How Coherence Built a Global Design System for Bayer

Bayer set out to modernise a digital estate that supports 23 brands and hundreds of localised sites around the world. It needed consistent branding, simpler operations and marketing teams who could move quickly, and it needed new sites to reach market much faster.

The Challenge

Bayer's legacy platform was reaching end of life. Hosting was decentralised, which created inefficiencies and gaps in governance. Each market implemented the brand differently, diluting global standards. Every new site needed a developer at every stage, so launches were slow.

The Approach

A primary design system. Coherence built a scalable design system as the single source of truth for Bayer's branding, with reusable layout patterns and templates. Local teams could adapt their sites while the global standard held.

Low-code editing. On Drupal and Acquia Site Studio, Coherence gave marketers a low-code editor to build and publish pages in real time, with far less reliance on developers. Site Studio's Style Guide Manager handles the theming for each brand.

The Outcome

Bayer moved 460 sites onto a single codebase. New sites reach market faster, organic visibility has grown, and the platform has saved $15m over three years.