App madness

Application software better known as applications or simply just apps, are made to satisfy the specific needs of their users. That is the definition but let’s not to be too prescribed and instead have a look at the reality – applications are experiencing a huge international boom which is growing not only with social media but also mobile devices. When I was living in the Netherlands – a very pro-active country when it comes to new technologies and new media in particular – I got used to being surrounded by apps of all kinds. Wherever I was and whatever I did I somehow ran into apps. To my surprise, this didn’t really change when I moved back to my homeland. Apps are everywhere – grocery stores have apps for online orders, my gym has an app to make reservation for group lessons, my favorite taxi company started using app instead of call centre, even one of the stiffest company ever – DPP, provider of Prague public transport – has an app! But don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy to see that Czechs are (finally)  keeping up with global trends.

Actually, realizing how many apps are available on Czech market, sadly reminded me of the situation with social media, particularly Facebook a couple of years ago. When it came out, it was new, fresh, dynamic, fun… and then all of the sudden everybody had to be there, even companies with characters that do not fit with the feel of this networking site. With apps it’s kind of the same. I don’t want to specifically point out  somebody but in this app madness there are way too many apps which cannot possible reach their users. Exactly as with Facebook, where nothing is worse than an empty page with no audience, nothing is worse than app with no users.
 

Social Media fever 

This doesn’t count just for apps, as social media also booms, we in CZ are just discovering Twitter and are more active with sites such as LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram, with more to come – Stumble Upon, Spotify, Tumblr, Flickr etc. And what are you going to do –  Create profile at all of them, which is going to be left empty, as you cannot possibly have enough time to update them all? Or instead, hire social media person who is going to keep up with all of these sites?  I would rather recommend, critical selection. Check what  each site is about – who is using it? What kind of content is being shared there? Then decide whether this corresponds with your business. If so, start using the site.  If not, don’t be afraid to dismiss these sites. If it isn’t the right fit for you, then you would probably get very few fans/followers and as I said above, nothing is worse than an abandoned site.

Apps – how to actually use them? 

With apps it’s similar you must be pragmatic. In the current app jungle you can find an application for practically anything.  However many of them don’t work properly, many of them are useless and quite a few of the good ones might not work on your device (Blackberry incapacity to run Instagram strongly influenced my decision to switch to Apple) but there are still some great ones left to choose from. For business purposes it really depends on the sector and industry you are operating in (as I mentioned previously) but for purely private use your possibilities are limitless. Also be prepared as apps rapidly (!!!) increase functionality of your smart phone. Thanks to apps, I can easily and quickly (!) check transport connections, check my bank balance, translate any word to 25 world languages, check the forecast for any location in the world, keep track of my half-marathon practice and much more (including social media but that’s obvious). Beside these ‘practical’ apps, there are quite few hilarious ones. I personally love Hater (hater-app.com). Developers of this app responded to the ongoing and unheeded requests that Facebook should create a ‘don’t like’ button and came with app via which people can share things that frustrate from. Trust me, once you share something irritating and you see the similar (and often worse) frustrations of others, you feel much better ;-)

Client highlights: Cultural reinvigoration of Koruna Palace – Lori Goldston concert

Our task was to introduce Koruna Palace, the Art Nouveau building which was built over 100 years ago on Wenceslas Square, as a center of cultural life in the Prague city center. The client’s wish was to raise awareness of the cultural program planned for Koruna Palace atrium, including musical concerts and exhibitions, to increase audience at these organized events. 

To promote the cultural program of Koruna Palace Best focused on the planned concerts of international music stars, as these had the greatest potential to create excitement and to spread information about the events to the general public. The first musician to perform was a cellist Lori Goldston, a former member of the legendary band Nirvana, who held a concert in the Czech Republic as part of her European tour. In connection with this concert Best Communication created press materials and approached the media for the purpose of providing information to the public. Local residents and businesses based around Wenceslas Square were invited to a concert by personal invitations. 

 

Following the event, a second round of information was issued to the media together with photos from the concert, highlighting the success of the concert as well as the upcoming program of future events.

Lori Goldston’s concert was covered in many culturally oriented media outlets, information servers with tips about events in Prague and on many culturally oriented Facebook pages. This generated more than 55 articles across traditional, online and social media.

Spellbound by Pinterest by Klára Ježková

I discovered Pinterest at the time when everyone had to request an account and its administrators would then send you an invitation to create one.

Those who know Pinterest are aware that this wasn’t such a long time ago; Pinterest has been available to everyone without having to request membership since August of last year. It was founded in March 2010, but I was taken under its spell only this year. I think it’s a great tool; not only to amuse yourself while lying in the bed with  flu, but also as a place where you can search for inspiration on any topic that comes to your mind or for working on projects for various clients.

 

If you haven’t been lucky enough to get to know Pinterest, I can tell you it’s basically a virtual notice board. And, not just one board. Each user creates their own boards devoted to topics they are interested in and pins images on them; photos and videos related to the topic in any way. The topic can be broad as you like – from sport in general to the very particular activity of orienteering, which is a topic of several boards too. Just like on Twitter, you can choose a person on Pinterest (or a particular person’s board) that you would like to follow and whose contributions will be displayed on your home page. Also, others can follow you and your boards. And if you like someone else’s image, you can simply re-pin it onto your board.

 

Check Pinterest yourself

Pinterest is not just a pin-up board where you can look at beautiful and inspirational images. As entertaining as it might be to users, it is also very useful for marketing and PR people. Apart from the opportunity to find out what people like, what they like to pin on their boards, and many other useful things, you can see in the example of several successful campaigns that similar to Facebook, you can use Pinterest to increase interest in your product or service.

The first and at the same time the most often mentioned Pinterest campaign is the one realized by the feminine hygiene producer, Kotex, in Israel. Kotex chose 50 female Pinterest users, who had a certain number of followers, who were active on the site, and whose pins were often re-pinned. They subscribed to follow the pins of these ladies to get to know them better and then prepared a special package for each of them with items inspired by their boards, and then sent them a photo of these. To receive these gifts in reality they had to pin the photo onto their board. Users then published a photo of the real gifts not only on their Pinterest board, but also on other social networks.

Fashion house Oscar de la Renta used Pinterest in a great way too. During their wedding gown fashion show they were pinning photos of models and showing their wedding dresses live on their profile. As well as the photos taken during the fashion show, they also pinned photos from backstage.

American retail chain HSN used a simple idea – they let their fans create a board with the perfect autumn outfit according to their style. They were supposed to create it from clothes they found on their website and also elsewhere on the internet. Those who chose the creator of the best outfit weren’t representatives of the chain, but a celebrity jury.

The number of campaigns that have successfully used this social network is still on the rise; however, they are still quite rare in the Czech Republic. The number of Czechs using Pinterest is only around 15,000, although it’s growing. I think that Pinterest is, above all, an interesting and playful tool for the communication of products and services, and possesses a great future.

And how do you plan to use it?