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/

My Fitbit Flex Experience! Wait, Fitbit What?

New year, new goals of course! I don't know why, but suddenly I'm obsessed with fitness. Yes, I'm all into squats, lunges and burpees. So 'to be more active' is my cliché goal for 2014.

Squat for the ass you’ve always wanted!

Squats

Lunges

Burpees

Training and working out is a bit rare in my family. So my parents are definitely supporting me. They gave me a perfect Christmas present, namely the Fitbit Flex! My new favourite gadget. 

The Fitbit What? I’ll explain:

Fitbit’s Flex is a great fitness tracker, an all-in-one activity monitor , which contains of two parts:

• The Flex itself - a small rectangular device that can be charged using the USB dock
• A rubber wristband that can monitor your daily activity.
• Also included is a dongle which allows users to sync Flex –wirelessly- with their computer.

It is entirely water resistant.  Flex’s wristband is available in different colors: black, blue, green and pink. I have the black one because it has to match to my clothes, right girls? 

The product pack includes two different band sizes – a large and small one.

Your activity can be viewed in detail using either Fitbit’s Web dashboard or its application. The app is available in the app store and Google Play. They both - dashboard and app - offer in-depth information, textually or graphically.  

Burn calories, burn!!!

Over the course of the day, Flex can track and record 

• the amount of steps someone takes
• the total distance traveled
• the number of “active minutes"
• the calories burned.

Your Fitbit account will be updated the next time Flex connects through either the wireless dongle or its application.

You can also use Flex to record your food and water intake, your weight and your sleep. You can even start an individualized “food plan”. But I’ll pass this one, I love food too much to start a food plan.

You can check your goals by simply tapping the wristband twice: five white LED lights will flash, indicating the percentage of your daily goal that’s so far been achieved – the dots representing 20 percent increments. This is awesome because you can check on your progress without having to launch the app.

  

My Experience

The device is my constant companion, my new best friend for about a month now. I feel informed about my activity levels and I’m very motivated to get moving and achieving my goals. It is fun because you can set daily goals for each aspect. The default goals which Fitbit offers are 10,000 steps, five miles, 2,852 calories, and 30 active minutes. You had to see my face when I had more then 10 000 steps a day for the first time!  

I find myself frequently tapping, just to see the pretty glowing dots appear and get an update. That simple action kept me more motivated to increase my activity, without even needing to open the app. So you can say that Flex has encouraged me to be (even) more active. 

Another reason why Fitbit keeps me motivated, is because you can earn badges! And now we are talking about marketing. Integrating the gamification aspect makes it more popular. We all, especially Gen Y, want to be the very best in everything. 

Even Pokémon said it: "I will be the very best, like no one ever was. Gotta catch 'em all! Every challenge along the way". 

Unlocking badges gives us the great feeling of success. By connecting your Facebook account and finding other Fitbit users (which is possible), you can compete with your friends. The company knew that integrating this feature, would be a clever thing to do. Because why do you think Foursquare or Nike+ are such popular apps? We want to compete and succeed, we want to be harder, better, faster, stronger! What we want, is INSTANT GRATIFICATION! And that is the main principle. 

Fitbit understands... 

It’s non-intrusive and easy to use. The battery life is good. I just have to charge my tracker once a week, which is great.

If I had one complaint, it is that the wrist band is difficult to fasten! 

SO I'M VERY GLAD I HAVE A FITBIT FLEX! Even going to my school, Ehsal - Digital Marketing in Brussels, is fun now cause every step counts! 

What do you think about these and other fitness trackers?

Source: appadvice: Take control of your lifestyle with the wearable fitbit flex

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

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

2013: Great Memories, 2014: New You?

It’s that time of the year! I can't believe that tomorrow is already 2013's last day. I just want to wish you a very happy new year and may all your wishes come true. I bet 2014 will be even better than 2013!

Time to celebrate and think about the good memories of 2013

What if you could bring all your best moments of 2013 to life? AWESOME! Of course you can. Most of us love capturing moments and taking pictures with our smartphone, thanks to Instagram. We all have tons of photos!

2013 in review: Flipagram

Flipagram is a free app - available on the app store and Android-  where you can create and share a beautiful short video slideshow  using your photos, set to music you love. Just link up your Instagram account and pull directly from it. You can manually choose the length of each slide and when all that is done, you just choose a great song from your music library to go along with the Flipagram video.

Now it’s time to share your moments of awesomeness in 2013 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and so on. It’s a great way to get a little nostalgic with your photos and get others to experience it with you.

You can check my Flipagram ‘Memories 2013’: http://flipagram.com/f/GSogR7Zq6d

New year, new me?

Every single time we set ourselves achievable goals for the next year. And every single time, it is a fiasco. Well, let me help you by introducing some apps that will encourage you achieving your goals.

• ‘Everest’ seems to be a great app! It is designed to help you live your dreams and focus on goals and achieve them along with the help of others. Steps towards your goal can be added as you need them. I really love this concept, unfortunately it is only available in the app store.
• Stress?! Need some chill-pill?  ‘Take a break’ is an app for you. It lets your stress melt away. Relax easily as you are voice-guided step by step. Choose a relaxing audio and begin your relaxation for 7 or 13 minutes. (ios-android)
• This is cliché: suddenly everyone wants to stop smoking (ha-ha). Maybe you will, with ‘QuitNow’!It is the most complete tool to quit smoking and it helps you to cope with anxiety. You’ll see the time since your last cigarette (minutes, days, hours,..), how many cigarettes you have avoided and most important: the money you have saved! (ios-android)
• If you want to lose weight, ‘Lose It!’ will help you to stay in your calorie budget. (ios – android)
• Last but not least: you want a date? There are plenty of dating apps, such as ‘Tinder’, ‘Badoo’, ‘Skout’ and many more. 

Hope you can achieve your goals! Happy 2014!

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

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

All The Single Ones, Meet Tinder!

Online dating, why not? In the U.S. it is the most common thing to do. Tinder is an app that sets people up with romantic matches by geographic proximity and age. It is how THE dating scene looks like for the millennial generation. So if you are single, if you want to meet some people or if you just want to have a laugh, download Tinder on your smartphone.

Oh no, hot or not?

Yes indeed, it is like the ‘hot or not’ game, hilarious! It allows users to swipe through the photos. If you click the heart button, it means you like the person. And if you swipe to the  left, you will never have to see that ugly face again. You only see some photos (profile pics), common Facebook friends and common Facebook ‘interests’. So yes, it is based on someone’s appearences. Users have to have Facebook, because Tinder uses your account.

Yaaay, I have a match!

When you like someone, the person won’t be aware of that. But if he or she likes you too, you have a match! After being matched, you are able to chat, share links to favorite poems (so not done), exchange numbers, or do whatever you want to do. I am not really good at this. The guys have to take the next step, right girls?

My experience as Misses Picky

I have downloaded the app because I was curious, and seriously, who doesn’t want to receive attention? Besides, I have heard a lot about this app so this made me want to check it out.

So I have decided to limit my ‘circle’ with boys of 21 to 26 years old and within a distance of maximum 30 kilometers. Unfortunately, this app made me realize –again- that I am Misses Picky! I only want the best, the most beautiful boys in the world. Why oh why? That is why I already worked through my circle, no boys anymore near Ghent, great... Only 5 likes and 4 re-likes (matches). And they didn’t even begin chatting with me, thanks guys. 

I have also noticed that there are some users who are already in a relationship. That is NOT what the app was made for actually. But stating the obvious, everyone loves attention, especially if it comes from the other sex. It is the best feeling when someone ‘likes’ you and you have a match, even if you are in a relationship.

On top of that, it is always so hilarious when you see someone you know, especially when they are lying about their age!

Tinder is just fun! So yes, I recommend you –the singles- to take a look at it.

What do you think of online dating nowadays?

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

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

Happy Is More Than a Music Video, Let's Call It Intelligent Marketing

http://24hoursofhappy.com/

There is always a tear behind a great smile. When you’re feeling down or sad, it is hard to make yourself feel better. Well, if there is one thing that made me smile that little more, it is the 24-hour ‘Happy’ video of Pharrell Williams. No kidding, 24 hours long! The groove just makes me dancing in my head all day long! The longer I listen to the song –which is btw the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, the more I forget I’m hearing the same song all over again.

I like dancing, music and marketing! Maybe that’s why I ‘m a huge fan of “Happy”

The world’s first 24-hour video consists of images and people dancing to the song, including other celebrities like Steve Carrell, Kelly Osbourne and Jamie Foxxx. The video is presented as an interactive clock. Users can click specific times to jump ahead,  watching a few second of each performance. Each performance/take lasts 4 minutes, 4 minutes of dancing in the streets of LA.

Marketing it is!

This is not just another music video. It is an ingenious content marketing move! It shows you what you can do and what the capabilities are of a ridiculously simple idea. On top of that, how would you describe this project? Is it just a music video or is it art? But maybe, it is a great internet campaign? Yes indeed, ‘Happy’ is everything. Lines are continually being blurred between medium, artists, creation and communication, and that’s what I call great marketing.

The website has already 5 000 000 views! It creates powerful buzz, a dream for every marketer. Everyone can share his moment of happiness, and sure they do!

Unfortunately, the site doesn’t work on mobile – only on your desktop or tablet. Of course, as a digital marketer, I think it is a shame because responsive design is a must nowadays. It is the user experience that enables visitors to consume and share content on any website through the device of their choice and preference, anytime. The video is doing ok and is going viral, but when they should give us the possibility to view it on our mobile phone, the views and shares would increase even more!

So…

If you want to cheer yourself up, I highly recommend you to listen to the song and watch the video. But I’ll warn you, you will lose some time! Time goes faster than you think. I’m already addicted.  And don’t forget to share your moment of happiness…

http://24hoursofhappy.com/

Please let me know: do you agree? Is this Marketing? 

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

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

Flowboard Is the Real Deal!

My little secret

I admit, if there’s one thing I could do all day long, it’s making good looking presentations. Well, I discovered a new app that has made me love presentations even more – o god.

While I was looking at the app store on my iPad, I found it! Flowboard – a.k.a heaven. It is a presentation and storytelling app / platform.

6 reasons why Flowboard is dope:

 Interactivity

All types of content can be shown on a tablet. Flowboard knows this! Buttons, videos, web links, photos can be added from your Instagram, Dropbox, Facebook.  Your viewers will be able to explore web links without leaving the presentation and they can dive deeper into a photo gallery etc.

Share

Each Flowboard has a unique URL that can be shared to  individuals, or to your entire social network, by sending or posting a link.

Online / offline

While presenting your Flowboard, others can explore on the iPad. This makes it even more interactive. But the most important thing is that there is no internet connection needed on the iPad.

Best of both worlds

Powerpoint is so 2008! Flowboard is the real deal. 

The app is not a powerpoint, nor a photo gallery. But it has the best of both worlds.

 B-e-a-utiful

The presentation is visually stunning, professional, awesome, dope! It is important that you can grab the attention of your listeners. I guarantee you that is not an issue anymore with Flowboard. On top of that, people are attracted to tablets. Presenting with an iPad makes it more interesting and professional.

Simple

With simple touch gestures, you can add text, web links, pdfs, photos and videos, which makes it a compelling story that will captivate your viewers. There are some existing templates and graphics that you can use, which are designed by a Flowboard designer team.

Here is an example of a short presentation I made for Desperados – assignment Digital Marketing at Ehsal. 
Full presentation: http://flowboard.com/s/1mw8

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

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/

Why Digital Marketing at Ehsal Is Worth the Money

Digitale Marketing - Ehsal 

As you may know already, I’m studying Digital Marketing and Communications at Ehsal Management school in Brussels. Even though it is not in my favorite city of all time – which is Ghent, it is worth it. It’s only for a year anyway.

And no, I didnt choose it because I didn’t want to work yet, cause that is the wrong attitude. Here are some reasons why Digital Marketing at Ehsal was the best choice for me!

Guest speakers

We literally learn from the best. All our lessons are guest lectures and seminars, which means that our lecturers are real business people with a lot of experience. That makes it more interesting and they know how to amuse the students. Some online marketing gurus from Flanders we’ve already had are Bart de Waele, Kenny Vermeulen, Thomas Troch, Bert Van Wassenhove, Tom de Ruyck etc.

Practical

The real benefit is that we get a lot of assignments that have to be done in groups. On the one hand, teamwork is good for your social skills and it teaches you how to work in a team. And on the other hand, it is very instructive! We’re all used to memorizing big manual by heart, but you learn a lot more a doing and making mistakes.

For real companies

All the assignments and everything we must do, are for real companies (like VRT, Incofin, Desperados). We are helping them with their social media or their online marketing. With the help of coaching sessions, we know what ( that we’re doing ok) we’re doing ok and what has to be better. 

So actually, we are already doing stuff like we will do in the near future. This is our job…

We are wanted

It is a fact that the landscape of marketing has changed over the last decade. Digitalism can’t be ignored!  Areas that everyone should keep an eye on are the areas of digital marketing, multichannel marketing, and ecommerce. As a marketing professional you have no choice but to get involved in the digital world! Otherwise things could be dangerous for your company in the future. Digital marketers are there to help you! Believe it or not…

Ehsal is forward-looking

They all are doing their very best to prepare us for the future. The lecturers are  giving us advise, tips and may give us a job in their company, if you stand out of course. Because all of the lecturers are taught by real business people, we are expanding our professional network. And that is always a bonus!!

If you don’t believe THIS is the future, please watch this video! I mean, social media has already taken over porn as the number one activity on the web!! 

Digitale Marketing en Communicatie @ Ehsal Management School

Author

Brett Dufort - Application InspirationStudent Digital Marketing at Ehsal Management school - ehsaldmc

• be.linkedin.com/in/brettdufort/