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What are the key ingredients for a successful brand and website relaunch?
When a long-established company like the Handtmann Group and its Processing division aspire to be global leaders in technology and communication, their digital presence must reflect that aspiration. The project with Handtmann impressively demonstrates how brand strategy, content, and technology can be combined into a future-proof whole—with a clear goal: autonomy, speed, and quality in global communication.
“The challenge was to manage a complex project that involved the implementation of a new CMS and the strategic realignment of our digital presence—both nationally across all business units and internationally for sales subsidiaries with specific requirementsnetzwerk P
netzwerk P the right partner for this, as they combine impartial consulting with technical and strategic expertise.”
Marco Utzen
Head of Marketing Communication
Albert Handtmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG
To the service infrastructure development
Handtmann Group
Business divisions: 5
Employees: > 4,500
Industry: Mechanical and plant engineering, light metal casting, systems engineering, plastics technology
Revenue: EUR 1.3 billion (2024)
Handtmann Processing Division
Employees: > 1,500
Industry: Process technology
Revenue: EUR 361 million (2024)
Sales and service partners (worldwide): 70
Sales subsidiaries (worldwide): 15
Along with the dissolution of Daimler AG into two separate groups - Daimler Truck AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG - Daimler Truck AG had to reorganize its system landscape. A challenge, but at the same time a great opportunity. In the previous years, new tools had always been added without any connections to the existing ones. When adding new tools, the company had only thought in fragments and had not kept an eye on the big picture. The result was a jigsaw puzzle in which the pieces didn't want to fit together.
In addition, there was no uniform role rights strategy. Until then, each system individually determined who got which access permissions. A confusing situation: many individual systems with separate access data and different role rights assignments.
Daimler Truck AG was now looking for a central user administration and a platform through which the dealers could access all the store systems and configurators they needed.
netzwerk P , as a long-standing partner of the former Daimler AG, already had extensive knowledge of the processes and requirements. As an expert in marketing infrastructure, netzwerk P was able to provide the best possible support for this project.
Outdated CMS with limitations in maintenance
A decentralized and inconsistent global presence
Poor user guidance, outdated content, and too much content
Relaunch as a leading trade fair (IFFA 2025)
“We benefited greatly from the team’s expertise, particularly in the areas of architecture, CMS selection, and technical implementation. Specialists from the agency family—such as those from Lösch, immedia23, and contenance— were brought in in a targeted manner and without requiring any additional coordination effort.
Openness, pragmatic solutions, and a genuine spirit of collaboration characterized our work together—that’s exactly how you’d imagine a partnership at this level.”
Marius Funk
Project Manager, Website Relaunch
Albert Handtmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG
The task was clearly defined: We needed to find and implement a new CMS—one that was intuitive to use, featured a WYSIWYG editor, modern content modules, and a high degree of flexibility combined with scalability.
In addition, the following overarching requirements were a key focus:
Excellent usability and support for editors
Internationalization with multilingual and multisite capabilities
Component-based development
Ability to integrate third-party systems such as DAM and PIM
Future-proofing through a composable DXP approach
We have divided the project into two parallel "tracks"—one technical and one content-related.
Technical Track:
Development of a new information and system architecture
Creation and evaluation of a shortlist of four CMS providers
Evaluation based on criteria such as usability, flexibility, multisite management, component logic, SEO, language support, and cost model
The decision to use the Neos CMS – due to its exceptional user-friendliness, especially for remote editors
Development of the Domain Strategy
Implementation, Testing, Training, Documentation
Content Track:
Target Audience and Competitive Analysis
Brand workshops (internal perspective) and customer interviews (external perspective)
Further development of the existing corporate design
Development of a modern website design and a visual style consistent with the brand
Content creation for global and local websites
You can find detailed insights into the content development and brand strategy in the case study on the website of our sister agency, Lösch.
International rollout
The solution was designed not only to work for the headquarters in Germany but also to be scalable worldwide. To achieve this, an international blueprint was developed that enables rapid adaptation for individual markets—without compromising on autonomy or brand consistency.
Within a few months, websites were rolled out for locations in Europe (e.g., Germany, France, UK), North and South America (e.g., USA, Mexico, Brazil), and Asia (e.g., China, Thailand). Additional regions were covered via an international website for markets without their own sales subsidiaries. New country websites can be launched at any time from the existing setup—quickly, flexibly, and in line with the brand.
Furthermore, the technical foundation is designed so that all other business units within the Handtmann Group can maintain and further develop their own pages and content based on the same system—with a consistent brand image but with options for individual customization.
To ensure that all the necessary expertise is optimally combined, we have brought together four agencies from our agency family for this project: netzwerk P, Lösch, immedia23, and contenance.
Two project managers—one each at netzwerk P Lösch—ensured rigorous management of both tracks.
Technical coordination took place in agile sprints, while content coordination was handled through regular meetings—both internally and jointly with the client.
The client was closely involved from the start—major decisions were made in internal committees. The close cross-functional collaboration enabled short lines of communication, rapid coordination, and true co-creation.
“The new digital presence went live just in time for IFFA 2025 and combines strategic clarity, user-friendliness, and flexibility. Content can now be managed much more efficiently, and local teams work independently while adhering to brand guidelines.
Thanks to its modular structure and scalable technical foundation, all business units benefit from a shared platform.
The project was successfully implemented on time, within budget, and exactly according to scope—a true milestone.“
Marius Funk
Project Manager, Website Relaunch
Albert Handtmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG
The new website went live at IFFA 2025, the leading international trade fair. This launch brought with it a sharpened brand identity, a consistent international presence, and a high-performance, easy-to-maintain website.
Content management is now significantly more efficient, and local editorial teams can independently create and adapt pages. No more multiple briefings, no dependence on agencies—instead, full control and high flexibility.
Learn how to optimize your marketing infrastructure here.
