made it stand out wherever it appeared.
Activation and enablement: To drive the behaviour that mattered most, we created an activation campaign around a simple line: Don't Guess, Test. It made a year of testing feel purposeful rather than a chore, and gave local experts a shared mindset. We brought it to life through the S/4Hana roadshow, taking the programme directly to 13 sites from Q2 2026 to align local leaders and equip Site Coordinators and Key Users to run testing with confidence. The message throughout was a partnership: we bring the method, the tools, and the support, you bring the local insight only your team has.
The Result
One Core is a live programme, with go-live planned for mid-2027. The communications work has already changed how it is seen and how people engage with it:
A technical conversion now carries a clear, strategic story, tied to Siegwerk's 2030 strategy
One unified narrative and identity that travels across all 13 sites and every audience
A recognisable programme brand that stands apart from everyday change communication
A single, memorable rallying point, Don't Guess, Test, that gives the testing year a shared purpose
Defined roles for Site Leaders, Site Coordinators, and Key Users, backed by a practical engagement model
Local teams equipped to take part with confidence through the S/4Hana roadshow
A repeatable approach that scales across the remaining iterations on the way to go-live