Pearson’s purpose is to help everyone achieve their potential through learning.

With a presence in almost 200 countries, they enable tens of millions of learners per year to maximise their success by providing end-to-end learning solutions.

They believe the future of learning is digital, and 2020 has been a year of profound change for the business. Their new Chief Executive, Andy Bird, was appointed in October 2020 and is leading the company into a new era of growth, focused on building lifelong direct-to-consumer relationships and online learning.

COVID-19 has accelerated huge momentum in the learning market, which currently is valued £5 trillion and is expected to grow to over £7 trillion by 2030..

 

Tell It

  • Digital & content strategy
  • Copywriting
  • Animation & infographics

Build It

  • Web design & development
  • IR Tools & Feeds

Run It

  • 24/7 Service & Support
  • Webcasting and Virtual Events

Find It

  • SEO optimization and reporting
  • Elite analytic support

The challenge

Introducing a new Chief Executive and strategy during a time of massive disruption

Pearson was keen to build a digital estate that would support their ambition and vision, showcase the new digital era for the business, and expand on the investment they have made in technology over the years. The team identified three main objectives for their digital channels:

  • Create a standalone, user-friendly corporate and IR site. Previously, it only existed as a section within Pearson’s consumer site, which limited its scope. In addition, it was very difficult to navigate.

  • Create a digital platform that would share Pearson’s new strategy and help strengthen credibility within the investor community.

  • Focus on ESG and purpose, which is crucial for Pearson as a purpose-driven company and represents the foundation of its new strategy.

The team operated under significant challenges, including a tight timeframe of three months for the new corporate site to be built from scratch.

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The outcome

Pearson’s new corporate and IR website was launched according to plan during their Full Year Results and Strategy Update – 3 months after the works started. This time frame is particularly impressive considering that a project of this scale would usually take around 6 months to build. It is a huge improvement with great UX and beautiful use of photography, which adheres to the latest articulation of Pearson's brand roll out.

The site was met with incredibly positive feedback and the company’s stock price increased by 8% following the March investor event. The site has been developed in two languages, UK and US English, as Pearson also has a secondary listing on the NYSE. Since launch, it has seen a dramatic increase in the number of US visitors to the site.

Pearson’s 2020 Full Year Results and Strategy Update also received overwhelming positive feedback from shareholders, analysts, employees, senior leaders and the media. The post-event analytics show a high level of engagement with 455 live viewers on the day of the event, an impressive 258% increase compared to their 2020 Half Year Results.

We can already see improvements on key sections of the site following its launch with:

 

 

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Page views on ‘Our Company’ page

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Page views and +50 % time spent on the 'Investors' page

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Sessions on mobile site-wide

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Time spent on the 'Our Purpose and Strategy' page

Pearson’s new corporate and IR website showcases our digital-first approach with a particular focus on clearly presenting our new strategy and investment case to our key stakeholders through a much-improved user experience. People can now truly understand why we are the world’s leading learning company, why we are set up to achieve long-term sustainable growth, as well as find out more on our focus on ESG and sustainability.

Sally Johnson, CFO and Board member at Pearson