Overview

Spectrum Brands, the home essentials company whose brands include Russell Hobbs^®, Tetra^®, Remington^® and Spectracide^®, approached Ascend to provide a CMS to a bespoke Laravel software platform previously developed during the COVID period.

While the Laravel system was robust and tailored to their needs, its developer-only editability posed constraints. Spectrum Brands wanted to empower their non-technical team members with the ability to update certain content without requiring developer intervention every time.

Ascend proposed and implemented a hybrid approach, integrating the trusted WordPress Content Management System (CMS) into the existing Laravel infrastructure. We strategically identified sections of the platform that required regular content updates, and these sections were migrated to the WordPress CMS; allowing for easy content updates while ensuring the primary functionalities remained within the Laravel framework.

The integration was carried out with meticulous care to ensure a seamless user experience between front-end application and back-of-house CMS.

Post-implementation, Specrtum reported increased operational efficiency with non-technical team members now able to make timely content updates, eliminating the bottleneck of routing every small change through a development team. This fusion of WordPress CMS and Laravel not only expedited content management processes but also freed up developers to focus on more complex tasks and enhancements. The hybrid system proved to be the ideal blend of flexibility and robustness, catering to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

What we did