Challenge

Michelin aimed to build pilot projects and experiment with innovative loyalty strategies, but their outdated legacy technology stack made this impossible. Recognizing the need for a modernized system, they set out to create a new loyalty technology stack that would support rapid time-to-market for pilot projects and efficient experimentation.

They needed a solution that could seamlessly connect with event streaming systems and CDPs. To achieve this, Michelin needed a flexible promotion and loyalty engine that would save developers time and integrate smoothly with other microservices tools, enabling the creation of a comprehensive promotional strategy.

Strategy

Faced with the need for flexible promotion code management and a future membership program, Michelin took a strategic leap by leveraging external partners instead of internal development. This decision allowed them to move quickly and adapt to market demands. The collaboration began with Voucherify, which powered both discount coupons and automatic promotions. This success paved the way for a bolder step: piloting a tiered membership program in the French market.

Adopting the principles of composability, Michelin utilized MACH tools to iteratively build their new comprehensive architecture. This approach enabled them to connect the necessary micro-services, providing the flexibility and scalability needed to efficiently meet their evolving business needs and market demands.

Method

Following the principles of composability, Michelin developed a comprehensive architecture to connect separate micro-services.

The loyalty flow is built on a Kafka connector that streams events between systems. Customer data and events are streamed from Blueconic CDP to Voucherify APIs via a custom middleware that collects and translates pieces of data into API payloads. Besides being the data destination, Voucherify also operates as a data source for loyalty events, which are streamed via Kafka back to Blueconic CDP, which in turn feeds personalization and messaging supported by Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Michelin uses Salesforce to identify program members and manage email marketing activities.

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