From Proof of Concept to Global Scale: Lessons from Boehringer Ingelheim’s CDP Success
Last updated March 11, 2025
CDP World 2024 featured many standout keynotes, but one in particular caught the attention of attendees. Ross Williams, Global Capability Owner: Data-Driven Engagement at Boehringer Ingelheim, not only brought his signature sense of humor to the stage—he also shared a remarkable and unique customer data platform (CDP) story that left a lasting impression.
Ross touched on a critical challenge: the growing pressure to deliver seamless, personalized customer experiences. For Boehringer Ingelheim, the world’s largest privately held pharmaceutical company operating across 130 countries, addressing this means a bold shift. Their solution? A unified data strategy connecting every touchpoint.
Here are key insights from Ross’ enlightening presentation:
Unified Data: The Key to Seamless Customer Experiences
One powerful takeaway from Ross’ keynote that really stood out is this: “Customers don’t care about your channels—they care about a consistent experience. Whether online or offline, every interaction should feel connected and personal. That’s why unifying our data became a priority.”
The concept of “omnichannel” marketing has been a buzzword for years, yet it surprisingly doesn’t come up as often as you’d expect in conversations about CDPs, customer data, and AI. Ross highlighted this during his keynote, and it really struck a chord with the audience—omnichannel experiences and CDPs go hand in hand, like peanut butter and jelly.
From Proof of Concept to Global Scale
Boehringer Ingelheim began their journey with a proof of concept (POC) to test whether Treasure Data CDP could activate data across channels, scale insights, and transform how they engage customers. The results? Game-changing.
One marketer put it best: “The CDP lets us plan for our customers, not just for our channels.” This shift enabled teams to move faster, think strategically, and prioritize customer-centric initiatives.
The Golden Data Foundation: Scaling with Speed and Flexibility
After proving the concept, Boehringer Ingelheim scaled its efforts globally with the Golden Data Foundation—a standardized yet adaptable framework designed to unify data and empower teams to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
The Golden Data Foundation creates a scalable structure balancing global consistency with local flexibility through several key components:
- Standardized data points for consistent, simplified integration.
- Reference use cases to guide confident local execution.
- Streamlined onboarding to speed implementation.
- A training sandbox for skill-building and testing.
- Cross-collaboration strategies via the Center of Excellence.
This framework enables faster market actions, focuses on high-impact initiatives, and supports precise, customer-centric strategies. By blending standardization with local adaptability, Boehringer Ingelheim sets a global CDP success benchmark.
Omni-channel Experiences starts with the CDP
The ability to connect customer experiences across channels isn’t just a goal—it’s a necessity in today’s world. Yet, it’s a challenge most companies struggle to solve. As Ross emphasized, achieving a true omnichannel experience starts with a unified view of the customer, and that’s where the CDP proves its value. Without it, the idea of seamless customer engagement remains out of reach.
The Golden Data Foundation powers Boehringer Ingelheim’s omnichannel strategy by bringing customer data together in one place. This unification enables the delivery of consistent, personalized experiences at every touchpoint. Whether it’s an email, a social ad, or an in-person interaction, the CDP ensures every channel works in harmony to tell a cohesive story, meet customers where they are, and drive meaningful connections.
The Center of Excellence: Driving Adoption and Value
The Center of Excellence (CoE) plays a pivotal role, managing the technical complexities of data integration and activation while supporting local teams to deliver quick wins. Within the first 90 days of launching in a new market, the CoE builds segments, identifies channels, and launches initial campaigns to demonstrate the CDP’s value.
With this framework, implementation time dropped from six months to just 90 days. This rapid rollout saved costs and allowed local teams to focus on driving results, not on setup. This combination of centralized support and local ownership has been key to Boehringer Ingelheim’s success.
Key Takeaways: Perfecting the 90-Day Rollout
Boehringer Ingelheim’s CDP rollout offers key lessons for creating seamless, personalized customer experiences at scale:
- Unified Data Enables Omnichannel Success Customers expect consistency across touchpoints. A unified data strategy ensures connected, personal interactions, making CDPs essential for omnichannel experiences.
- Start Small, Scale Fast A proof of concept validated the CDP’s value, allowing confident scaling across 130 countries while staying strategic.
- The Golden Data Foundation Powers Scalability This framework balances global consistency with local flexibility, using standardized processes, reusable use cases, and streamlined onboarding to speed adoption and empower teams.
- The Center of Excellence Accelerates Results The CoE’s 90-day rollout model cuts implementation time and helps local teams focus on impactful campaigns, delivering quick wins and sustainable value.
- CDPs Are Key to Customer-Centric Strategies A unified customer view drives personalized, consistent experiences across channels, transforming how Boehringer Ingelheim engages customers.
This strategy shows how blending vision with execution can turn data into powerful, scalable customer experiences.
CDP World 2024 was filled with valuable knowledge from global brand executives and industry leaders like Ross, sharing their strategies for CDP success and next-gen marketing. To dive deeper into these topics and hear from experts, binge-watch the featured sessions on our YouTube playlist.
And mark your calendars for CDP World 2025! We’ll be back in Las Vegas on October 28–29, 2025, with more cutting-edge discussions on CDPs and the latest in marketing technology. You won’t want to miss out.
