Esko's Trust Center: Building Trust in Digital – Beyond Compliance
In today’s fast-moving packaging and branding industry, digital trust is no longer a technical side note. It’s a commercial necessity. For Esko, a global leader in packaging technology with roots in Ghent, Belgium digital trust has evolved into a strategic differentiator. Recently, Vinçotte, a Kiwa company, spoke with Esko’s CDTO and CMO to learn how they’re approaching this challenge.
Esko’s cloud platforms are at the heart of its offering. Customers - from global FMCG brands to pharmaceutical firms - entrust them with sensitive design assets, regulatory information, and product data. That level of trust can’t be assumed; it must be earned, proven, and maintained.
"Our customers don’t just use our technology. They trust us with their most critical assets — logos, designs, packaging concepts. That’s why digital trust matters." – Marc Vael, Chief Digital Trust Officer, Esko
From questionnaires to strategic vision
Seven years ago, Esko's leadership noticed a growing challenge: customer questionnaires about security, compliance and privacy were piling up - and getting longer. What began as technical due diligence quickly turned into full-blown audits and deep vendor assessments.
Rather than staying reactive, Esko made a bold move: they placed digital trust under customer experience, not under IT. The result? A Trust Center that brings transparency to the forefront - and makes it scalable.
"We don’t want to handle 362-question spreadsheets one by one. The Trust Center helps us respond proactively - with structure and credibility." – Jan De Roeck, CMO, Esko
What makes a trust page powerful?
The Trust Center isn’t just a list of certifications. It’s an evolving resource tailored for legal, compliance, and executive audiences alike - clear, jargon-free, but deep when it needs to be. It answers the real question customers are asking: Can I trust you with my data?
Esko’s team updates it regularly to reflect new concerns: from AI to DORA and NIS2, from privacy training to incident response. It’s not static. It’s alive.
"You can’t fake digital trust. You have to show it, explain it, prove it - every day."
Trust as a mindset - and a brand asset
For Esko, digital trust is more than compliance. It’s part of their brand, their customer promise, and their internal culture. Product teams, finance, IT, and cloud operations - all contribute to answering trust questions. Even packaging innovation is seen through the lens of data protection and ethical handling.
The Trust Center has helped Esko:
• Reduce the burden of vendor audits
• Build credibility in regulated industries (e.g. pharma)
• Align internal teams around transparency and preparedness
"We’ve always had the substance. The Trust Center helped us express it - clearly, consistently, and publicly."
Esko’s Trust Center doesn’t just tick boxes. It builds bridges - between teams, with customers, and across the supply chain. As third-party risk becomes a boardroom topic, this kind of openness is no longer optional.
It’s the future of trust — or better yet, the future of Trust in Digital — and Esko is helping shape it.
Cybersecurity at Kiwa
Kiwa makes cybersecurity transparent. We test, inspect, certify and train your organization, offering independent, critical insights. This way, you gain control over cyber risks, build trust with your customers and stay continuously up to date.
