May 13 2013

It’s been almost two and a half years since we started working with Bavaria, the largest independent brewery in the Netherlands, founded in 1719. Since then the Emakina Group has developed the brand’s 59 local websites, serving the public of no less than 49 countries! Soon we’ll simply count the countries for which we did not build a website (currently 144 in case you were wondering…).

The sites are based on a ‘glocal’ branding, having a very strong global identity while adapting to the local specifications of each market. Such adaptations go from editorial and copy-writing, through ensuring coherence with cultural codes, to respecting local regulations.

But it doesn’t end there! After we covered most of the Western world with localised sites, our latest versions targeted the Israeli and Kazakh market. Their respective sites needed to take into consideration a different alphabet and even direction of writing (in case you’re not a regular reader of the Old Testament, Hebrew goes from right to left).

An international project of such complexity involved the various agencies of the Emakina Group; including Design is Dead (which took care of the… design),  and Emakina.BE (strategy, development, and management).

The sites are ‘geo-targeted’, automatically presenting the local version from wherever you are. So in order to see the new versions, you simply need to buy a ticket to Tel Aviv and Astana. For the very lazy ones, we’ve added some screenshots…

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May 7 2013

The Belgian Pharmaceutical Association APB launched its new Microsoft SharePoint 2013 website. With this Belgian and even European ‘first’, created in close cooperation with Emakina, the organisation significantly strenghtens its online presence.

By launching the brand new APB website and also completely restructuring its members platform, APB aims to facilitate public access to a wide variety of information, while making over 50.000 documents and specific dossiers readily accessible to pharmacists and other professional users.

Four out of five pharmacists

APB protects the interest of more than four out of five public Belgian pharmacists. Each day, one in 20 Belgians consults a pharmacist with regard to a medicine or other health products, or to obtain specific health advice. The idea behind the project was to make access to primary care available to all not only at the pharmacist, but also digitally on the web. Working together with Emakina, APB reached the most suitable solution, from concept and architecture to design, development and the finishing touches.

www.APB.be in a brand new coat

Their brand new site www.apb.be has a fresh and bright look, fully in line with the organisation’s new design. Besides the latest news, you can also find general information about the profession, the members’ organisation, public health, primary care, patient safety, medicines, health insurance, and much more. The site is very user-friendly, easy to navigate and quickly delivers the information you re looking for.

Specialised information tailored to each user’s exact needs

Besides a public site, APB also offers its members and stakeholders in the health sector a wide variety of online services and specialised tools. Hence, a secure platform was set up, with a clear structure and a wealth of professional information. This website is specifically tailored to the characteristics and access privileges of each user’s profile. Member pharmacists as well as paying users in the pharmaceutical sector can find targeted information in just a few clicks, including access to those files that best fit their profile.

Intense cooperation to reach highly client-oriented results

Frank Crasson, Communication Director, about the collaboration: “Emakina was a highly professional and enthusiastic partner for this project. Because of their comprehensive guidance and clever CMS-advice, we reached a strong and client-oriented result with a variable geometry.”

Caroline De Siron: “A detailed profile matrix and thorough integration of our CRM-data were crucial. The result is a highly secure site with specialised information specifically tailored to our target groups. Because of our intense cooperation, we can really take advantage of the great possibilities that SharePoint 2013 offers for web content management.”

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Apr 25 2013

The all-time Belgian classic, published since 1938,  is now more than just a comic-strip journal! Emakina joined forces with Dupuis Editions, creating a digital extension of the comic strip in the form of the Spirou.Z mobile app. In doing so, Dupuis is targeting the children of 2013, using their preferred language: the touch screen.

The Spirou.Z app presents new editions of Spirou but not only! First, users can choose viewing ‘caption by caption’ (using TurboMedia technology), horizontal and vertical scrolling, or a digital flip book. Second, the app features original games and fun activities. Finally, users gain access to extracts from Dupuis’s multimedia archives, unveiling unedited content of the past 75 years!

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Oct 30 2012

RTL’s “Les Teknophiles” programme is dedicating its next show to Microsoft’s Windows 8, inviting Emakina’s Alexia Van Cranenbroeck  as a special guest. Alexia will share her thoughts and insights on what the launch of this new operating system really implies.

Windows 8 is a unique combination between a desktop and a tablet interface. Is that good or bad? Should we all upgrade to run Windows in Metro View; or should stick to the traditional desktop of Windows 7? Will the masses go out and buy touch screens to fully benefit from its potential? The programme will attempt to find answers to such questions and to many more!

Today’s programme (in the French language) will be recorded today, October 30, and will become available throughout the evening. Click here to watch it.

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Oct 5 2012

ACN
Emakina.BE has become a certified member of the ACN. This is not a political party, but an important movement all the same, The Apple Consultants Network.

As Apple states: “The Apple Consultants Network is your best source for Apple-certified, independent technical professionals focused on delivering professional services and support on all Apple platforms.”

Fast track
Emakina is now listed by Apple as one of the firms with the right consultants to put companies on the fast track by recommending solutions, creating customized workflows, and providing ongoing training and support to help you meet your goals, cost-effectively.

This move helps our Apple certified experts to deliver top professional advice and support. It further improves Emakina’s customer service level, helping clients to save time and money and getting ahead of their competition.

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Oct 4 2012

Come and meet the new Web Tools at the October BruGTUG meeting hosted by Emakina.

GTUG (Google Technology User Group) is an informal meetup, open to anyone interested in Google’s developer technologies.

We are happy to welcome an international speaker, Daniel Kurka, who works on GWT, to come talk about this technology. He also created m-gwt and gwt phonegap.

The agenda

18:30 – 19:00 – Welcome
19:00 – 19:30 – Google App Engine with python, the story of our recent experience with devfest.info
19:30 – 20:00 – Bootstrap (CSS) http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/
20:00 – 21:00 – m-gwt, gwt phone gap (Daniel Kurka)
21:00 – 22:00 – Discussion

Timely registration is required… So go to the registration form here and register today!

WHERE AND WHEN ?

Date: October 11th, 18:00

Location: Emakina Brussels, Rue Middlebourgstraat, 64A, 1170 – Bruxelles

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Jul 13 2012

Emakina was hired by the AXA to develop a new website for the Belgian market, based on SharePoint 2010. The goal was to establish a system which facilitates better content distribution between different divisions. This was meant to enable communications teams at AXA to centrally create and maintain the website’s content, while guaranteeing decentralised dissemination across the various distribution channels.

The new solution is revolutionising the way of updating and changing content, with further simplicity. A central content catalogue was created, available for all to see, and facilitating easier distribution. In addition to improving the existing services, Emakina created a new part of the site dedicated to lead generation. Here, clients’ data are collected, and sorted for future reuse, as well as for generating potential prospects or new customers.

The site was the first fruit of close collaboration between Emakina and AXA. This project is a success on many levels; including its technical level, and the user-interface of AXA’s administrators and end-users. Now that the site is online, all the elements and features are in place for visitors, customers and prospects to enjoy.

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Jul 12 2012

In exercise to align the Electrabel’s corporate website to the company’s new B2C and B2B standards, Emakina was hired for building a new upgraded version. The main purpose of the new site was to present general information about Electrabel to well-defined target groups. Such information includes the company’s Corporate Sustainable Development approach, career perspectives, nuclear issues, and more. To ensure coherence of the new approach, even the existing texts were updated and adapted, so they are more readable and fit the new structure.

The result is not only aesthetically refreshing but it is also focused on optimising visitors’ convenience through a user-friendly interface design. The combination of tab-navigation, based on an intuitive hierarchic structure; as well as broad use of multimedia -makes the site enjoyable to visit, and its content easily accessible.

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Jun 22 2012

smart goes green

Automobile manufacturer, smart, has launched a new environmental campaign, focused at the company’s environmental responsibility. The campaign, created and executed by the digital agency, Emakina, presents the CO2 compensation of the smart cars in an original and lively manner.

168 trees = 1 smart

The city car brand has recently launched a new CO2 compensation programme in the Benelux countries. The idea behind it is that smart compensates for the emission of each car it sells, (calculated on the basis of four years on the road). For each car sold across the Benelux countries, 168 trees will be planted in Kenya. This makes smart the first car manufacturer in the world to launch a programme of this kind.

WeForest

The ‘natural’ partner of smart for this programme is WeForest. This international NGO is specialised in reforestation and permaculture in many countries. The efforts of this organisation offer numerous advantages, including contributing to the ecology and to bio-diversity through planting new tree species and to the economy by creating an entire array of new local jobs.

The campaign makes use of a baby gorilla in order to show the new link between the client and the animal, thanks to the trees, planted for the latter on behalf of the former. The message is thus transmitted using an original human and humorous tone, showing viewers that nature “thanks” the client for its recent generous gesture. Last but not least, the smart website allows visitors to follow the plantation progress.

And… the campaign is going forward at a good pace, with almost 100 000  trees that are already  planted.

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