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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Apr 11 2013

The Reference, a proud member of the Emakina Group, has recently announced its partnership with TapCrowd, a ‘self-service’ app building platform.

The collaboration between the two Ghent-based companies completes the offering of The Reference/Mobile to a 360° mobile agency  and supports TapCrowd in the further expansion of its success story.  As partners, The Reference/ Mobile  will integrate mobile apps, developed on the TapCrowd platform with the possibility of adapting these apps to the specific needs and demands of each customer.

Frederic Schroyens, Head of Mobile & Tablets at The Reference/Mobile: “For some of our customer segments (mainly for concerts, festivals, conferences, seminars, retail, amusement parks, cities and police) a thoughtful choice of TapCrowd modules is the ideal, affordable solution. Starting from the TapCrowd platform,  We are very happy to be able to complete our offer with the modular mobile solutions TapCrowd. This is a great opportunity for both The Reference, as well as, for Emakina Group within an international approach.”

Joost van ’t Hullenaar, VP Sales with TapCrowd: “We are  very happy to welcome a renowned party like The Reference as our new partner’. We very much look forward to working with The Reference to create cost effective high quality mobile apps for customers in Belgium and to introduce our product on a European level via Emakina Group later on.”

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Mar 20 2013

No, she probably didn’t. But if Trustbox had existed earlier – she definitely would have!

Trustbox is a new app, designed by The Reference to allow (conscious) consumers to find out what’s in their food by simply scanning items’ barcodes. The app then lists the ingredients, displays nutritional values, and even warns allergic people of potential hazards! The data presented to the user is entered and/or validated by the manufacturer to ensure high accuracy of the information.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul 17 2012

Life Capsule is a start-up company which offers individuals the possibility to save their precious and confidential information online. In the event of death, this information and personal memories can be made available to (certain) relatives through a secure website. The Emakina Group was involved in this initiative since its early conceptualisation, through assisting the founders and developing its strategic plan. Emakina is currently launching the company’s stylish website, built in OpenCMS (Java).

Even a sensitive issue as one’s plans for after death has now gained its place on the web; a development which was well-noticed by the two Life Capsule founders. Having dealt with a personal loss of a family member, the two founders searched for a practical way to commemorate their loved one over the Internet. Once they realised that such solution did not yet exist, they decided to create Life Capsule and to materialise their idea.

Life Capsule offers a web platform on which subscribers can preserve personal data which they would like to leave to their chosen ones once they pass away. Each subscriber thus designates those who will have access to their digital material. Such “life capsule” may contain various documents such as: photos, videos, PDF files, but also texts or even musical playlists. This approach also allows transferring confidential information such as access codes for social networks, last wishes, or address lists.

A central part of Life Capsule’s homepage is dedicated to subscribers’ commemoration sites which are made public after they pass away. The company offers various subscription packages, and donates a part of its revenues to the King Baudouin Foundation. Each year, the sums which were donated to this charity organisation will be published on the Life Capsule website.

Complete discretion and high security are among Life Capsule’s top priorities. In order to guarantee that the data are safely secured for many years, the company has sought the help of Emakina’s experts. Being the first digital agency in Belgium, Emakina has proved its broad expertise through its numerous large-scale clients from the financial sector (banks and insurance companies). Furthermore, thanks to the security audit, conducted by Zion Security, Life Capsule can guarantee that its site is immune to online piracy.

The site equally offers its visitors a full range of interesting information on dealing with death, including: writing a testament, last wishes before death, and even delicate issues like euthanasia. Last but not least, the company is establishing a fund, with sufficient funds to maintain its servers and software for the next 50 years, regardless of the financial future of Life Capsule.

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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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May 4 2012

Football fans in Belgium and around the world can now enjoy the new website of the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA). BelgianFootball.be was created by The Reference, a Ghent-based full-service digital agency, and part of the Emakina Group.

A site to experience today’s football

The Royal Belgian Football Association exists since 1895 and represents all football clubs in Belgium. Each football season, the Association organises no less than 300,000 football matches for 2000 teams. Its ambassadors, the Red Devils, represent it internationally, attracting a lot of web attention. The Belgian Football Association has been active on the web for many years with the site footbel.com (included in the CIM Metriweb reports). Players, from the highest to the lowest leagues, and their supporters, use this site extensively. But they’re not alone. The site is also commonly used by referees, trainers, clubs, board members, stewards and volunteers, sponsors etc. A match is a lot more than 22 players on a field running behind a ball… As a full-service digital agency, The Reference convinced the Association of their web approach in synchronicity with the further professional development of the sport in Belgium.

Caught the football bug? Build your own website!

The project posed some interesting challenges. The new RBFA website had to accommodate large traffic volumes, while delivering massive amounts of information to the entire football community.  Thanks to the smooth integration with the RBFA’s databases and its existing backend, you are a click away from all information on teams, upcoming matches, and more!

To make the web experience fun and user friendly, the site features a dashboard, where visitors can create their own pages. Each of them can pick her or his favourite team, be alerted of cancelled matches, view filtered news items, and enjoy many other personalisation features.

The new site was built using Drupal 6, with an extensive system of dynamic blocks. Content editors can thus create and adapt information efficiently and with high flexibility, significantly reducing the time laps needed for information to be published.

Anja Cappelle, managing director van The Reference concludes: ‘We are very proud to have created this very lively information channel for the Belgian football fans and their Association’.

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Feb 17 2012

Emakina is one of the big winners in the Interactive Media Awards, with 2 ‘Best in Class’ and 4 ‘Outstanding Achievement’ distinctions. The jury of this worldwide contest follows the highest standards of excellence in web design and development and honours individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement.

The Interactive Media Council (IMC) who created the awards is an international association of leading web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other web-related professionals.

International Crisis Group and Evolta City, Best in Class

The ‘Best in Class’ award is the highest honour bestowed by the Interactive Media Council.

This year, Emakina’s The Reference receives the prestigious award for the International Crisis Group Website. The project successfully combines the serious nature of this worldwide organisation with its dynamic, open communication style, while emphasizing ICG’s values and strengths.

Panasonic Evolta City, a project by Design is Dead also received this highest honour, in the category  ‘Community’. The collaborative social media game brought together players from across Europe to build the biggest Zero CO2-emission City on the World Wide Web.

The jury declared both winners excelled in all areas of the judging criteria and achieved a perfect or near perfect overall score. Both sites represent the highest standards of professionalism, compliance, impeccable planning and execution.

Four Outstanding Achievements

The ‘Outstanding Achievement’ awards are the second highest prize bestowed by IMA. Emakina was selected four times out of the international pack of competitors.

The Schweppesonality campaign won in the ‘Lifestyle’ category. The Schweppes brand is working on a global rebranding, together with Emakina. Schweppesonality is an original activation campaign about the fans of the brand and their charismatic, unexpected and inspiring personalities, true Schweppesonalities.

SamsungWorld received the award in the category ‘Community’ and ‘Consumer Services’ website.  This new online meeting point for Samsung clients channels all opinions and discussions on Samsung and its products towards one, dynamic environment. Visitors exchange ideas and discover promotions, goodies and news items, in a tailor made CRM system.

50 Lawyers last but not least is the winning campaign for Test-Achats, in the category ‘Professional Services’. In a web centric campaign eco system, consumers were invited to file their complaints online and share their experience in social media. The original campaign showed TestAchats/Test-Aankoop lawyers in a military training camp, preparing to fight for the rights of their consumer clients.

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Feb 7 2012

The Reference kicks off 2012 in full swing, with a new logo and new website. The full service web agency located in Ghent grew rapidly in recent years, both in size and services. The new corporate identity shows the company clearly wants to keep this momentum going. So it’s not without pride the new logo, a corporate movie, a completely revamped website and a corporate web app are presented to the world.

Keep reinventing yourself

The Reference, part of the listed Emakina Group, launches its new corporate identity.
Anja Cappelle, Managing Director of The Reference: “As a full service internet agency, we follow the latest trends and technologies up close. We need to, in order to offer our clients the best possible service. Your visual identity affects how you are perceived in the market. We find it important to keep reinventing ourselves; our own communication should radiate this idea. Our new corporate identity also symbolizes the major evolution our company is experiencing. The dynamic team of The Reference has grown to 85 web specialists. And they deliver a vastly increased range of services to our customers. So it was high time to zoom in on our own brand, for a change… we’re proud to share our new corporate identity, website and corporate film. ”

A more robust logo, continued in the house style and agency reel

The new logo of The Reference underlines both literally and figuratively the company’s dynamism, its leadership and professional approach. Motion is increasingly important on the net, so a company reel had to be part of the launch. The brand new video illustrates the birth of an idea. The images tell how creative thoughts should be nurtured and how the experts at The Reference add extra dimensions to them, molding them into success stories, together with their customers.

It’s not just Web, it’s (Y)our Business

The agency reel found its permanent place on the new site, developed with Alterian CMS. A clear structure and navigation path help the visitor to quickly discover the expanded services of The Reference. Each page consists of a “fast track”, with the essence at a glance, and a “read more” option, digging deeper into the content. The site proves social media and traditional web pages can reinforce each other: each screen is locked with context-sensitive tweets from various contributors. Numerous cases illustrate the proven experience of the agency. This expertise is also shared in 10 specialized training courses, now underway.

 
Also for mobile users

The Reference chose to unlock its website for iPhone and Android users, by way of an intuitive web app. With simple swipes and taps, the visitor explores all services, events, jobs and cases.

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Jan 23 2012

Starting on February 10th, The Reference is organizing 10 events on different digital subjects. As trend watchers, innovators and opinion makers, they believe it is important to share their insights with customers. Experts of The Ref are happy to provide you with their knowledge and to discuss the best practices of all things digital. You can choose the number of events you want to participate in. Customers of The Reference, Design is Dead and Emakina get a discount of 10%. If you register for all sessions, you receive the same discount.

The series of events starts on February 10^th with “Is social media part of your business”, where you will learn to make the correct strategic decisions in the social media landscape.

On March 2^nd, David Roose will explain you everything there is to know about “Measuring Business Goals with Google Analytics”.

“Strategic SEO for Marketing Managers” will be addressed on March 16^th. You will be guided in getting SEO on-board in your organization.

One week later, the 23th of March, it’s David Roose’s turn again for a workshop “Slicing and dicing with Google Analytics”. He will tell you everything about measuring more with custom code, configuring your accounts and profiles, and lots of other things!

On the 27^th of April, it’s time for Social again: “Social Strategy through Social Listening”. Tom Muyllaert will unveil the best free and paid listening tools and he will show you what you can learn from listening to conversations.

May 4^th is all about “Hands-on SEO for Webmasters and Copywriters”. In this workshop you’ll learn step by step the best methods that will help you to find the best possible keywords.

“Professional Link Building Strategies” are talked about by Nikolaas De Geyndt and Isabel Van Ruykensvelde. They will train you in how to strategically approach your link-building. The date for this event is May 11^th.

Mobile and tablet fans can have their say on June 1^st. Thomas De Vos, our mobile expert, will show you what “Mobile and tablets can mean for your business”. iOs? Android? Windows Phone? Web Apps? HTML5? Hybrid apps? There will be no secrets left when leaving this workshop!

On June 8^th you’ll learn everything about “Conversion Optimization”. Your website might be doing well, but experts of The Ref will help you to make it even better by striving for ultimate conversion.

And last but not least: on June 15^th Bart De Latte will introduce you to “The power of Search Engine Advertising”. He will show you how to analyze and interpret your results.

You can click the links if you are interested in attending one or more events. To subscribe, just fill in the form that you can find on the website. Should you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to contact Vicky Van Daele (vvandaele@reference.be)

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Jan 13 2012

Belgian marketing is clearly going digital, a new study by Emakina’s agency in Ghent, The Reference, indicates. 150 decision makers of digital marketing initiatives in Belgian companies participated in the survey.

In 2012, Belgian marketers will focus on social media marketing, mobile sites and monitoring performance.

Their main challenges will be to turn data into actionable insights and creating sufficient return on investment. Companies that claim to be leading in terms of digital marketing are planning to invest significantly more in social media monitoring and social/ mobile advertising.

This study indicates that the future of marketing is digital, with 20 % of marketing budgets already allocated to this domain and further growth ahead despite the crisis.The social media hype and the rise of mobile internet are still going strong and will continue. It also shows that a main challenge ahead will be to find the right expertise to get the job done.

The slideshare presentation gives a detailed overview of the trend in websites, traffic, social and mobile.

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Nov 24 2011

Over half a million apps to choose from…which ones would be smart to upload to your smartphone or tablet?

In their latest issue, Knack and Le Vif magazines present the Top Applications for smartphones and tablets in the Belgian market. Belgium being the complex market it is, the list of course is different in the Dutch and the French version…

Out of the jury of five members two experts came out of  Emakina Group companies. Emakina’s Chief Visionary Officer Brice Le Blévennec felt right at home in helping to create this special. Mobile Competence Center Manager Thomas De Vos from the Reference in Ghent also let his light shine on the mobile apps.

So with their colleagues they went to work and made a list of criteria, a selection of categories and then each added their favorites.

Our mobile experts  shared their knowledge in this large constantly evolving field of different kinds of Operating Systems : iOS (iPad, iPhone), Android, Symbian (Nokia), Windows or RIM (Blackberry).

Thomas De Vos of the Internet company The Reference says an app must be to the point, relevant and fun. Also, it should avoid superfluous functions.”Keep it simple; when you start it up you have to be able to do right away what it was made for. App makers tend to pile on functions with updates, but these should stick to the essence of the application.”

The list combines international favorites such as Flipboard, Foursquare, Dropbox and Plants vs Zombies with local gold, like TV Overal, Radio.be, Resto.be, KBC banking, Taxis Verts and Electrabel.

Wether you are ‘the connected senior executive’, ‘the organized teacher’ or ‘the active retired person’, wether you’re living a business Lifestyle, interested in entertainment or food, the two specials guide you to the must have apps.

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Nov 10 2011

Today is usability day. And Emakina can be proud to announce that The Reference, a company of the Emakina group located in Ghent, is the big winner of yesterday’s Usability Awards 2011.

The new website of Infrax, a client of The Reference, won 2 out of 3 first prizes in the awards, making them the star of the evening. It won the First prize in the category ‘General public’ and the ‘Non-profit and e-gov’ category.

The jury composed of experts in usability, created a shortlist of 10 finalist out of 95 user-friendly websites that entered the competition. The public could then choose their preferred usability site.

Over 3000 votes were cast, giving Infrax the clear ‘thumbs up’ with ¼ of the votes.

In the categories non-profit and profit, the jury also evaluates the selection and gives points on 8 criteria. They assess the quality of the homepage, overview and detail pages, navigation and search functions, forms and content, copywriting and the overall impression. Here again, Infrax won the first prize, in the category ‘Non-profit and e-gov’.

The internet agency from Ghent, The Reference, created the new site for the network manager, with the help of AG Consult who were in charge of testing and fine tuning user friendliness.

Infrax clearly chose from the start of the project to make usability a key objective for their new website. A strongly ‘task based’ approach insures the user at one glance finds the right documents, linked to the online visit, for the specific needs related to electricity, gas, sewers or TV connectivity.

The clear home page and topical pages make the site an easy and pleasant tool for any client. By respecting standards and building in horizontal resting points and ‘jump to links’, the site was made even more to the point and intuitive.

Infrax is a collaboration between Interelectra, Iveg, Infrax West en PBE. Infrax manages the good use, maintenance and development of all public canalization related services (gas, electricity, cable television and/ or sewer systems) on the territory of a large number of communities in Belgium.

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Jun 28 2011

Emakina’s The Reference team scored a great hit, with the brand new Colruyt Collect and Go app for IPhone. After its launch last week, the app became an instant winner on the App Store. It immediately reached the number one spot and the reviews are excellent, making the success complete.

The application further increases the usability of the popular webshop.

The app starts with your choice of your Collect & Go pick-up point. Currently there are 120 Collect & Go’s in Belgium and one in Luxembourg. Once selected, the system automatically adapts its product range to the information of the local shop.

With the application, you  can  make your shopping selection when and where you want. And your IPhone can also become a barcode scanner, recognizing the Colruyt brand portfolio immediately. It’s easy to create your shopping list. In no time you can add items to your cart by scanning them, selecting them from lists or by typing their names in.

The Reference is now preparing an android version of Collect & Go.

Fresh and fast, the Collect and Go IPhone app

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May 19 2011

The agency Emakina has been selected by Facebook to join the Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant program (PDC). This program helps pair brands and organizations with the most qualified developers and resources to build advanced, brand-building Facebook Platform integrations.

As a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant, Emakina will continue to integrate the newest developments from Facebook, (functionality, applications, etc.) into the communications strategies they develop for their clients.

Before naming the agency as a member of the PDC program, Facebook examined various campaigns and applications developed by Emakina and assessed their skill in integrating Facebook technology into their communication strategies.

Emakina demonstrates real ambition in their social media strategies, developing solutions that integrate with Facebook, notably for Schweppes, ING, Powerade, the Route du Rhum, or for Buffalo Grill, with geolocation couponing using Facebook Deals.

Brice Le Blévennec, president of the Emakina Group, said, “We anticipate the arrival of a new generation of web & mobile applications, which innovate using the social graph – the mapping of all relationships between individuals. Being chosen by Facebook as part of the PDC program is a privilege which enables our agencies to work closely with one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the field of social business. We’ll have access to best practices and product guidance from Facebook, which we’ll use to propose the most innovative solutions in social marketing to our clients.”

For more information:
http://developers.facebook.com/preferreddevelopers

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Apr 11 2011

Since Makro, the international market leader in self-service wholesale, started cooperating with The Reference in 2010, the Ghent web agency has not stood still. After thorough strategic preparation, the construction of the first Makro Belgium online webshop began last year. In just four months time, Makro and The Reference have developed a refreshing, surveyable, functional and well-functioning online shop.

Hundreds of thousands of Makro customers have been consulting the well-known ‘Makro folder’ on www.makro.be intensively to prepare their purchases. However, now they can really shop online at www.makroshop.be.

Makro immediately offers two themed shops: the Office shop with all office equipment the professional customer is looking for and the Garden shop where all customers can choose from an extensive assortment of garden sheds and log cabins. Home delivery of garden equipment and reserved parking spaces complete the online service. This is only the beginning, as Makro is further developing its online assortment every day. The technical realisation of the webshop came about with Microsoft .NET 4.0, supported by the Sitecore framework.

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