The Brady Group, world leader in solutions of identification and security, has entrusted Emakina with the design of its European platform for the online sales of its remote subsidiaries. The agency will put in place a strategy for remaking 22 e-commerce sites in 14 European countries where various branded entities distribute a range of more than 300,000 products to tens of thousands of clients in Europe (from small companies to major multinational concerns). Emakina’s task will be to develop the European e-business platform of the Brady Group so as to improve the web channel of the Group’s remote sales subsidiaries. This requirement is based on the Group’s determination to present a unique and consistent Europe-wide image. In effect, Emakina will have to render uniform the data from various sites, as well as to harmonise offers and the graphics of the various branded sales entities. The Magento solution has been chosen because it best matches the major technical parameters of the project while allowing for advanced customisation.

The tandem Design is Dead/Emakina.FR has won the prize ‘Official Honoree’ in the Netart category for MONA, the Museum of Neverending Art. This is a collaborative virtual museum that has been entirely been developed in HTML 5. It has been presented in San Francisco for the launch of Internet Explorer 9 Beta. MONA, which is designed to be a virtual artistic play garden, has attracted 80 000 unique visitors in its first month. Surfers have contributed to the creation of 50,000 works of art, which has led to over 120 000 viewed pages. “Microsoft had asked several agencies in the world to let their creativity flow. They all got carte blanche”, explains Frédéric Bojman, the Internet Explorer marketing manager at Microsoft. “The project presented by Emakina.FR and Design is Dead has very quickly attracted our attention because it allows surfers to play with the canvas, and because it illustrates all the technical qualities of Internet Explorer 9, and in particular its speed. And it’s even more interesting because the virtual audience has really played the game.” This is not a first for Emakina: in 2010, Design is Dead had already won an Official Honoree prize at the Webby Awards for ‘deFilharmonie for Kids’.

After a consultation round of agencies, Belgian group Montebi decided to entrust the worldwide advertising budget of its watch brand Rodania to Emakina over the next two years. Emakina will be responsible for the global 360° communication of the well-known watch brand. Emakina managed to convince Rodania with a new corporate style and a new positioning of its future communication campaigns. We will be responsible for the new poster campaigns, the new website and the different tactical and promotional activities.

Emakina has developed a first application for Electrabel GDF SUEZ Group. The mobile application gives Electrabel customers fast and personalised access to the ‘Energy line’ customer service. After entering a customer number and preferred language, the user chooses the subject of his question. The application then gives him the average waiting time to be able to talk to a member of staff, after which he will be automatically put through to the right service. This new application is part of Electrabel’s commitment to be easily and efficiently accessible to its customers. The application is available for Android and iPhone.

Emakina.FR has developed an innovating mobile experience for Buffalo Grill. It has done so in partnership with Facebook. Buffalo Grill has a hot plan on offer for its mobile customers. This digital experience allows customers who use geolocalisation together with a friend on Facebook to get a free tapas mix. After having identified the friend who accompanies him, the user has to confirm his physical presence in the restaurant via Facebook. He immediately gets a hot plan coupon that he can trade in via his mobile screen. Manuel Diaz, Emakina.FR’s president: “For almost 15 years now, we have been stimulating brands to invest in the universe of the social web via a mobile phone. The operations are genuinely innovating and exciting. We are particularly proud to support Buffalo Grill with this new campaign, one of the very first in the genre, that is the perfect combination of geolocalisation and social networks.”

A few days ago, Panasonic launched a new Facebook game called Evolta City. This clever and highly addictive game, concept & design by Design is Dead & development by Sevenedge, is a part of Panasonic’s campaign to promote its new line of revolutionary Evolta batteries. Wondering how it works? In order to help Mr. Evolta build Evolta City, the first CO2-free city on the Web, you as a player collect power by inviting friends and taking a series of actions to boost their sustainability such as building eco-houses, buying electric cars or building windmills. Simple as that! Well, maybe at face value it is. But make no mistake: this Facebook game is much more than just another Farmville clone. Why? First and foremost, it is an exciting and fun game to play that will keep you busy for hours on end. In addition, the game is very easy to figure out, looks amazingly attractive (how could it not, thanks to our wonderful designers?), and is never ever boring due to the many options and challenges you encounter. We are very proud to have delivered such an exemplary piece of online gaming!

The jury of the IAC Awards has just delivered its verdict in the States. Emakina Group has received three new distinctions, for MONA, Microsoft’s virtual museum, the repositioning of the Schweppes brand and the Facebook campaign for Powerade. MONA, the Museum of Neverending Art is a collaborative virtual museum, imagined by Design is Dead/Emakina.FR for the launch of Microsoft Internet Explorer 9. At the IAC it won the prize for Best Arts Interactive application. This museum is designed to live forever and is a grand work of international collaborative art. Emakina/Agency has won the prize of Outstanding Integrated ad campaign for its repositioning of the Schweppes brand. The agency has given the different ranges a new identity, has modernized the logo, has made a series of films and visuals for the entire range, has developed POS, event, activation, on-trade, off-trade and has put the new website for Schweppes Europe online, with a viral video campaign and an activation contest that used a lot of social media. Today, this new positioning is the guide for all communication agencies with which Schweppes works in Europe. And last but not least, the Facebook application that Emakina.FR has made for Powerade, has received an Outstanding Social Media campaign award. This game offers users the opportunity to challenge their friends on a virtual field. It is designed to get the attention of sports and football fanatics and point out the benefits of a sports drink such as Powerade. In less than 6 months, 98.000 players have registered for the application, called Football Challenge Powerade. On average, each player played 400 matches. And no less than 130.000 users have shared the campaign on their Facebook wall. The IAC Awards are yearly awards organized by the American Web Marketing Association. They award the best creative Internet campaigns in the world.

It’s not that Design is Dead actually started a TV station online—but this is close enough (for now): they created the new website of deMENSEN, one of Belgium’s finest TV production companies! A while ago, deMENSEN asked the online taskforce of Design is Dead to revamp their website. Their main demands? That the website be user-friendly; that it put their portfolio of TV programs—their core business—in the picture; and that its design be understated and sleek. Needless to say, they gave them exactly what they wanted—and a little more, just a sprinkle of that Design is Dead magic. To put the focus 100% on the programs (which include Blokken, De Tabel van Mendelejev en Low Impact Man) they opted for large visuals and a simple but elegant design, topped by slide navigation for easy and intuitive use…as if the programs themselves were presented on a TV monitor. We think it’s safe to say you will not feel the need to zap away!

A singer-songwriter such as Milow only feels truly alive when he is on tour, playing his music. A life he wants to share not only with his many fans at home and abroad, but with the music biz pros and random visitors as well. So when he came to Design is Dead looking for a new website that would look and feel ‘real’, honest, and up-close-and-personal to do just that, they were happy to oblige. Design is Dead presented a very accessible and user-friendly website designed as a continuous road trip, captured in a vintage design based on a snap-shot approach with sketches, notes, scraps, and warm colors and contrasts–but with quite a few perks. On the one hand, social media feeds such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube were craftily worked into the website design so visitors can ‘digitally’ go on the road with Milow and keep track of him wherever he goes, whatever he does. On the other hand, it provides those who seek it with lots of background information that cannot be found anywhere else, e.g., tour dates, releases, contact information, and more. Or, to quote from his last single: “It’d be only you & me.” At least, that’s how it feels!

Axelle Red just released her brand new “Un coeur comme le mien” album. For this occasion Emakina launched her new website. The website benefits from a fresh new design with the vintage and warm look and feel of the new album. We also implemented a “bandpage” to her Facebook Fan Page. With this new Fan Page, the artist can customize design, upload and share tracks, videos, photos, and her touring schedule in one and customized tab. That’s for digital part. Emakina has also refreshed all of Axelle Red’s back catalogue in order to re-launch her previous albums in digipacks formats. You can see this work in all the good music stores…including iTunes.

IAB Belgium and Emakina announces an impressive speakers round up for the ThinkDigital event on 26 May in Brussels. With “The customer is not your enemy! Friend or de-friend your customer” the congress offers the digital advertising sector the ideal playground to explore, inspire and debate on the digital trends of the future. More than ever, consumers share their opinions about your brand and start interacting with it. No matter the status of these relations, from “married” to “it’s complicated” – the consumer plays with your brand and speaks about it, through the channels of his choice: very attentively on an ordinary pc, on the latest tablet while zapping or just very quick and easy on his mobile: the convergence of media is a fact. How does your company adapt to this revolution in media use by the consumer? How to compose the right digital media mix to develop and improve your customer relations? How to get engagement and return on investment out of your digital customer? IAB ThinkDigital announces an impressive round up of digital experts from Europe, the US and even from behind the Chinese firewall who bring innovative strategies and “why didn’t I created this myself” campaigns to Brussels. Impressive names such as social media expert Olivier Blanchard (the Brandbuilder), ex-Area/Code (Zynga New York) founder Kevin Slavin on tv&digital, Global Emerging Media Director Ciaràn Norris (Mindshare), inspiration from oversees with Eric Phu (DDB Greater China) and Alex West (Mother UK), digital strategist and author of “Personality not Included” Rohit Bhargava (Vice-President OgylvyOne New York), the vision of the advertiser by Jef Vandecruys (AB-InBev New York), and – you would have never guessed – senator Peter Van Rompuy (CD&V) on the impact of happiness in the network society. Join now IAB ThinkDigital on Thursday 26 May in The Egg!

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 http://www.makro.be intensively to prepare their purchases. However, now they can really shop online at http://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.

Emakina is this year again official sponsor of Interact which will take place at the Arts Hotel in Barcelona, the 8-9th June. This major event will bring together all the decision makers of online brand advertising in Europe. Senior executives from the interactive online advertising industry and traditional media will come together to discuss and debate the state of their current relationship and their future. Confirmed keynote speakers are Mark Read, Strategy Director and CEO of WPP Digital, Kamal Bherwani, Chief Digital Officer of Prisa and Marc Bresseel, Vice President of Global Marketing of Microsoft. These speakers will take to the stage on the main conference day on 9th June which combines keynote presentations, a panel debate and case studies of successful cross-media ad campaigns from leading advertisers including Diageo and Anheuser Busch. If you subscribe before the 15 april 2011, IAB Belgium allows you to participate for only 999€, this includes the Interact Congress (2 days entrance) and the MIXX Awards Europe (flight and hotel included). For practical informations and subscription follow this link.

Emakina has just released a great iPhone application for ING Belgium. Pigmalion is an Augmented Reality brain-teasing game in which the player has to guess a four colour code in only five tries. Play this code breaking game and let the funky Pigmalion pig make your talent shine. The Pig will be there to coach and push you to your best score as you guess the right order of the icons. Aim for a high score and test your potential Are you interested in joining this exciting adventure? Maybe the Pig will bring out the Lion in YOU! Now available on the App Store.

The European Commission is preparing The Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area, a White Paper on European transport policy. To raise awareness on the future of transport, Emakina produced a short video clip inviting viewers to learn more about the subject by visiting the web site. The concept of the clip is based on the pages of a book that creates the foundations for the transportation of tomorrow.

A singer-songwriter such as Milow only feels truly alive when he is on tour, playing his music. A life he wants to share not only with his many fans at home and abroad, but with the music biz pros and random visitors as well. So when he turned to Design is Dead to create a new website that would look and feel ‘real’, honest, and up-close-and-personal to do just that, they were happy to oblige. They presented a very accessible and user-friendly website designed as a continuous road trip, captured in a vintage design based on a snap-shot approach with sketches, notes, scraps, and warm colors and contrasts–but with quite a few perks. On the one hand, social media feeds such as Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube were craftily worked into the website design so visitors can ‘digitally’ go on the road with Milow and keep track of him wherever he goes, whatever he does. On the other hand, it provides those who seek it with lots of background information that cannot be found anywhere else, e.g., tour dates, releases, contact information, and more. Or, to quote from his last single: “It’d be only you & me.” At least, that’s how it feels!

Design is Dead proudly presents its new Creative Director: Bart Lommelen. Bart Lommelen started working for Design is Dead in 2005, even before he graduated with high honours from Sint-Lukas in Graphic and Advertising Design. In 2008 he became Art Director at Antwerp’s finest agency. Now, he will be our new ingenious guru behind the scenes and on the set, guiding the creative process of our projects from concept and rough cut though pre- and post-production to the red carpet and the premiere. “The example I’ve set myself for the task ahead is Quentin Tarantino. As a director, he is incredibly creative, quirky, and 100% dedicated to doing things his own way–without this stopping him from reaching a wide audience. That is what I want for Design is Dead: To ensure we stay a cutting-edge, rebellious online agency with its own creative look and feel and its own singular identity, all the while attracting clients from all sectors and walks of life.”

We’re very proud! The jury of the Summit Emerging Media Awards (SIA) has awarded Emakina for its rebranding of the Schweppes brand. We’ve been chosen as the 2010 Visionary Winner, the highest award of the competition. The MySite platform by Truvo and the MONA campaign for Microsoft have also received prizes. Emakina/Agency has received the Visionary Award (the equivalent of Best of Show) in the Consumer Integrated Campaign category. This award recognizes the outstanding repositioning work the agency has done for the brand identity of Schweppes. Truvo’s MySite platform has won the Innovator Award (the equivalent of Gold). MySite is a toolbox with which advertisers can develop the brand experience of their company on the site of the Yellow Pages themselves. The Museum of Never-ending Art (MONA) has won the Leader Award (equivalent of Silver) in the Experiential Marketing category. MONA is a participative virtual museum, made by the tandem Emakina.FR and Design is Dead. The museum opened its doors at the occasion of the launch of Internet Explorer 9 by Microsoft. The museum will continue to exist and will house an impressive collection of international collaborative art.

Today, the radio program interMédias presented by Alain Gerlache will talk about the boom of digital applications for mobile devices and smartphones. All manufacturers develop their application stores for phones or tablets. What happens next in this growing market? You’ll find out with a panel of experts, including Michaël Totta, head of Emakina/Digital Applications. Listeners can ask questions via chat on the show’s website : http://www.rtbf.be/intermedias. This Friday 11/03 between 09:15 and 09:45 on La Première. Michaël Totta, head of Emakina/Digital Applications

For Emakina and Troy, love at first sight was inevitable. On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, Troy and Emakina said “Yes” ! On February 17th, their union was celebrated at The Saint-Cross Church (Flagey, Brussels). Enjoy the movie of the wedding.