May 16 2012

I have the honor of being 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.

To grasp a little bit of Vint Cerf personality and sense of humor, I invite you to read these memos : The Internet is for Everyone and A view from the 21st Century.

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)
• Does the Internet need kind of a “world governance”? (as e.g. Jacques Attali recommends speaking about an “Etat-monde” : Cf. http://www.attali.com/livres/essais/demain-qui-gouvernera-le-monde
• 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…)

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May 14 2012

But in order for Brice to win the ‘Wow Effect’ award he still needs your vote…

What is that all about? Well, the Belgian Direct Marketing Association (BDMA) runs a competition for selecting the person who had the greatest contribution to the direct marketing sector. One of the four candidates for this year’s award is Emakina’s Chief Visionary Officer, Brice Le Blévennec.

That’s all you need to know. Now go execute your democratic right and vote (for Brice)!

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May 11 2012

The “enchanted era” is a French expression (originally, “la parenthèse enchantée”), describing a period of some twenty years between the 60s and the 80s. It started with the invention of the birth control pill. For the first time in history, women gained control of their own bodies and could actually choose if and when they would get pregnant. The effect of women’s emancipation and the resulting sexual revolution went far. They altered societal values like the nature of relationships between men and women and even of working ethics (in the context of a continuous economic boom). Later, the spread of AIDS in the 80s and the rise of unemployment, brought an end to this careless period, one which brings up nostalgic memories for those who lived through it. A similar kind of an enchanted era is about to end on the Internet.

The enchanted digital era started when the one described above came to an end. It all began in the 80s when corporate computing made its first steps, pioneered by IBM. This was also the time when Apple introduced its first microcomputer, and Microsoft presented its first personal computers. At this point in time, the Internet was only used for military applications and for scientific research.

During the 90s, computers first became a consumer good, now available to the wide public. Suddenly, the word “computer” did not only infer a gigantic mainframe machine, but there were new forms out there, such as the micro-personal computers, or simply PCs. IBM was pushed aside by Microsoft, which equipped (almost) all its computers with its newly-developed operating system, known as Windows. Yet, the software world was in need of much more significant investments than those made by a few pioneers. As for the Internet, it remained an experts-only arena, although at this point the Web already existed, with emerging products like Netscape. Even the first personal assistants, such as Newton and Palm, had already made their first appearance in the market.

The first decade of the 21^st century is the one which sees the reign of the Web. Google replaces Microsoft as the market leader (although the latter’s Internet Explorer continues to dominate the field of browsers) and the enchanted digital era begins: the Web is now based on solid foundations; on technologies which are widely accessible. A new virgin land is found; a territory with no entry barriers. The fact that (almost) anyone could create a website or launch a service created a startup frenzy, with Facebook standing out as the Web’s greatest success story. Apple comes back from its ashes, although its online services (like iTools, Dot Mac, and MobileMe) were still far from anything spectacular. Indeed, the burst of the dot-com bubble, and the 9/11 attacks that followed, slowed down the development of the Web. Yet, it was this decade which brought about an unprecedented wave of creativity, none of which would have been possible if it weren’t for the anarchic and decentralised system of the Internet.

Today’s landscape is again somewhat different. The 2010s will probably be remembered for the extensive use of mobile devices, smartphones, and of permanent Internet connection. The Net is now dictated by several giants who set the rules and impose them on all others. Google, along with its various services, remains the undisputed master of the Web. It is thus absolutely imperative to take into account the complex algorithms of this giant search engine and its way of prioritising digital information – in order to exist online and remain somewhat relevant. Facebook became a daily activity for hundreds of millions, thus having a great impact on our social interactions (like the disappearance of anonymity). Anything is now allowed… as long as you follow a few basic guidelines.

Apple did not only make a brilliant comeback; the company developed an entirely separate “ecosystem” of products which speak their own unique language to one another. It is thus impossible to put forward a new application or a podcast on the AppStore or iTunes without surrendering to the Apple hegemon. In sum, the aspiration for total freedom which prevailed during the dawn of the Internet has been replaced by a rather codified environment, one which is much more predictable. And yet, perhaps this is a necessary price for having large enterprises invest in interactive media and turn the Internet economy into a perennial one.

Of course, there will always be room for smart innovators and entrepreneurs who will introduce new products. But there is a long way to go until such new players could challenge the existing hegemony of the big ones. The latest success stories of startup companies prove exactly that. Zynga and Playfish were both entirely designed to fit the Facebook ecosystem. Angry Birds is an AppStore creature, and YouTube was very quickly caught into the world of Google. An important trend in the history of new technology is thus facing an end. Is this good news or bad news? We’ll find out soon…

*Translated from its original version in French

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May 10 2012

En cette fin de campagne électorale, je voudrais tout d’abord remercier Nicolas Sarkozy et son équipe de campagne pour avoir fait confiance à Emakina. Durant plus de trois mois, les équipes d’Emakina ont été intensément sollicitées. Elles ont répondu présent, avec talent, imagination, rigueur, comme nous le faisons pour tous nos autres clients.

Pour cette campagne la plus numérique de l’histoire politique de notre pays, Emakina a imaginé des formats et des outils innovants, sur le site internet de la France forte mais également sur les réseaux sociaux, au plus près des nouvelles habitudes des Français. Grâce à ce qu’Internet a de meilleur, nous avons pu apporter notre pierre au débat démocratique. Utilisation de l’opendata, innovations d’interfaces interactives, mobilisation en ligne, e-CRM, segmentation des messages par profils d’internautes etc..  Cette campagne a été pour nous tous un moment incroyable d’innovation.

Sur une note plus personnelle, je dois dire que cette campagne a été un grand moment de ma vie professionnelle. Je tiens à remercier toute la cellule internet du QG, et plus particulièrement Nicolas Princen. Ce fut un plaisir et un honneur de travailler avec eux durant toutes ces semaines.

Se mettre au service d’un client, dans un environnement compétitif, c’est la base de notre métier. Mais le faire dans ce contexte, ou chaque minute est d’une rare intensité, ou les confrontations sont parfois violentes, sous les yeux de millions d’internautes, c’était nouveau pour nous tous et donc une expérience inoubliable.

J’ai parlé de ce qu’internet a de meilleur, j’ai aussi vu ce qu’il avait de pire…des lieux de débats transformés en terrains d’invective, la compétition transformée en guerre, sur twitter notamment… Il faudra donc aussi tirer tous les enseignements de cette première véritable campagne présidentielle en ligne. Pour que la liberté créative d’internet ne se retourne pas contre la démocratie.

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May 9 2012

Acquérir un bien relève de deux dimensions. La première est utilitaire. Elle est relative à l’usage que l’on fait d’un objet qui correspond à la fonction pour laquelle il a été conçu. La seconde est symbolique. Elle tient à la valeur, économique, esthétique et affective, attribuée à un objet. Dans le cas du luxe, c’est cette seconde notion qui prime.

Le luxe est, par définition, coûteux, raffiné et somptueux. Il ne se rapporte en aucun cas au commun, aux besoins ordinaires de la vie qu’il dépasse et auxquels il s’oppose même volontiers. Et parce qu’il n’est pas, au premier sens du terme, “vulgaire”, le luxe se doit d’être rare et inaccessible.

Le luxe ne se mélange pas !

Toute l’industrie du luxe s’est construite sur la base de ce présupposé. L’objet de luxe est tenu volontairement à l’écart, dans son écrin ou sa vitrine. Le luxe ne se touche pas ! Les marques de luxe ont leurs codes et leurs quartiers.Le luxe ne se mélange pas !

Comment, dès lors, le rendre compatible avec le bien-nommé digital qui se définit, lui, par son “hyper-accessibilité”? On sait que la poignée du sac du plus grand maroquinier français ou le volant du bolide du plus grand constructeur automobile italien n’arrive entre les mains qu’après une interminable attente destinée à parachever le rituel du luxe. La réconciliation entre luxe et digital paraît donc impossible voire peu souhaitable. Pourtant, elle est réaliste et même indispensable! En effet, compte tenu de l’évolution de nos sociétés, sans cette alchimie, l’industrie du luxe s’expose à une perte de valeur non seulement affective mais aussi matérielle.

Read the rest of this entry »

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May 7 2012

How do you take an abstract and complex topic, such as the contribution of the eco-industries to the European economy, and turn it into a viral clip? This was the challenge, posed by the European Commission to Emakina.EU, member of the Emakina Group, specialising in communicating the European institutions. The goal was to promote “Eco-innovation”, a programme run by the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI), supporting private initiatives which have a positive impact on both the environment and the European economy.

The great level of trust we gained from the client allowed our creative directors to explore new concepts, off the beaten-track of the typical “institutional” clips. Their idea was to “personify” the themes of environmentalism and economic activity in the form of two dancers.  The artistic interplay between the dancers metaphorically expresses the synergic potential of the two fields.  It was meant to rebut the misconception that environmentalism stands in the way of economic growth and show that the two can in fact enrich one another.

The clip was produced entirely in-house by Emakina.EU, including its original soundtrack music. In order to develop the concept and properly illustrate the relationship between the dancers, it was decided to produce a clip which lasts over two minutes, long in today’s standards of viral clips. The video will now be disseminated on the most popular social media,  targeting potential entrepreneurs who may be eligible for an EU grant.

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May 7 2012

L’Open Data répond à une puissante attente sociétale de transparence. Celle-ci n’est pas restreinte au seul champ de l’action politique. C’est un principe qui s’applique partout, y compris aux acteurs économiques. Mais le fait que ce soit d’abord les politiques qui s’en emparent est le processus classique de réappropriation d’une attente de la société, le politique ayant pour rôle de la traduire.

Au stade où nous en sommes, ne nous focalisons pas sur des retombées économiques à court terme car  l’économie de open data, au sens de l’exploitation des données par des opérateurs économiques, n’en est qu’à ses débuts et ouvrir des données ne suffit pas. Faire des concours d’application est un passage obligé, mais n’est pas la condition suffisante. D’une certaine façon, il faut une structure commerciale et du marketing. Comme dans le monde réel, le tout n’est pas d’avoir une bonne idée et de la délivrer, il faut la vendre !

Exigence de modernité

L’enjeu, aujourd’hui,  est et reste une exigence de modernité de l’action publique, dans ce qu’elle résonne avec l’exigence de transparence et de vertu démocratique présente dans la société. S’il y a un objectif à court terme, c’est bien celui-là. Et son application réside, pour un territoire, à s’appliquer le modèle à lui-même, donc à se transformer. Après tout, le premier client des territoires qui se lancent dans l’open data, ce sont les territoires eux-mêmes ! L’Opendata peut être un puissant levier de performance, car il décloisonne et transversalise l’action par les données.

A mon sens, il ne peut pas y avoir d’opendata sans une remise en question fondamentale de la manière dont on produit du service dans un territoire, en réinventant la donnée publique et en lui redonnant  sa vraie utilité citoyenne. La data c’est un bien collectif . Il me semble, aujourd’hui, que les démarches opendata sont un peu trop tournées vers le citoyen et le développeur, et pas assez sur la collectivité elle-même. Or c’est la collectivité qui peut et doit en tirer profit.

A condition d’être vigilant d’une éventuelle superposition administrative française qui pourrait se développer en superpositions Opendata. Imaginez la métropole locale avec son initiative, le Conseil Général avec la sienne, et la Région avec la sienne , sans compter l’Etat lui-même et l’Europe ! Bref, chacun son entrepôt de données, sa démarche et plus particulièrement sa communication, son marketing et sa quête de valorisation. Quelle perte d’énergie ! Comme souvent, nous avons tendance à enfermer les idées et les initiatives dans des boites. C’est un des paradoxes de l’opendata, qui se veut l’incarnation des notions d’ouverture, quand une partie des démarches se veulent auto-centrées sinon propriétaires.

C’est pourquoi, il faut saluer ceux qui, d’emblée, prennent l’initiative d’ouvrir largement leurs données et permettent à l’échelle de leur territoire d’accueillir celles des autres collectivités, sans exclusive. Je pense en particulier au Loir-et-Cher (1) qui, sous l’impulsion de Maurice Leroy, président du Conseil général, a eu la pertinence d’inscrire l’Opendata dans une marque partagée, ouverte à tous, et dans une logique de laboratoire, qui sert la modernisation du territoire et incite aux initiatives.

Une nouvelle façon de penser et de faire l’action publique

L’opendata, ce n’est pas simplement ouvrir des données, faire acte de transparence et tacher de susciter des vocations de développement. C’est d’abord et avant tout un formidable levier de modernisation dans la façon de penser et de faire l’action publique, de façon plus ouverte, transversale, par adhésion et coopération. Ce n’est pas une solution toute faite à appliquer, c’est une véritable révolution des mentalités.

Il y a donc un risque à ne voir dans l’opendata qu’un outil. Il faut l’inscrire dans une démarche globale. Une démarche qui oblige à se concevoir coopérant et naturellement agile. Quand le monde politique offre un modèle de transparence et de modernité au monde économique , cela s’applaudit des deux mains !

Cette tribune a été initialement publiée sur Le Cercle des Echos

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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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Apr 25 2012

It’s been a few years now that the terms “food porn” or “foodography” have been used in culinary contexts. This new jargon was born in the United States but later expanded into Europe. First, let’s be clear: it’s not about pornography. Food Porn has nothing to do with the art of individuals exposing their bodies in front of a camera!

The concept originates from social changes that took place over the past generation. Cooking is above all a way of passing on a cultural heritage, often one that runs through the family. The redefinition of societal values during the 70s and 80s created a cultural deficit which deprived an entire generation of its own gastronomic heritage.

Logically, the Internet quickly filled this gap, becoming a new platform for sharing culinary know-how. Cooking blogs, typically maintained by passionate self-taught cuisine experts, have thus been multiplying, turning certain bloggers into mini web-celebrities. At a time when service providers are becoming cultural heroes, a manual activity like cooking is at the spotlight.

It’s all about sharing. We often associate cooking with love or affection. Several phases in the cooking process are important: there’s that of passing on the knowledge as mentioned above, then the creative part, and finally the actual action. But the moment which is mostly appreciated by those who sweat above their stoves is that of the feedback, of offering commentary. Cooking is a way of putting oneself at the forefront, of seeking recognition. TV shows like MasterChef or Come Dine With Me joined the online trend, bringing the commentary addiction to a new level, due to the competitive component, as well as the reinforced attention to food aesthetics.

Socials networks now allow any cook to share his or her activities with audiences larger than ever before.  Such “Foodies” (or cooking amateurs) have thus also become photographers, cherishing their work in pictures in order to later share it with followers and friends; a habit which is now known as “food porn”. The term was originally used to describe quasi-erotic TV commercials which presented food (often vegetables) in a sensual way.  Nowadays, the term “porn” can be found in various contexts, often describing a mix of images, meant to lure viewers towards a certain topic (architecture, automobile, etc.).

The more visually attractive the picture is, the more tempting its object becomes, and the more it will generate feedback and comments on social networks. In an era, known for its documentation of our almost daily existence, photography has become an image-based conversation tool.

In 1825, French gastronomist Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote: “Tell me what you are and I shall tell you what you eat” (which later evolved into the popular Anglo-Saxon idiom of “you are what you eat”). Things haven’t changed much since the time of Brillat-Savarin. Presenting in images what we eat is the new digital way of presenting oneself, of telling our story. The time when we eat makes up an important part of our daily lives, thus with three meals a day, food is a major part of our existence.

Mobile technology allows anyone to take a picture, share it, and comment on it. The wide spread of high-quality digital cameras plays an important role in this trend, well understood by brands like Nikon and Canon. Most of their models now have a “food mode” feature for optimising the quality of culinary photography.

Social platforms like Instagram or Pinterest are sometimes seen as the El Dorado of some (very) amateur food pornographists. Users’passion is often so great that it sparks mockery as illustrated in this “Read Write Web” article. Indeed, with Facebook pages such as this, it is hard to deny the article’s criticism… Sharing a picture of your pale ham and eggs from last Sunday is like thinking that your holiday photos resemble the Swimsuit edition of “Sports Illustrated”.

The most commonly-shared food pictures on social networks are desserts (18.3%) and vegetables (17.8%). High ranking of desserts can be explained by their aesthetic looks and colourfulness.  Vegetables, on the other hand, have become a symbol of a healthy lifestyle, a trendy concept on its own.

Different motivations drive the picture sharing of home-made versus restaurant-made dishes. The former satisfies our need to be recognised for our skills, also known as the “IKEA effect”, wanting to share all our “I-did-it-myself” items. The latter, however, celebrates our individual’s capacity of being a “discoverer” of the best eateries, using photos as “proof” on social recommendation platforms. Many mobile applications are currently riding this trend, including Foodreporters in France and Foodspotting in the US. The fact that consumers prefer their peers’ advice over those of brands or institutions is creating an earthquake in the world of food guides. While many of those guides try to join the digital revolution, brands like Michelin or Gault Millaut are the first to pay the price for the rise of food porn.

*Originally written in French by Théo Saulnier for the Emakina.FR’s blog.

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Apr 24 2012

Like every year, Belgium’s school of social communication (IHECS) organises an event dedicated to presenting its students’ projects, and bringing together communication experts. This year, organisers invited Amélie Sainthuile, Digital Planner & Social Media Strategist at Emakina/ Strategy and Emakina/ Social. She will talk about public relations with new media.

The event, titled “Nuit de medias” (media night) will take place tomorrow, April 25th at 19:30, at the school’s venue, located at Rue de l’Etuve 58-60, Brussels (two steps away from the Grand Place!).

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Apr 24 2012

Emakina a gagné un nouveau prix aux Interactive Media Awards pour un projet développé pour Delhaize Group. La campagne de recrutement de jeunes diplômés internationaux, axée sur les réseaux sociaux, Delhaize Dream Jobs a remporté le prix en ‘Best in class’ dans la catégorie ‘Recrutement’.

La campagne s’articulait autour du « job de tes rêves d’enfants » qui présentait son programme et interpelait  les jeunes sur Facebook. Elle proposait aux candidats de créer leur profil sur le mini site Dreamjobdelhaize.com avec leur pays d’origine, leurs langues et surtout leur rêve d’enfant. Leur candidature était ensuite visible sur leur fil d’activité Facebook et les amis des candidats pouvaient alors les recommander en donnant un qualificatif libre qui, selon eux, représentait le mieux le candidat (énergique, ambitieux, intelligent, enthousiaste etc).

Cette campagne s’appuyait sur un clip original et une activation Facebook, notamment par du ‘seeding’ sur les pages des grandes universités. Ce programme de recrutement a été un réel succès avec plus de 1000 candidatures correspondant à la cible recherchée. Delhaize Dream Jobs a ainsi enrichi la marque, en rafraichissant son image et en rapprochant le groupe des nouvelles générations.

Déjà gagnant de 6 prix lors de la dernière remise des awards IMA, Emakina continue, sa collecte de récompenses en remportant la plus haute distinction lors de cette remise de prix internationale. Le jury prime les projets qui respectent les standards d’excellence en web design et en développement, et honore les agences pour leurs réalisations exceptionnelles. L’Interactive Media Council (IMC), créateur de ces awards, est une association internationale regroupant les meilleurs web designers, développeurs, programmeurs, publicitaires et professionnels du web.

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Apr 19 2012

Raymon is strategy director, het brein achter Emakina.NL én bepaalt wie er wel en niet over de vloer komt. Dat geldt voor de mensen die hij aanneemt, de mensen achter de merken waarvoor we werken en zelfs voor gewone consumenten die langskomen. Het is ook de menselijke maat die aan de basis stond van de term ‘Contentivation’. Voor een ‘digital native agency’ is Emakina.NL dus verbazingwekkend menselijk. “En dat houden we zo” aldus Raymon.

Emakina.NL is een full-service digital agency. En hoewel alles draait om ‘online’ proberen we het toch vooral zo menselijk mogelijk te houden. Wie Raymon voor de eerste keer zakelijk ontmoet, zal merken dat de gesprekken regelmatig worden verrijkt met voorbeelden van z’n persoonlijke ervaringen. “Voor mij is het allerbelangrijkste dat je oog houdt voor het feit dat je met mensen aan het werk bent. We proberen consumenten te bereiken en dat zijn mensen zoals jij en ik, die gewoon met heel andere dingen bezig zijn dan ‘consumeren’. Als je dat niet begrijpt, zit je in het verkeerde vak. Tegelijkertijd is het voor mij belangrijk dat ik een persoonlijke band met iemand kan opbouwen. Je gaat namelijk ongetwijfeld hoogtepunten met elkaar vieren en soms moeten we intens strijd leveren om te staan voor ons werk.”

Het bureau sloot enkele jaren geleden aan bij de beursgenoteerde Emakina Group.“Dit bureau was er al voordat het Emakina.NL heette. De aansluiting bij de internationale Emakina Group kon alleen een succes worden, als we de ruimte kregen om onszelf te blijven. Dat is goed gelukt, waardoor we nog steeds voor de mooiste merken werken en tegelijkertijd onze eigen expertise aanvullen met die van 350 specialisten uit het netwerk.” Raymon doelt hiermee op de vele merken die zowel in Nederland als België actief zijn en door een internationaal Emakina-team worden ge-serviced. Met name het platform Yunomi en beautymerk Dove zijn hiervan goede voorbeelden. We creëren voor Dove momenteel een actieve Facebook-community die in het eerste kwartaal alle verwachtingen qua aantallen fans overtrof. En dat zijn actieve fans! Bij Yunomi zijn maandelijks honderdduizenden vrouwen actief in zowel Nederland als België. Achter de schermen is dat team volledig internationaal, terwijl de consument het gevoel heeft bij een lokale community te horen.”

Die actieve consument is mede te danken aan de Contentivation-strategie die vooraf wordt bepaald. Ons credo is “put the people first”, omdat online communicatie volgens Raymon gaat om mensen: “zij bezoeken je site, actiepagina of sociale kanaal. Als je met die bezoekers in dialoog kunt gaan en wederzijds vertrouwen toont, kun je informatie verzamelen waar je als merk wat mee moet doen. Als dat eenmaal gebeurt worden consumenten veel actiever voor je merk en gaan ze zelfs content aanleveren. Dat is iets anders dan co-creatie, waarbij je vaak toewerkt naar een climax. Wij gaan juist een langdurige dialoog aan die resulteert in een echte band tussen merk en mens.”

Raymon haalt ook regelmatig consumenten binnen voor interviews en reviews. “Toen we voor stichting Weet Wat Je Besteedt het platform Edgie.nl ontwikkelden, liepen de jongeren in en uit. Ze waren super kritisch op wat we deden en ik kon hoog en laag springen met strategieën en meningen, uiteindelijk wisten ze wel de finesse aan te brengen die we van tevoren niet zelf konden bedenken.”

Wij weten inmiddels wel dat Raymon ook gewoon graag zijn eigen mening verkondigt en dat hij soms vol vuur kan reageren op concepten of technische issues. Dat moet ook kunnen bij Emakina.NL. Vandaar dat wij Raymon gewoon Ray noemen. En we zetten graag de deur wagenwijd open voor iedereen die bij ons op de koffie wil komen. Wanneer kun je?

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Apr 17 2012

Emakina.NL has won the pitch for the development and creation of the brand platform websites for Blue Bland (Netherlands) and Planta (Belgium). The digital agency was chosen over two other agencies in the competition. The decisive elements in the decision were Emakina’s clear consumer insights, combined with their strong and creative strategy for a content-driven platform. Next to this, the translation of the concept to a strong content calendar seamlessly fitted with the always-on communication approach of the Unilever brand. The agency will manage the technical, creative and editorial side of the projects.

Blue Band is a household name in the Netherlands since 1923. The brand is known in the market as a trusted margarine for young families. DraftFBC developed and executed the current above-the-line campaign. Quelle Belle Journée (Paris) is responsible for the creation of the new TV commercial for Planta.

Emakina.NL is part of the Emakina Group, an international online agency network with over 350 employees, active in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. Besides Blue Band, the customer portfolio of Emakina includes Bonduelle, Foundation ‘Weet Wat je Besteedt’, Dove, Magnum and Unox .

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Apr 16 2012

A new print campaign, produced by Emakina for Partenamut, the Belgian health services and insurance provider, introduces a striking new visual identity for the brand. After creating an original all-blue environment two years ago, Emakina decided to build on the same logic with an aesthetic approach that is unique in the field of health services. Together with the client, the team steered away from the traditional use of lifestyle photos of ‘shiny happy people’, in need of medical treatment. Instead, the campaign introduces handmade clay statues, designed and created by artist Ghislain Honoré.

Using photo-stop motion, each of the characters is presented in a typical every-day-life situation, where Partenamut plays a positive and dynamic behind-the-scenes role. Both the background and the characters were left in white while the key items, associated with the Partenamut’s positive intervention, were digitally coloured in the brand’s identifiable blue. Some 68 kilos of Italian clay in ‘broken white’ were used to create 50 statuettes, each about 20 cm tall, as well as some glasses, crutches, hospital beds, and other accessories.

Partenamut makes every effort is made to make clients’ lives easier, with less concerns, and with the least possible amount of paperwork.  This campaign thus symbolised Partenamut’s approach of keeping its services as simple as possible for its clients. The original visuals were combined with to-the-point and service-oriented copywriting. All the displayed messages were direct and positive; illustrating the advantages of Partenamut’s various services.

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Apr 15 2012

Emakina.NL heeft de pitch gewonnen voor het ontwikkelen en realiseren van de brandplatformen van Blue Bland (NL) en Planta (Be). Het digitaal agentschap werd verkozen boven twee andere bureaus. De sterke consumer insights en creatieve strategie voor een content-driven platform gaven de doorslag. Daarbij sloot de doorvertaling van Emakina naar een sterke contentkalender goed aan bij de always-on-communicatieaanpak van de Unilever-merken. Het bureau zal de technische, creatieve én redactionele realisatie voor haar rekening nemen.

Blue Band is sinds 1923 verkrijgbaar in Nederland en profileert zich nadrukkelijk als vertrouwd margarinemerk voor jonge gezinnen. De huidige above-the-line campagnes is ontwikkeld en uitgevoerd door DraftFBC.

Quelle Belle Journee (Parijs), is de maker van de nieuwe TVC voor Planta.

Emakina.NL is onderdeel van de Emakina Group, een internationaal online-agency netwerk dat met ruim 350 medewerkers actief is in Nederland, België, Frankrijk en de UK. Behalve Blue Band behoren ook Bonduelle, Stichting Weet Wat Je Besteedt, Dove, Unox en Magnum tot het klantenportfolio.

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