About the Royal Agricultural Society

The RAS consists of 160 dedicated full time personnel, plus significantly more during key events. The RAS was founded in 1822 and is a not-for-profit organisation committed to supporting agricultural development and rural communities in New South Wales and across Australia.

The RAS’ mission is to foster innovation, sustainability, and excellence is achieved through a diverse range of initiatives and educational programs. These include well-known annual events such as The Sydney Royal Easter Show, which always attract a diverse audience.

Various charitable initiatives are also supported through the RAS Foundation. These are mostly focused on those that benefit rural and regional areas, primarily in NSW.

A new focus on digital channels

An organisation only manages to celebrate its 200 year anniversary by being able to progress with changing times. One of the steps that The RAS took to mark the event was to create a new Head of Marketing role, which was filled by experienced sales and marketing professional Frances Jewell. 

Frances told us that she soon identified the need to place a new focus onThe  RAS’ online presence. Till that point, the website had not been seen as a priority, and had bounced from one internal owner to another with little proper attention and inconsistent management. 

The RAS had been using Optimizely for some time, and although it worked well, Frances saw at once that the organisation could be getting much more out of it with a little focus and some upgrades. In particular, she observed that the system was cumbersome in adding new content. Similarly, finding relevant information and buying online tickets was unnecessarily complex and there was clearly the potential for this to be detrimental to fundraising efforts.

Frances stated that authoring new content had been a slow and tedious process. She and her team realized that in order to remain competitive in the quickly changing digital environment and provide an engaging user experience, it was necessary to progress and catch up. After conversations with Sudo Roux, Frances observed that the website had been stagnant for seven years, its lack of modern features causing frustration among users and staff alike who had encountered obstacles.

Perfect partners with the right tools

Architected by Gold Optimizely Partner Sudo Roux, who is also a recipient of the Customer Choice Partner of the Year award. Frances commented that Optimizely has always stood as a “true strategic partner” and The RAS had no interest or reason to look anywhere else when it came to upgrading the system

Sudo Roux were the missing piece that's been absent before. A full-service offering consisting of ‌customer-centric and value-led strategic insights, support, and guidance that align with a joint roadmap and its overarching business objectives. Upgrading to CMS 12 was the foundations the business needed to stay true to the roadmap that Sudo Roux and The RAS had planned. With the additional performance that CMS 12 offers, it means The RAS can at last offer the sort of digital infrastructure that both internal and external stakeholders need.

Transitioning to CMS 12

There is always some concern when it comes to change, and some stakeholders within The RAS had reservations about shifting to CMS 12. There were the natural apprehensions about potential disruptions to business continuity and whether the transition would impose an additional burden on the team. However, the pain points with the existing system had become so self-evident that there were no real arguments against an upgrade and most understood that the need was pressing.

Led by Sudo Roux, the RAS gained a comprehensive understanding of how the upgrade would directly satisfy their critical needs. Consequently, the decision to upgrade became essential, as it would bolster security, enhance website speed, and help retain valuable staff.

CMS 12 was able to deliver distinct improvements over the legacy system. These include faster page loads which will immediately serve to reduce bounce rates and increase site engagement. Specifically, response time is around four times faster while key actions like login and search are five to ten times faster. CMS 12 has tripled its server handling capacity, resulting in an enhanced customer experience during peak tariff periods of the Sydney Royal Easter Show, with up to 24 million users.

As well as the improved performance, CMS 12 has new features that add up to a better user experience for everyone, from content authors, developers and, most importantly, the visitors. Content authors and editors benefit from an updated user interface, inline block editing, different page view modes and a larger text area, all of which make content creation and editing easier and faster. Likewise, there are enhanced features for developers that make the environment easier to work in and bring new efficiencies.

Demonstrable improvements across the board

The benefits of CMS12 sound great in theory, but it takes a real world case study of the software in action to see the tangible benefits that they can deliver to a business. 

Frances commented that once the migration was complete, the one factor that was immediately obvious was how much time could be saved. She said she saw an improvement in team efficiency when it came to content authoring and editing. The content authoring time has been profoundly reduced, thanks to the updated content management features. Sudo Roux didn't only think about the end user experience but also the editors experience - after all, they're using this every day - This streamlined experience and process frees up time for team members to devote to other strategic initiatives. It also ensures that fresh and relevant content is delivered in a timely manner 

As well as the benefits for the content editors, Sudo Roux's development team can deliver their update much more efficiently. The enhanced capabilities of the framework allow developers to write cleaner and more concise code, significantly reducing the overall time taken in development cycles. Not only does this mean new features and functionalities can be delivered faster, it also delivers cost savings by achieving the same development goals in fewer labour hours.

“As a result,” said Frances, “we can keep our website dynamic and engaging, reflecting the latest developments in the agricultural industry and catering to the diverse interests of our stakeholders.

Frances has been pleased to witness significant improvements in UX, too. The faster load times are, she said, palpable, and the enhancements in IA provide a more cohesive browsing experience for users. Sudo Roux's UX and IA workshops explored all factors that impacted the websites, such as analytics data, user interviews, user behaviour, and business operations. This allowed for the websites to be streamlined and unnecessary components to be removed. This resulted in a more intuitive navigation and improved content discovery. Ultimately, users now have a better experience than before, which is beneficial for everyone involved. These workshops not only streamlined the websites, but also improved the user experience, resulting in a win-win for everyone involved.

A game changer for RAS and its customers

Frances has described the upgrade to Optimizely CMS 12 as a "game-changer". She says it has helped to set The RAS apart as an industry leader. In any business sector in the 21st century, speed and agility in delivering marketing communications is a core ingredient for building recognition and achieving success. The RAS’ marketing team can react swiftly to emerging events and update content in minutes, ensuring that they stay responsive and demonstrate they have their finger on the pulse. It also positions The RAS in people’s minds as a dynamic and forward-thinking organisation.

The RAS, in partnership with Sudo Roux, has taken a transformative journey that has changed them from a technological follower to a leader. With the support, expertise, guidance, and assurance of our Gold level Partner, The RAS is well-equipped to future-proof their digital infrastructure. The framework is designed to be adaptable to future technology and industry standards, making any future updates and maintenance simpler to manage. The RAS is confident that, with the help of Sudo Roux, they will be able to future-proof their digital infrastructure for years to come.

Looking ahead

The transition to CMS 12 is a vital stage in a broader project within RAS to implement a Customer Centric Digital Experience Platform (DXP). This project is at the core of the company’s strategy, designed to transform customer engagement and to make life easier and better for staff and contractors.

Alongside Sudo Roux, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing Automation (MA) systems are also undergoing major enhancements, all aimed at making customer interactions more personal and the marketing team more efficient. The company has also not ruled out exploration of CDP investment as an innovative component to the DXP.

The RAS plays a vitally important role in educating everyone on matters of agriculture and sustainability. Topics that are more important today than ever before. Optimizely and Sudo Roux are proud to play a role as a key strategic partner in helping The RAS to get its message across and to remain the leading organisation in this important sector for the next 200 years or more.