We’re a bunch of highly ambitious, (over)competitive, results-driven fellas. It’s not only our approach to work, but to life in general!
It’s therefore not surprising that so many of us Emakinians, men AND women participated in yesterday’s 20KM race. The weather conditions were quite optimal, leaving little room for excuses…
Among our brave runners are David Grünwald, Gisèle Claes, Louis Gheysens, and Thierry Willer. You can ask them for their results, or you can check yourselves…
We have the perfect solution! Sun, friends, live music and… drinks! That’s how we at Emakina prefer to enjoy the Belgian summer! That’s why every year we gather our employees and friends to the famous urban apéros, taking place once a week throughout the entire summer.
But this year, there’s more! In addition to the usual locations in St. Gilles and St. Job, a third apero party will take place in the commune of Rhode-Saint-Genèse which will open the season, next Wednesday, May 29.Apero(h)ode will feature live music of DJ Maya Cox, fresh croques monsieurs, home-made ice-cream and much much more!
What’s the Emakina-connection, you may (rightfully) ask? Well, if it’s not enough that we are always after fun activities, we also developed the event’s website…!
This prestigious annual event took place yesterday in Ghent for the 25th time, bringing together some of the most revolutionary speakers. These creative thinkers challenge the status quo to disrupt our profession in their industry.
We selected some of our clients and partners who we thought would benefit the most from the event and granted them free entry. To maximise their enjoyment, we even organised a close workshop with Ryan Mathews, founder and CEO of Black Monk Consulting. Over lunch, the marketing guru spoke about the industry’s particular values and answered specific questions and concerns, raised by our invitees.
Microsoft’s new operating system for mobile devices, Windows 8, was launched just a few months ago. But that’s exactly the kind of new challenges which stimulate our developerse! That’s why a team of Emakina’s mobile experts participated in Microsoft’s Superhackathon competition.
The Superhackathon brought hundreds of young and bright developers who worked simultaneously in four different locations across the country. Their goal was one: create the best Windows 8 app! Unfortunately, only one team can go home with the first prize. Fortunately, it was us…! First, our team won the first place in Mons. Then came the real big news: First place at the national finals went to Emakina’s Fit beast.
Emakina’s strategic partner SinnerSchrader is Germany’s leader in digital communication.
But it also is the host of one of the most exciting conferences on tomorrow’s topics of the digital economy in Europe, the NEXT Berlin conference.
The central theme of the 2013 conference is “Here be dragons!”
The concept is related to ‘Fog of War’, well known in video games. Unknown areas are often covered in fog. In the Middle Ages, the term ‘Here be Dragons’ was used to describe these areas on maps. The digital world still has a lot of these uncharted territories yet to be discovered.
Join NEXT Berlin and connect with international business innovators, tech wizard and digital entrepreneurs!
On 23 and 24 April 2013, talks and workshops held by more than 100 internationally renowned digital pioneers will invade the land of digital dragons and inspire more than 2,000 participants from around the world.
Experts will address the topics invisible technology, new interfaces, the importance of context and the makers. Startups receive a lot of attention at the event, with a competition and presentations on a separate stage to look for the most promising European seed start-ups founded within the last year.
Matthias Schrader, CEO of SinnerSchrader and NEXT Chairman: “Digital innovations have – now more than ever – a radical impact on each and every sector, be it commerce, finance, media or telecommunications. NEXT Berlin looks at trends before they become mainstream, and offers the chance to address them and network with experts at a very early stage. ”
Emakina’s Exective Director, Tim Wolfs, reports back from the SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas.
“Go check it out to see if it’s any good first.” That’s what my Managing Director, Brice, told me when I suggested skipping Cannes this year, and only going to South by South West (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. “Why not”, I said to myself, “with a bit of luck, I’ll manage to convince him when I come back…”.
But first thing first, what is this Texan festival anyway? SXSW was started in the mid-80s as an indie music festival, gathering some 700 participants. Over the years it has grown and developed, becoming a Mecca for anyone interested in the American music, film and interactive industries.
So every spring, the Texan capital is taken over by hordes of young (or young in spirit) enthusiasts of films, music and interactive content. This year the event reached an all-time record of over 30,000 participants (note to myself: book the hotel for next year well in advance…).
The SXSW Interactive Festival featured approximately 150 independent speakers in the course of 4 days. With so much happening, to choose is to lose…! Yet, a few trends clearly stuck out and are worth special attention. Read the rest of this entry »
The Chancellery of Belgium’s Prime Minister invited Emakina’s experts to speak to its communication and policy officers, at an event, called ‘Media Day’. During this original initiative, Emakina’s Director of Media Relations, Luc Malcorps hosted two workshops on digital opportunities within a cross-media strategy. He presented real examples of institutional campaigns, executed by Emakina.EU for the European Commission, such as the European Toy Safety campaign, fight against food waste, food control and programmes for better collaboration among SME’s across EU borders.
As every year, the LIFT events bring to Geneva prominent technology and social innovators from all around the world. This year was exceptionally special, not only because of the rare gathering of great speakers, but also because Emakina.CH took a key role and organised one of the events’ conferences!
Last Wednesday, other than enjoying fine Swiss cheese and excellent chocolates, guests at our Geneva-based agency had the pleasure to hear Dr Mathew McDougall, founder of SinoTech Group and Digital Jungle, both major partners of Emakina in the Asian market. Dr. McDougall spoke about the particular implications of digital communication in China (a theme to which he dedicated his latest book: “The Chinese Social Media Universe”).
The second guest speaker was Claudio Esposito-Aiardo, Sales Manager EMEA at Wildfire ( Google ) in London. Claudio elaborated on the topic of “Social CRM” in what he calls “Integrating Social Media into the Customer Journey”.
Good job, our (new) Swiss colleagues! Let’s make this a tradition, eh?
The BMMA is a network of over 500 professionals in the fields of management, communication, and marketing. For the past 40 years, this unique association has put together numerous conferences, discussions, presentations, and networking events which foster synergic opportunities and form an exceptional thought incubator.
On February 18th 2013, the BMMA will launch the second edition of its famous dinners, titled “10 Mondays to get back on the digital track“, a course for established marketers who would like to get up to speed with the different digital skills and see how to use them in their day to day practice.
The concept is simple; every week a new topic will be presented by a digital expert. Presenters include Hugues Rey, CEO of Havas Media; Joelle Liberman, head of Egerie Research; Bruno Van Boucq, managing director at Beweb, Patrick Willemarck Dialog Solutions and our very own, Amélie Sainthuile, digital strategist at Emakina. Amélie’s presentation will enlighten us on how to use social media to build a relevant digital ecosystem for brands.
Being an important industry partner of ours, BMMA is offering a 15% discount to all Emakina’s clients and 25% discount to those of Robert & Marien. For information and registration, please visit www.bmma.be and then contact Thierry Antoine to claim your discount (tantoine@ulb.ac.be).
The Emakina Nation, comprising of all the Group’s companies across 5 countries enjoyed its annual get-together at the Knokke Out, near Brussels. This year, Emakinians were “kings of the road”, with over 200 Vespas, winding through country lanes and piling down the motorway with police escort!
At Digital Marketing First in Brussels this October, Emakina once more was one of the key players.
Besides being a main sponsors of this sixth edition of ‘the DMF’, Emakina.BE welcomed the +3000 visitors on its stand, bringing them ‘back to nature with a digital spin’. It was in good company, with Emakina’s The Reference as stand neighbours. The Gent based team invited marketeers, geeks and other DMF folks to show their muscle power, by hitting the mark with the heavy hammer and ring the bell.
A lot of visitors and lively interaction on Emakina’s DMF stand
RTL’s “Les Teknophiles” programme has decided to dedicate its next show to the new Apple Keynote, inviting Brice Le Blévennec as a special guest. Brice will share his thoughts and views on the iPhone5.
The show will be aired (in French) on Wednesday, September 12 at 19:10 Brussels time. Click here to watch it live.
Want to know what the Cupertino gang are cooking?
Then don’t miss the rendezvous with RTL’s web-magazine, “Les Teknophiles” June 11th at 19h00!
With the Apple WWDC 2012 approaching, developers and fans across the world get in a frenzy.
Apple will showcase the new version of its Operating Systems, iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion. Perhaps Apple will unveil a revamped fith-generation iPhone? Some say the new dream device will have a bigger, longer screen! Or will Apple unveil its Apple TV app store? Maybe we will see the thinner MacBook Pro or a new MacBook Air Update (with Retina display)?
After launching the third generation iPad in March, the annual pilgrimage to San Francisco might once more hold surprises that create a sensation in the world of digital media. As usual, the buzz and Mac Rumors are flying around everywhere…
With all bets on, Emakina’s Chief Visionary Officer Brice Le Blévennec will be watching and interpreting the event as it unfolds. He is a special guest of RTL House, where he will share his insights (and passion) over the Conference content.
Further guests on the show include Frédéric Feytons of TappTic, and Bruno Kesteloot, general manager of MacLine. The show will be aired (in French) monday june 11th at 19:00 Brussels time. Click here to watch it live.
The 50 Lawyers campaign developed by Emakina for Test-Achats/Test Aankoop wins an important price, once again.
Emakina’s David Grünewald and Xavier Bouillon were welcomed in the Nest of the Best at the 8th Cuckoos, the competition for Best ‘Winning Direct Marketing Campaigns’, of the Belgian Direct Marketing Association.
As winners of the B2C Cuckoo, they received their trophy at a spectacular gala evening at the Brussels Autoworld.
Their smart message, combined with the creation of a coherent Eco-system and dynamic social media actions, were recognised by the Belgian Direct Marketing Association as an outstanding achievement.
This is the fourth major award for the Test-Achats campaign, having already collected IAC and Communicator awards and a Mixx.
David Grunewald and Xavier Bouillon saying ‘Cuckoo’
The message that 50 lawyers are ready to go to war for your consumer rights was supported by social media activities and a viral clip. It generated a record number of citizens engaging with the organisation. Up to date, a record number of 31.863 consumer complaints were filed on the tailor-made campaign website. The once ‘hidden treasure’ of the legal service is now property of all consumers.
And the campaign catches on. It is now starting its second life with similar initiatives in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. Emakina manages the contacts with the local sister consumer associations and is adapting the messages to the different languages .
The army of lawyers now has a lot of work. Luckily they are well trained and in top shape…
I’m one of the 7 persons who have the honor of being invited tonight to a diner and open discussion with Vint Cerf, one of the co-founders of the Internet.
I have asked the EmakiNation the questions they would like me to ask him. I don’t have the answers yet as the diner is for later tonight, but I think the list of questions is already an invitation to think about the future of the Internet, which is also our future.
Here are the (unedited) list of questions, some are fairly technical, some are naïve. this reflect the variety of talents gathered under our flag, ranging from designers to technical geniuses :
Internet has democratized many things or at least enabled it. Knowledge in a larger sense and also entertainment forms like music, video,… Will it democratize democracy (in a state sense)? What i mean is do you think internet will be the future to able provide direct democracy or some other new form of democracy? What do you think about the metagovernment projects popping up?
Which of the crowdsourcing strategies do you most believe in ?
What is your feeling about the latest attempts to ‘restrict’ the internet SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, CISPA, … ?
What of the technical chooses you made in the past would like to see corrected in the future?
What were unfortunate technology changes (you feel was more a regression than an improvement in your feeling)?
What is the most promising evolution of the internet you see today?
How could we spread the use of internet even further to third world countries and thereby spreading knowledge?
How are things evolving with the interplanetary backbone? (first successful test was already in 2008)
Do you believe education should incorporate critical internet interpretation?
In some countries like Belgium you have a minimum access to eg. water and electricity, would it not make sense to have a minimal access to the internet? Has it become that essential?
Will the traffic remain fair or will it be prioritized based on content or origin ? Ex: a packet send from Youtube treated in higher priority by a network node than a packet sent from my personal blog.
Evolution of social media platforms with the penetration of mobile: Is Facebook dead unless it goes full mobile?
Est-ce qu’on peut imaginer l’internet sans l’ICANN ? Se qui veut dire se retrouver avec plusieurs internet…
Does he think as well that “the web is dead”?! Cf. the Wired article: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all/1
(e.g. I believe – or would like to believe – in the future of web apps because of their flexibility and +/- “device agnostic” philosophy, but not everyone has the same idea)
Will Google and Facebook really disappear in 5 years?! (as an American analyst recently sayed) And who will be next “big ones”?
As a general consideration, are the current technical evolutions supportive regarding non-industrial and emergent countries? Or will they rather reinforce the gap between those countries and the more “advanced” ones? (“advanced” is maybe not the proper word, but you know what I mean)
Will the Internet keep its democratic & “free will” orientation? (cf. Google partially censured in China, the Pirate Bay and the Megaupload cases etc. – so both from a socio-political and socio-economical point of view)
In our knowledge society, is the Internet market strong enough (in the long-term) to allow European countries (and their “knowledge workers”) to keep some competitive advantage on the big coming ones like India, Brazil and China? (cf. a recent discussion with a top manager at Accenture who roughly told me that “Europe is dead”, and that everyone there thinks the same way…)
What i mean is do you think internet will be the future to able provide direct democracy or some other new form of democracy? What do you think about the metagovernment projects popping up? 
(as an American analyst recently sayed) And who will be next “big ones”?