Saying we’re very excited about how 2012 is shaping up so far would be an understatement. Keeward has just taken on its newest creative challenge, in the form of mobile app start-up App & Above. The latter are developing mobile and tablet applications to help businesses make the most of today’s communication and media tools. They’re doing it across multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Windows 7, Blackberry) and languages (English, French, Arabic and Spanish), and they have big plans for the coming year and beyond.
So where does Keeward come in? Well, we’ve partnered up with App & Above because it fits perfectly into our constellation building strategy. Keeward brings its years of expertise in design and development to App & Above. This helps it become a start-up that really isn’t a start-up in the traditional sense. We will be guiding App & Above technically and strategically throughout their setup phase. We can help them avoid making rookie mistakes, because we made them years ago. They benefit from the combined expertise of both their human resources and ours. This isn’t just enriching for the app side of things, it also gives Keeward’s teams a new outlook on digital. We’re steeped in web knowledge, but we’re new to apps. So, since sharing best practises and sharp learning curves is what we love, this is a perfect fit.
Our approach of creating symbiosis between companies within a collaborative ecosystem isn’t new. In 2008 we acquired Tamyras, an up and coming French-language publishing house, with a view to integrating their expertise and resources into the way Keeward works. For a long time, we hadn’t been happy with being almost exclusively technically oriented and were looking for a way to branch out and explore rich communication on the web. Bringing together these two projects was a win-win situation. For us, it meant we could produce rich content to promote literature and books online, while the publishing house would have access to a team of experienced web engineers, artistic directors and consultants, something it could not have afforded on its own.
We also used the same approach to form relationships with clients and partners that weren’t necessarily initially within our reach as a tech company. Through our partnership with Paris and Brussels-based idward (created in 2003) in 2006, we added a very strong design and branding element to our portfolio of services. This led to us working on some really fascinating projects in Europe that featured a strong design element.
Web design and development, branding and publishing may seem like they’re worlds apart. But when there is a unified thought process behind the overall approach, they fit together seamlessly. This is the way we believe the world works today. People collaborating and participating in each other’s success around a central idea that they believe in. Ideas aren’t meant to be ring-fenced, and business deals shouldn’t involve suits and stuffy boardrooms. The world is far more flexible today, and we’re more than happy to adapt to every change that comes our way.
