Case Study: Kao Corporation achieves 20% faster updates and mobile-first global websites with Adobe Experience Manager

Kao refreshes and expands its global websites with Adobe Experience Manager

Kao, a Tokyo-based consumer goods company founded in 1887, manages more than 250 websites and over 500,000 digital assets to support 1,000+ product launches a year. Rapid growth in smartphone traffic (about 60% of visits by 2015) exposed limitations in its legacy CMS and conversion‑template workflows, driving up developer dependence, indirect standby costs, and localization time—prompting a shift to a mobile‑first design approach.

Kao implemented Adobe Experience Manager to combine CMS and DAM, build responsive templates, and enable direct authoring by creative agencies with Multi‑Site Manager for easier localization. The platform powered launches for brands like SOFINA, Merries and Kanebo, cut update turnaround and costs by about 20%, removed developer bottlenecks, centralized asset management, and accelerated global rollouts—results the company says exceed expectations.

Kao Corporation

Tsuyoshi Tanaka

Manager, Office of Communication Technology, Digital Marketing Center