A single Dedicated Desk became two, three and then four and before William Duijzer knew it, he was sitting in the meeting room of his own office talking about how quickly it all went... His company Wild Digital grew this way within Het Industriegebouw (HIG) in less than three years, thanks to all possible rental forms that you can choose within the building. In an interview with HIG, he gives an insight into his practice of branding and design. He also talks about the journey his company has made through the building and about his experience with the HIG Community.
Relaxed and a little proud, William takes a seat at the large conference table in Wild Digital's private meeting room. “We have been here for a few months now and it remains such a luxury, our own meeting room”. Only a few months in this office, that's true, but already a few years ago William settled with his brand new company in Het Industriegebouw. “I started Wild Digital in 2019, just before Covid hit.”
Fresh start
First things first, what did William do before starting his current adventure? He laughs: “Well, do you have a minute? So I'm originally from Zeeland...” Fast forward to many years later, when he moved from the province to the big city for his studies. First he attended the Graphic Lyceum and then he did the Art Academy, learning communication and multimedia design. Since that time William has lived in Rotterdam. “I started a digital agency with a few other guys straight out of my studies. We made really cool stuff, especially focused on visuals and interactive interfaces.” For the newbies among us: they ensured that users of a website got both a wow experience and a smooth user experience, which is nice! “Our agency then reached the top of the digital market in no time, with a clientele of the caliber Pathé and Radio 538. Products from such well-known companies speak for themselves so that their focus can easily be on a beautiful online experience. After a while we got the chance to sell the company to the digital agency DEPT. When they took us over, I worked there for another 1.5 years as a design lead, along with a few others from our team, but after that I wanted to go my own way. Time for a fresh start.”
From freelancer to full house
When we ask him if that gave him a liberating feeling, he answers: “well, that took some getting used to, the freelance life. I worked on great projects for clients such as Schiphol and eBay. That was cool, of course, those big brands that came to me through my network, but over time it turned out that I missed a creative team around me. Alone is just so alone. I also missed guiding my own clients for a longer period of time. I really like problem solving and I really enjoy entering into such a long term process; that's what I do it for. Probably, precisely because I missed that, the idea of Wild Digital was born during that period: a company with which, if I did it right, I could go in depth and show more than just a beautiful design. That alone was too fleeting; in addition to attractive visuals, there also needs to be a good storyline."
William quickly gathered a young, enthusiastic team around him and there was Wild Digital: a branding and design agency that mainly operates in the lifestyle and tech sector. “Lifestyle, because we focus on design and this industry logically finds that very important. Tech because as digital developers we also understand that market well. Whatever customer comes our way, we first look together at who they are and what makes them different from their competitors in the field. Then we decide which story we want to tell and how we are going to do it. Many of the brands we work for have a good idea, sell a great product or offer a smart service, but find it difficult to bring it smoothly to their target audience. In fact, some even find it difficult to determine their target group, let alone think of how to reach such a following and which story you should tell exactly. Taking the time for that process is a very important step for a long-term strategy. We specialize in this and then with a focus on high quality design. Making really beautiful things together with the customer, so not just providing a fast, functional service.”
Wild Digital x HIG
Anyway, 2019, the birth year of Wild Digital, how did William end up at Het Industriegebouw? “In that year I was still alone with all my ideas, but I took the plunge and started an agency again. I immediately looked for a suitable place where Wild Digital could hold an office, because I didn't want to work from home and I wanted to be able to grow in the future. My preference was a place with a flexible atmosphere and a fixed workplace. I then went to look at different locations, but time and again I was offered a flex desk, one where you never have a permanent desk for yourself. That doesn't work for me, I just want a dedicated spot for myself in a relaxed atmosphere with flexible conditions. Then someone said to me: maybe you could go and have a look at Het Industriegebouw, that really sounds like something for you. And that was right, because it really appealed to me right away. Both the relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity to grow completely matched my image of where Wild Digital belonged. And so it turned out, because I started alone behind a Dedicated Desk, but that didn't last long. I soon got a senior colleague, for whom I also rented such a Desk. Then an intern arrived, so hoppa, Desk number three. When someone else joined, it was time to move to a Unit”, says William with a laugh. “This all happened within the span of a year. And believe it or not, but six months later we were already tight in the new office space and we had to look for a larger Unit again. Fortunately, it was available at the time!”
Unit > Office
Have you actually not suffered from Corona at all? William thinks: “Well, that was of course very exciting, because I had only just started Wild Digital. Remember, you're just informing customers, making acquisitions, setting up a new business case and that's when you need people to make bold decisions and start a long-term project with you. Fortunately, one of our new customers was an e-commerce business in the garden supplies sector and that industry went through Covid like a train. Even after that first crazy break of three months, the e-commerce business continued to grow very fast and after the summer there was actually growth again in all our projects. So much so that we steamed through from four to eight workplaces. Because we worked in shifts at the office, it went fine for a while, but when everyone came back from the home work situation after the last lockdown, it got really busy and noisy. Then I thought: I want to go to an Office.”
Future vision
An Office it is, in 2022 Wild Digital moved to a beautiful corner office on the 1st floor in the K-wing of Het Industriegebouw, with a view of the chestnut trees at the Achterklooster and plenty of space to accommodate the whole team. How is Wild Digital doing now? William: “Our team is quite young, I am 40 myself and I am by far the oldest. We work with a number of seniors and that is really necessary, because we deliver high quality, so there must be colleagues who can guarantee and guide this. In addition, there are also a number of people who are just starting their career and come to learn the tricks of the trade with us. The nice thing is that both our team and the customers are very international, so our official language is English. As a result, we also help customers to take an international step from the Dutch market. Europe in particular is a popular market and it will surprise you, but once you cross the border it all works very differently. Take Germany for example… they have a completely different mindset there. Our advantage is that we do a lot with multilingualism and can guide customers well in this. My favorite project? Wow, I'm a big football fan, so I think it's really cool that we were able to develop the digital platform of FC Straat, the online football platform of Rotterdammer Soufiane Touzani." Last year Williams team consisted of 9 employees. There are now 5 again due to natural progression and madness in the labor market, but business is going well and it is busy, so Wild Digital is looking for new team members again.
The HIG Community
What we are curious about, do you experience working at Het Industriegebouw differently than at other workplaces? “What I like about this building is the Community. When I first came here, I naturally started working alone behind a desk, but because of the online and offline interaction with other tenants, you are never alone. You even get to know other people very quickly. By having lunch with other tenants or by having a chat, you automatically build up a new network. The Community becomes your network, but there is also the possibility that you become each other's customer. For example, we have asked various companies from HIG if they can do something for us and vice versa we are now talking to our new neighbors to see if we can do a project for them. This is one of the reasons that it has added value to be located in a multi-company building such as HIG. In addition, I think the fact that it is a beautiful, fun, sympathetic and friendly environment is also very important for the experience of my customers. Being located in an inspiring building really helps for the look and feel of Wild Digital and how we present and identify ourselves. We are, as I said, very design-minded and this building exudes that enormously. In the initial search for a workplace, I noticed that many multi-tenant buildings have a corporate, impersonal character and HIG does not have that at all. So we are not only here for our own enjoyment of work, but also to be able to receive our customers in a representative place.”
Text by Nina Swaep
Photography by Michèle Margot
