Pierre Fabre Laboratories Powers All Web Initiatives with Vignette Expertise.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Pierre Fabre Laboratories, the second-largest independent French laboratory and the European leader in pharmaceutical dermocosmetics, has deployed Vignette(R) solutions across its multiple Web initiatives. The company, which also focuses on ethical pharmaceutical and family health sectors with brands such as Avene, Ducray, A-Derma, Galenic, Klorane and Rene Furterer, turned to Vignette Corp. (Nasdaq:VIGN) to address its identified need to communicate via the Web with its clients and employees.

To address those targets, many Web sites already had been created, but without real coordination among them; often they were based on heterogeneous technologies. As a result, Pierre Fabre Laboratories faced a number of issues, especially the redundancy of information and the time lag in the publication of information from one Web site to another, as well as difficulty in consolidating the information. The company also had a need to deliver multilingual content. Moreover, having the administration interface outsourced was slowing down the posting of content on Web sites, which resulted in a loss of time and efficiency. Furthermore, there was a growing need for integration with legacy information systems.

The initiative addressed several goals: to federate the various internal Web initiatives on a single architecture, and then enable management of those Web sites in-house, and finally to create a global platform to pave the way for future Web initiatives. All this needed to be done while maximizing return on investment.

To capitalize on its investments, Pierre Fabre Laboratories chose the Vignette content management platform.

"The user-friendly interface of Vignette's content management as well as its strong configuration capabilities have been particularly appreciated by the users," said Jeanne Valy, IT project manager for Pierre Fabre Laboratories. "The ready-to-use content management back-office environment provided by Vignette is very flexible because it enables us to define and configure different types of content that can be reused within the context of new Web initiatives. Vignette being based on a J2EE platform really impacted our choice."

The initial implementation involved the launch of four major Web initiatives: the corporate Web site, an intranet dedicated to medical visitors, the ORFAGEN Web site dedicated to rare dermatological disorders, and an internal communication intranet. To implement the Vignette solution, Pierre Fabre Laboratories worked with Vignette Professional Services, which developed the core implementation in 40 days.

Formerly outsourced, the corporate Web site is now supported internally and went live in only one and a half months. One of the main requirements was to enhance the press center, including the ability to quickly publish press releases in three languages: French, Spanish and English. With the customization provided by Vignette, journalists visiting the site gain direct access to content matching their profile and language.

Another major requirement was the creation of a human resources area allowing nontechnical users to create and contribute content directly. The employees of this department are now able to create job advertisements and post them directly through a user-friendly interface.

Allowing employees to directly generate and update content increases the amount of information contributed by users, helps ensure that the information stays current, and better serves the needs of the company's various departments. That was the case for Pierre Fabre Laboratories' marketing research and development service when the easy-to-use Vignette solution for contributors and webmasters accelerated the publication of information, helped create more comprehensive content and generated strong enthusiasm. "All the colleagues from our Surveys & Research department are contributors, and we do publish a great amount of information on our intranet called Focus, including product datasheets by country, market studies, panels, etc.," said Jeanine Vignali, head of Competitive Intelligence in the Pierre Fabre Laboratories marketing group. "The updates are now done on a daily basis, thanks to the easy-to-use interface. Since October, we have used the Web site to make all the marketing information available to hundreds of employees."

Pierre Fabre Laboratories has decided to go even further. The IT department created a sort of "Web site factory" platform, enabling the replication of Web site initiatives to capitalize on its investment. Thanks to the Vignette platform, it expects to take future Web initiatives live in less than three months. "With the Vignette content management solution, we can now successfully and efficiently drive new Web initiatives," said Philippe Tronc, chief information officer of Pierre Fabre Laboratories.

With Pierre Fabre Laboratories, Vignette confirms its leadership in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sector with a customer roster that includes AstraZeneca, Aventis and Wyeth.

About Vignette Corp.

Vignette's software and expertise help organizations harness the power of information and the Web for measurable improvements in business efficiency. As the efficiency experts, Vignette (Nasdaq:VIGN) helps organizations increase productivity, reduce costs, improve user experiences and manage risk. Vignette's intranet, extranet and Internet solutions incorporate portal, integration, enterprise content management and collaboration capabilities that can rapidly deliver unique advantages through an open, scalable and adaptable architecture that integrates with legacy systems. Vignette is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with local operations worldwide. Visit http://www.vignette.com to see how Vignette customers achieve measurable improvements in business efficiency and to find out why more companies prefer Vignette.

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