Since 2007, Wholegrain Digital’s purpose has been to create beautiful websites, for good people doing good things in business. This belief that business can, and should be a force for good has always underpinned everything we do, and was reinforced in 2017 when we first achieved B Corporation certification.
As a business, we always seek to work with clients whose values align with our own, and have been lucky enough to work on some amazing projects with charitable and purpose driven organisations from Article 19 to One Water. We value all of these clients equally, and have, or continue to develop, strong relationships with them all.
This is the story of one of our longest standing relationships, with the global market leader in sustainable living, green cleaning giant Ecover.
How it all began
From the very beginning, the Ecover brand was one of those dream clients we wanted to work with. From the very beginning when they developed their first phosphate-free formula in 1979, they have always been an inspiring, values driven organisation. They have since grown from being a niche brand known in only the most eco-conscious of circles and available in just a handful of supermarkets in Belgium in 1989, to a becoming a global influence in the sustainable living arena today.
So, we were really excited in 2014 when we first started working with Ecover, helping their sister brand method products to create a new website that was rolled out in 10 countries, to support their global growth and better appeal to their rapidly expanding audience.
Growing together
From this first project, we went on to build a strong collaborative relationship with the Ecover team, and are proud to have been part of their journey in more recent years.
As Ecover grew from strength to strength, we began our equally aligned journey. Over the past decade, we have grown from being known as the first London WordPress agency, to becoming one of the leading voices in web sustainability, taking ownership of the need to address the carbon footprint of the web, with the launch of the world’s first website carbon calculator, and the creation of the Sustainable Web Manifesto, which encourages others in our industry to pledge their commitment to making real changes to protect the planet.
Working in Partnership
Over the years we have collaborated our efforts across a variety of projects, and, in a way, ‘grown up’ together. This working and growing together means we have developed a deep understanding of not just the Ecover team, but also an even deeper appreciation of the brand, its origins and its evolution. This relationship has resulted in us creating some amazing projects together, from various online campaigns to competitions and newsletters.
Building a brand
Of course, building a brand is not a one-off project but an ongoing evolution, one that we’re immensely proud to be an ongoing partner in.
While we really enjoy exciting projects such as full website rebrands, bringing each new iteration of a brands’ visual identity to life online, the real relationship building happens not only here, but just as in our personal lives, it is built in the moments in between.
Relationships are built in the ‘bits in between’
Many people measure romantic relationships by the major moments such as buying a house together, maybe getting married and / or starting a family. The truth is, these relationships are actually built in the mundane – the ‘bits in between’ – such as the way someone lights up when they talk about their passion, or how they remember to get your tea to *just* the right temperature. The cliché is that marriage, for example, is a journey and not just a destination. The thing about clichés is that they tend to come from a universally acknowledged truth. And this journey cliché applies to all relationships.
Our ongoing relationship with Ecover is built as much on the bits in between – the ongoing support and maintenance, offering peace of mind in between the bigger projects, and the regular conversations we have with the team, which, with all of us being human, is not limited to work! So we share excitement over personal milestones with team members as much as we share the success of our joint digital projects. We bring our whole selves to the table, and, as a result of this openness, so do they.
If Wholegrain had a dating profile, it would probably say something like: ‘Values: Ambitiously Sustainable. Positively Brave. Seeking like-minded for meaningful medium – long-term relationships with real humans.’ If this sounds like something you and your team would swipe right for, then get in touch. It could be the start of a great relationship.
