Storytelling assets, scattered everywhere
Before Clipido, Westmalle's imagery lived across SharePoint, network drives, personal hard disks and external partners like photographers and design agencies. Manu knew roughly what existed, but finding the right file was another matter entirely.
Small requests went out by email. Larger sets moved through file-transfer services. Only a small emergency stash was organized well enough for others to reach when Manu was away. The rest stayed on appointment with the specialist who knew where things lived.
No more wasting time searching for things, or sometimes having to ask for them again because you could not find them. That is where the real gain is.
Manu Pauwels, Head of Marketing, Trappist WestmalleOne database, findable and shareable
The goal was straightforward: bring everything into one database, surface the right image when you search for it, and share it easily with everyone who needs it. Because every request is different: one journalist writes about the abbey and wants the abbey tower with the logo, the next needs a cheese. A distributor asks for a bottle of Dubbel with a glass today and an atmosphere shot next week. The answer now always comes from the same library.
Westmalle built a tag structure instead of folders. Manu compares it to a Rubik's cube: attach the right labels and rotate the dimensions until the view you need appears. For him, that beats maintaining folder trees hands down.
Less chasing, more self-service
Today, new assets go straight into Clipido the moment they arrive, tagged on upload. Partners receive links and pull what they need themselves: Westmalle's content agency now works directly from a shared library of over 800 images. Fewer requests reaching Manu's inbox is the clearest sign it is working.
The team estimates they are at roughly ninety percent of the ideal setup. Tagging still evolves with use, and upload discipline remains the human variable. But the efficiency gain is real: less searching, less re-requesting, and more time for the storytelling Westmalle is built on.
