Trending: Pop-up Stores

So I have noticed that pop-up stores are becoming increasingly popular. I think this will be a huge trend in 2014, and I just love it! Customers are demanding more memorable, innovative and quality experiences. Contemporary pop-up stores are the perfect solution, especially for online brands.

What exactly is a pop-up store?

A pop-up store appears for a short period, typically 1 day to 3 months, and then disappears again. Mostly in high foot traffic areas as city centers, busy streets, malls, the airport,… The price is much lower than traditional stores.  It is a perfect way to do some market research, get to know your customers and test products, concepts and locations. And of course for selling products, generating awareness and increasing your ‘coolness’ factor. It even can be used for launching limited-edition products and for seasonal business/ during holidays: Valentine & Christmas stores,… It’s ideal for most retail stores.

Pop-up stores are great for building a relationship with existing customers, as well as attracting new customers.

Perfect for online brands

Popping up a store is a great idea for online brands. It allows them to gain consumer interest and get their brand out in the public physical sphere. In that way, companies can tell the story of a brand and make it more tangible to consumers. This is the real challenge for e-commerce retailers. People have now the opportunity to touch and feel the product, and this will lead to more online sales cause they will be more likely to shop online now. These shops provide a way to interact with customers face-to-face and also educate them about new products, services and features. It’s all about brand acquisition.

For example, Google launched a pop-up store in Australia, called Androidland, to introduce and educate customers on the Google Android mobile operating system.

Even ebay opened a social media pop-up store during Christmas. The shop features no products but a range of QR codes and augmented reality features for shoppers to see and buy products using mobile devices.

 Social Media Pop-up store ebay

Benefits

• It is a valuable tool for experimentation, storytelling, branding, advertising, generating buzz and attracting new customers, but it demands the right strategies of course.
• Because pop-up stores are temporary and small, the cost of rent is lower.
• Consumers will be curious and satisfied.
• It is a perfect marketing tool to draw the attention from crowds cause it is something unique.
• A brand can open a pop-up store when traffic and sales are expected to be high, and close again during slower months.

Big brands such as Coca-Cola, Levi's, BMW, Adidas and the Gap have used pop-up shops to generate buzz around a product or promotion. 

Pop-up store Adidas

Pop-up store Reebok

Pop-up store Mini

Pop-up store illy

Pop-up store H&M

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

Things Come & Go : The Story of Flappy Bird

I guess you’ve all heard about the mobile app Flappy Bird. The game involves tapping your device's screen to propel a small bird through a series of strategically placed pipes. The app – with Super Nintendo-style graphics – itself was simple but so frustrating and endless. A game you can barely play for more than a few seconds without throwing your phone across the room in frustration. Despite that, Flappy bird became a global phenomenon and took over the web, only in just a few weeks.

History

The game was designed and built by Dong Nguyen, a developer who lives in Vietnam.

• It all began in November 2012, when Nguyen shared an image of a game he was working on via Twitter. 5 month later, he shared the first splash screen for the new iOS game, called Flap Flap. A month goes by with no update on Flap Flap. It turns out that there was already another app in the App Store with that same name Flap Flap. And Flappy Bird was born…

• The game made its App Store debut on May 24, 2013.

• On Sept. 2013, Nguyen released his first update to Flappy Bird. It fixed a few bugs, and he added a new icon for iOS 7. The app did not initially make a huge dent in the download charts. But suddenly, Flappy Bird entered the “Family” category. A few days later, Flappy Bird made its first appearance on Twitter aside from Nguyen's initial tweets. The game continued to rise in popularity. It became known for its difficulty – a challenge which smartphone users found irresistible – and the number of players began to  increase.

• On Dec. 11, he mentioned there would come an Android version of the app.

• From then on, Twitter users started to tweet more about the game and were creating memes related to their frustrations. Nguyen retweeted some of the more humorous images:

• On jan. 10, the app became a top-10 app in the United states, which is a major milestone. Within one week, it became the most downloaded app on Google Play.

• BUT Flappy Bird’s success and the received attention Nguyen got, was impacting his life for the worse. Nguyen began receiving abusive messages, hate tweets and death threats, from users. He was called an ‘evil genius’ for developing such a devilish game. Other messages were sent with an angrier tone as players became increasingly frustrated.

• Flappy Bird is gone forever because Nguyen couldn’t handle it and the app was just too addictive. His life had become overrun by the success of the game.

“I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore. It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore. I also don’t sell ‘Flappy Bird’, please don’t ask. And I still make games.”

Popularity

According to Mashable, Flappy Bird is the perfect example of how an app can go viral, thanks to social media and word of mouth. It was the perfect storm of circumstance, luck and viral drive. Nguyen chalked up the game's success to pure luck. He told TechCrunch, "I don't know how my games can be so popular. Most of my players are kids in schools. I would like to thank them for playing my game and sharing it to other people."

The game has had at least 50 million downloads, and amassed nearly 16 million tweets.

You can still play Flappy Bird, when you’ve already downloaded it. So smartphones, included with the Flappy Bird app, could bring in some money!

Source: http://mashable.com/2014/02/10/flappy-bird-story/

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

4 Awesome Apps for Valentine's Day

Oh crap, forgot that it’s almost Feb. 14? Whether you love or hate it, there’s no escaping it. Trust me, girls always expect something on Valentine’s Day… . Here are some apps that will help you to be the perfect Valentine and survive the day. 

Open table

There isn’t an easier way to make restaurant reservations. Open table is an iPhone app that filters  restaurants by price, neighborhood, cuisine and available times. When tapping on a restaurant, you’ll get a description, the menu, parking information and most importantly: reviews. Too bad? Don’t go! Too noisy? You don’t want to do that on Valentine’s Day… Too expensive?  Yes please! Once you know when you want to be there, simply lock in a time an make your reservation. And you’ve scored… App store

Avocado

Avocado is a social network for couples that's completely private and viewable by only the two of you. Sharing notes, thoughts, memories, photos, and many more is one feature. Another feature, which is great for guys and even better for the girls, is a calendar. It helps you remember important dates for the two of you. So, no excuses anymore! There is also a sort of bucket list you can create. Use it for vacation getaway ideas, date nights or even naughty stuff. Relax, t’s private, no one will ever know! Android Market & App store.

Other similar apps are Pair (where thumbkisses are a fact) and Between.

30 Day Relationship challenge

Put the spark back in your love life and show your other half how much you love her/him. The app motivates you to do something special and romantic. They say that in the end, you’ll have a stronger relationship. I’m curious… BUT, it’s not just once, you have to do something sweet for 30 days in a row. Believe me, the suggestions are very simple and don’t require a lot of money or planning. You can always change an activity to another or add an own custom activity. If you accept the challenge and stay committed to it, maybe you will feel closer to each other. Like the concept, but I think it’s hard to stay committed to the challenge for 30 days in a row. I might forget it... Android Market

Pocket Kamasutra

Do I have to explain this one? I think the name describes itself.

Valentine’s Day is all about love, and where there is love, there is… sex! The app is filled with many highly detailed positions with illustrations. You can keep track of the ones you’ve tried, mark  your favorites and create a ‘to do list’. I guess this is THE app to spice up your relationship TONIGHT, what are you waiting for? Android Market & App store

Are you single and lonely on Feb.14? Don’t forget the dating apps ‘Tinder’ and ‘Let’s Date’. It’s like math, two negatives, make a positive : two lonely hearts, make a match and end up having….  

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

Ghent, the Belgian Silicon Valley

You may have noticed that Ghent has some great tech startups. Why Ghent? Because it is cheaper (than Brussels), it is of course the most beautiful and historical city of Belgium and it is a big university city. So there is a lot of potential young talent.

The number of startups has increased dramatically over the past few years and I’m very optimistic about it! I believe in a continued growth, cause the early results are very positive.

What is a start-up?

According to Forbes, it is very difficult to give it one correct definition. There are no rules on defining it. But the key attribute of a startup is its ability to grow. As Paul Graham explains, a startup is a company designed to scale very quickly. It is this focus on growth unconstrained by geography which differentiates startups from small businesses.

Some great startups, based in Ghent

1. Showpad 
   Of course Showpad! Showpad is a Mobile Sales Enablement platform/app aimed at drastically improving Sales Effectiveness of any enterprise with a sales team and it provides marketing with actionable insights. It lets you upload and manage all your sales material in one central and secure place. This means that it turns each iPad into a powerful sales & presentation tool. Showpad has now opened an office in San Francisco!
   
   
2. Zentrick
   With Zentrick, you can easily build interactive videos with their pre-built applications, intuitive drag & drop editor and custom app developer. Just publish your experience to any device, network or site with a single click and let your audience engage whenever, wherever and however they want. They have a second office in NY.
   
   
3. In the pocket
   In the Pocket is a full-service mobile agency, helping brands, media companies and enterprises embrace the digital age of smartphones tablets and other connected devices. They show enterprises that smartphones and tablets can be used in an effective and creative way.  In the Pocket won the IAB MIXX award for ‘Most promising agency of the year’ in 2013.
   
   
4. Engagor
   It is one powerful all-in-one social media management tool to manage all your social media activity. From monitoring & analytics to engagement, perfect for marketing and customer service. Engagor helps companies to efficiently engage with all their customers in an easy way. They are also based in San Fransicso.
   
   
5. Cheqroom
   Cheqroom is intuitive software that helps you easily register, monitor and manage your inventory, online from your desktop or mobile device. It’s an easy system to track an estate of equipment, like computers, bikes, ski material, books and much more. By labeling your equipment with QR codes and registering your items in the web app, you can manage your inventory online.

Ghent is known for its elderflower-flavoured drink Roomer, Tierenteyn mustard and Cuberdons (or ‘little noses’). But soon Ghent will be known as the Belgian Silicon Valley, according to me... 

Author 
Brett Dufort - Application Inspiration
Student Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/