NORWALK, CT: Event technology firm etouches has launched a platform for event planners to create their own mobile apps.
The product, called eMobile, allows people to build a mobile app for an event by logging into an administrative interface and selecting colors, customizing features, and adding content. Users can scan a QR code from a smartphone or tablet to preview the app before publishing it. They can also log back into the mobile app creator to make updates and then republish.
Etouches developed its eMobile platform to allow marketers who are planning multiple events to quickly create short-term apps at a low cost, said etouches CMO Suzanne Carawan. Each app costs $500, and Carawan estimated that a user could build one within five minutes, depending on how much custom content is added.
“We're at the point where you have to have apps for events, but if you're planning many events, you can't afford nor do you have the time to make a mobile app for each one,” Carawan said. “We think event apps should be cool and used for a specific time period, then thrown away. This takes it down to a consumer level where anybody can do it.”
The eMobile apps support basic content such as agendas and event details, as well as other features such as lists of attendees' Twitter handles and speaker and attendee directories. Users can also add banner ads and other sponsored content to the apps.