Connexion News

New Drupal portal site for social economy

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:50:00 PM

www.socialeeconomie.be:Targeted selection of social economy-relatedorganisations, services and products via the new Drupal portal site Integration and synchronisation of legacy CiviCRM databases in Drupal 6 Performing geolocationExtensive cross-linking resulting from the intensive use of taxonomyAutomated and transparent integration of the same information at other sites, including www.provant.be (Province of Antwerp)Brussels, 20 January 2009 - Connexion Corporate Communications NV, the borderless information designers and leading integrators of Web Content Management Systems, today announced that they have completely revamped the www.socialeeconomie.be portal site using Drupal CMS at the request of Vosec vzw. Vosec is a consultation platform for companies, organisations and experts involved in the social economy in Brussels and Flanders.The new portal site is designed to provide an easy method of locating and identifying all social economy-related stakeholders, products and services, details of which are processed and constantly updated in a CiviCRM environment. This approach opens new doors to the many advocacy, non-profit and non-governmental organisations that currently use CiviCRM to administer their relationships with members and target groups. Straightforward pinpointing of social economy organisationsIt is now far easier to locate information about social economy matters in Flanders. Visitors to the new portal site can search by company, product or service. Refined search requests by sector and sub-sector are also available. Visitors who prefer the geographical approach can select the province they are interested in via a streamlined map. They will then see a detailed map and can click on the municipality of their choice. All social economy organisations in the selected area will then be pinpointed on a Google map and appear in a clickable bullet list. The same result can be obtained by entering a postcode. Powerful use of taxonomyTaxonomy is becoming increasingly popular with administrators of dynamic web environments. The Drupal content management system has particularly strong taxonomy features. In the case of www.socialeeconomie.be, information structure that is not present in the CiviCRM database has been added to the website using taxonomy. As a result, Vosec is able to offer extra data segmentation at their site (such as hierarchical sorting), meaning that visitors obtain dynamically customised information on-screen.Sharing with other CRM data sitesThe Province of Antwerp’s www.provant.be website is the first site of its kind automatically to show – using its specific look and feel – the local social economy data that Vosec manages centrally using CiviCRM. This way, the data is only created once and always remains up to date. The websites of other Belgian provinces can also benefit from the same rationalisation process.These advances have been made possible by the fact that the Drupal CMS fully separates content from the graphic environment, allowing the same information to be shown in a completely different way. In this particular case, a selection of the CRM data managed by Vosec has been put into a separate Drupal graphics theme based on style sheets from the provant.be website. The main features, such as searching by company, product and service, have of course also been included. And because all page elements on the provincial website – such as the menu – are integrated dynamically, manual intervention is not needed at all. “This new portal site illustrates just how far you can go when integrating the contact database CiviCRM with Drupal,” says Geert Jespers, Communications Manager at Vosec. “This is a real plus for us, as we can continue to manage all data in our familiar CiviCRM environment, while the same information is also shown at our own portal site, as well as at a number of other public sector websites. This is also good news for whoever is looking for a stronger collaboration between CiviCRM and Drupal and aiming this way at more flexibility.” About Connexion Corporate Communications SAConnexion Corporate Communications is a Belgian business-to-business communications and language agency, and WCMS integrator. As Borderless Information Designers, Connexion has been operating on the international market since 1987. The agency has built up expertise over a number of years with various content management systems, in particular Hot Banana and Drupal. Connexion Corporate Communications clients using the agency’s online and offline borderless information expertise include Ansell Healthcare, Atos Worldline, Belgacom, Cognos, Electrabel, Ingersoll Rand, ISFE, Nuance, Keurslager, Isabel, Tractebel and Vosec. For more information about Drupal or Connexion Corporate Communications, visit www.connexion.eu or call Stany van Gelder on +32 (0)2 421 71 40.

10 new web projects awarded to Drupal CMS expert Connexion Corporate Communications

Wed, 21 May 2008 05:13:00 PM

High level corporate service and availability now offered to B2B and B2C organisations driving their Web projects with Drupal CMS High quality professional integration services for public and business organisations Internet, extranet and intranet requirements of small and very large companies alike accommodated rapidly by a dedicated service partner and a flexible open source CMS E-commerce at its bestAutomated Web Translation Workflow solution used for faster web localisationCustomized administration screens Brussels, May 21, 2008 - Connexion Corporate Communications SA, a prominent integrator of Web Content Management systems and multilingual online and offline communication solutions-provider for B2B organisations, has announced today they have capitalized on the power and flexibility of open source CMS Drupal to drive a series of new web projects, recently awarded by a variety of organizations, ranging from small companies to multinational organizations. Most of them make use of Connexion’s Automated Web Translation Workflow solution, to speed up and streamline the web content translation process. www.iterbelgium.be is a Belgian project supported by Agoria, FOD/SPF Energy, SKC-CEN, ULB, KMS/ERM and Belgatom. Driven by Drupal, this new trilingual website with extranet invites Belgian industries to take part in the ITER international project for the construction of the first worldwide nuclear fusion reactor. Ansell Healthcare has decided to entrust to Connexion the migration to one single global Drupal web environment for their current 27 websites spread around the world. The result will be one of the largest Drupal implementation in the whole world! The visitors of the new web environment will be able to choose between more than 25 languages and as many regional contents. The data will be hosted centrally while their publishing will be done locally. Every Ansell local team will be able to manage their local content, via a customised and optimised administration interface. This large scale international project will be spread over about 18 months and carried out in collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi.www.bpt.be is the new bilingual website developed by Connexion under Drupal for BPT Belgium, a branch of Tein Telecom. This web platform is aimed at consumers, architects and engineers who need to obtain commercial and technical information about the BTP range of hi-tech thermostats, door entry systems and domotics.Formation Insertion Jeunes (FIJ) has decided to work with Connexion for the full revamp of their website, under WCMS Drupal. Teachers and students alike will soon be able not only to access all kind of educative material and information on this site, but also to post their own, namely thanks to the impressive ‘social’ and web 2.0 features offered by Drupal. http://event.isfe.eu is an event-related microsite put together in 2 days time for the Interactive Software Federation Europe (ISFE). It is meant to inform about and allow online registration to the 2008 Expert Conference organized by ISFE in Brussels. This Drupal platform will be used for all similar events organized by ISFE in the future.Keurslager is -- in Belgium and especially in Flanders -- a well-known brand in the meat retail business. After a rigorous pitch, they have elected Connexion to fully refurbish their web platform. Drupal will help them dialog much more efficiently and boost business with their two main target groups, being Keurslager consumers and Keurslager retailers. Each retailer will even be able to create and manage his own micro-site under the same platform.www.kniecentrum.be is an informative website about knee surgery, recently migrated by Connexion to Drupal from flat html. This site contributes to the success of the trip from the pre-surgery assessment in London or Sint-Martens-Latem to the operation in Belgium and the patients’ return home. A forum open to medical doctors, insurance companies and patients alike will soon be integrated into this Kniecentrum platform. Musée des Instruments de Musique, is in Belgium a federal scientific institution, part of the Musée Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire. They have selected Connexion to migrate their current website to a brand new web platform, under Drupal. This CMS will allow each member of their team to update the culturally rich content and easily post the numerous news and activities. Sound and video will be integrated in a way that pleases the different museum audience types.http://www.myoptic24.be is a brand new Belgian company, that focuses on the online sales of contact lenses and associated items. They have chosen to work with Connexion to develop their webshop, under Drupal. The result, posted online since the spring 08, is one of the most complete and easy to navigate lens shops ever, with many types of promotions and discounts.www.teintelecom.be is a leading architect and supplier of innovative and integrated network-based Voice, Data and Video solutions in Belgium and the Netherlands. They have decided to migrate their current website to a new trilingual modern web environment, run under Drupal. Connexion has integrated easy to manage content pages in a sleek and hi-tech graphical environment. The result has been posted online in the early sprint 08.Peter De Boos, CTO at Connexion Corporate Communications: “Most of our clients now require to have a tool at hand that allows them to easily take care of their website maintenance and updates without relying on third parties.. At Connexion, we have built up in-house high-level Drupal expertise in the last two years. Today, we offer a proven track of successfully designed and soundly built web environments, that meet a very wide range of active marketing, business and multilingual communication needs”. About Connexion Corporate Communications SAConnexion Corporate Communications is a Belgian business-to-business communications and language agency, and WCMS integrator. Connexion has been operating on the international market since 1987. The agency has built up expertise with different content management systems, namely Hot Banana and Drupal, since several years. Connexion Corporate Communications clients calling upon Connexion’s online and offline communication expertise also include Ansell Healthcare, Atos Worldline, Belgacom, Cognos, Electrabel, Ingersoll Rand, Isabel and Tractebel. For more information about Drupal or Connexion Corporate Communications, visit www.connexion.eu or call Stany van Gelder on +32 (0)2 421 71 40.

Connexion brings professional added value to Open Source WCMS Community

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:30:00 AM

Automated Web Translation Workflow integrated in DrupalThe Belgian Drupal community gains extra professional expertiseConnexion gets new industrial multilingual website contractBrussels, March 28, 2007 - Connexion Corporate Communications SA/NV, a prominent integrator of WCM Solutions and provider of B2B multilingual web and print communication solutions, announces at the Entreprendre / Ondernemen 2007 Trade Fair in Brussels, that they have joined the international Drupal Community and that they integrate their Automated Web Translation Workflow technology into the Drupal open source WCMS.Presented for the first time at Customer First in 2006, Connexion's cutting-edge Automated Web Translation Worfklow technology has already proved to be very time and cost efficient for companies like Ansell Healthcare and Ingersoll Rand, who use the Hot Banana WCMS to drive their multilingual website or intranet.Companies are able to dramatically cut deadlines and budget each time they translate web pages. The process is fast, easy and straightforward. From the WCMS administration interface, site publishers can send web pages, portions of web pages and even entire websites to a computer assisted translation tool (CAT), such as DéjàVu, Trados, Wordfast or SDLX. Once human translators have edited the content in the CAT, their work is sent back to the WCMS for publication in just a few clicks. The translated content, navigation, metadata and links appear in the same layout as the original, which the user can then choose to further validate, get approval on or instantly publish.Connexion has now integrated the same technology in Drupal and will soon do the same with other web content management systems to offer efficient multilingual content management on several platforms.Drupal customisation and development is now an integral part of Connexion's services portfolio. Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal: "It is good news that a professional and experienced organisation like Connexion joins the Drupal Community. Connexion's Automated Web Translation Workflow is a valuable contribution to the latest developments of open source multilingual management technology which we are now integrating into the core of the next Drupal 6 version." Peter De Boos, CTO at Connexion: "The open source Drupal infrastructure already offered advanced facilities for managing websites in a number of languages. The automated web translation workflow now makes it a compelling solution for organisations operating internationally and using an open source wcms like Drupal. " Toyo Pumps Europe (www.toyopumpseurope.com), an industrial organisation based in Nivelles, has recently signed a contract with Connexion for a completely new website based on Drupal and using the automated web translation workflow.

New version of WCMS Hot Banana, championing Web Site Optimization and Marketing Automation

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:30:00 AM

Version 5.5 empowers small-to-midsized businesses to build and fine-tune web sites for lead generationIncludes industry-first "Analytics Center"Automatic transfer of Web form data to the email marketing provider of choiceAutomated generation of Google sitemapsClean cut, paste and filter of documents and tables from Microsoft Office and other programsDynamic Content Engine, allowing to categorize and tag content easily (taxonomy)Brussels, March 28, 2007 - Connexion Corporate Communications SA/NV, a prominent integrator of WCM Solutions and provider of B2B multilingual web and print communication solutions, has unveiled at the Entreprendre / Ondernemen 2007 Trade Fair in Brussels, the brand new version of Hot Banana (V 5.5), which takes Web CMS to the next level by integrating Web site optimization and marketing automation features. Connexion also announced significant changes to Hot Banana Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and licensed pricing, squarely focusing on small-to-midsize marketers."Hot Banana is throwing down the gauntlet and claiming the mid-market Web content management space," said Stany van Gelder, Marketing Director, Connexion Corporate Communications. "We're now giving midsize marketers advanced tools and controls for creating Web sites that are designed from the ground up to generate and convert leads and to handle complex online marketing campaigns. And we're giving it to them at a price they can afford, in an off-the-shelf SaaS or licensed package that they can implement with or without IT assistance." As part of its re-positioning strategy, Hot Banana Canada has re-launched its own corporate Web site using Version 5.5, at www.hotbanana.com. The company's innovative new release, Hot Banana Version 5.5, is championing the focus on three areas: (1) Web content management, empowering marketeers to build Web sites and take control of their content, (2) Web site optimization, giving marketeers the tools they need to fine-tune the marketing performance of their sites, and (3) marketing automation tools for capturing Web site visitors, turning them into qualified leads and transferring the leads to CRM systems.The one-of-a-kind Web CMS integrates best-of-breed, third-party Web analytics, email marketing and CRM solutions. It also consolidates all the capabilities from Hot Banana's formerly optional Active Marketing Suite into one core product.At the same time that product functionality has been increased, the pricing structure has also been made its more affordable. Hot Banana offers a three-tier model based on usage: one to five users, six to 25 users and unlimited users. Hot Banana SaaS, the Web CMS hosted offering, starts at only 249 € per month, while Hot Banana Licensed Software starts at 3 749 €. The top of the range package is a licensed-software offering that handles an unlimited number of users and URLs for only 20 999 €.Championing Web Content Management for MarketingVersion 5.5 builds Web site optimization tools and marketing automation processes directly into the core product. This approach empowers marketeers to maximize inbound Web site traffic, launch email campaigns, leverage landing pages with A/B testing and Web forms, and transfer leads to CRM systems like salesforce.com."Hot Banana is the only Web CMS with this laser focus on giving marketers total control," said Stany van Gelder. "Our approach lets marketers focus all their energy on making sure the Web site content is fully optimized and automated, so their marketing campaigns can perform and outperform."Among the most innovative features are: An industry-first "Analytics Center" that integrates several leading Web analytics tools, including ClickTracks, Google Analytics, IndexTools and WebTrends. Hot Banana automatically adds the proper tags to each Web page, based on the user's preferred analytics vendor. Users can easily add additional Web analytics vendors.Email marketing capabilities that transfer Web form data to the email marketing provider of choice, so this data can be leveraged in the next campaign. Best-practice design templates are included, so users can create emails, landing pages and corporate sites, all with the same consistent look and feel. For example, email HTML pages can be created in Hot Banana and exported to any email-marketing software, such as EmailLabs, for delivery.The ability to transfer Web form data to CRM systems, such as Salesforce.com. Hot Banana's landing pages enable users to build sophisticated Web forms that track lead sources and conversions. All the data captured in the Web form can be transferred to CRM, database or email-marketing software of choice. A new "SEO Center" that consolidates Hot Banana's numerous built-in Search Engine Optimisation tools and controls. Enhancements include 301 redirect and automated title attributes in hyperlinks. Users can also automatically create XML standards-compliant sitemaps, such as Google Site Maps, and register them with Google, Yahoo! and MSN.An improved Rich Text Editor that enables users to quickly and cleanly cut, paste and filter documents and tables from Microsoft Office and other programs. A "Dynamic Content Engine" that borrows tagging tricks from social networking sites - so content authors can categorize and tag their own content. This feature is ideal for managing large volumes of content for online publications and publishers. Web site visitors can search content by tag, categories, title, author and abstract.

New Automated Web Translation Workflow removes the barriers of multilingual web communication.

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:30:00 AM

Organisations can considerably accelerate the translation of web pagesIT specialists are no longer needed to publish translated content onlineThe gap has been bridged between WCMS and CAT toolsBrussels, March 28, 2007 - Connexion Corporate Communications SA/NV, a provider of multilingual web and print business-to-business communication solutions and prominent integrator of Web Content Management Software (WCMS), shows at Entreprendre/Ondernemen 2007 a brand new solution that automates the translation process of web content. This innovating technology considerably cuts cost and time constraints for organizations needing to localize their website.The 'Language Communication' division of Connexion has brought high quality translation and copywriting services towards its clients for almost two decades. The bridge has now been made between this division and Connexion's 'eCommunication' division, which stands for all online media. Customers can now easily export their website in full or just parts, have it translated and upload the translation in no time, without any editing work required.The Automated Web Translation Workflow (AWTW) requires the use of a web content management system (WCMS), such as Hot Banana or Drupal and the use of a Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tool, such as Trados, Déjà Vu, Wordfast or SDLX. The process is fast, easy and straightforward. Via one click in the WCMS administration environment, the section, page or complete website that needs translation is exported in XML format into an CAT tool. Translators will do their job within this tool or any word processing software. When done, the translations are converted back into xml and imported with a few clicks into new web pages generated by the WCMS. These language pages are published instantly with the new content, metadata, and links, in the same layout as the original pages. The AWTW solution has already been adopted by prominent industrial companies like Ansell Healthcare and Ingersoll Rand. Both organizations use Hot Banana, a powerful WCMS that powers corporate websites, intranets, extranets, landing pages and micro marketing sites for more than 220 companies worldwide in more than 16 languages. The AWTW solution is also being implemented for the new trilingual website of the industrial company Toyo Pumps Europe, driven by the open source WCMS Drupal.Bart Roofthooft, Project Director at Connexion Corporate Communications: "This unique module on the WCMS market is the ideal solution for all organisations with a global business but a local approach. It is again a good illustration of the intuitive ease-of-use of Hot Banana, but also Drupal. It is the ultimate tool to bring local languages and cultures into the online process of a company at affordable cost, without depending on third parties."

Connexion integrates Hot Banana CMS with top e-mail solution Addemar

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:08:00 AM

The best of both worlds come together as a leading emailing solution and Web Content Management System shake hands Brussels, January 15, 2007 - Connexion Corporate Communications NV, a prominent integrator of WCM Solutions and B2B communication agency, and Ideaxis NV, provider of high end emailing solutions, close a strong partnership that brings together two top technologies: the WCMS Hot Banana® and the e-mail solution Addemar®. The award-winning www.boomchicago.nl website is the first one to make use of this combined expertise to run professional active marketing campaigns. The perfect marriage The CMS Hot Banana powers Corporate Web Sites, Intranets, Extranets, Landing Pages and Micro Sites for more than 210 companies worldwide in more than 16 languages. Hot Banana's design for non-technical users and its rich Active Marketing features have brought it together with Addemar®. This cutting-edge e-mail marketing solution enables the creation, roll-out and evaluation of professional e-mail marketing campaigns online. "Our partnership with Ideaxis reinforces our strategy to team up with industry leaders in order to provide our customers with a complete and integrated Active Marketing Solution," says Stany Van Gelder, Director at Connexion. "We were able to integrate the Addemar® e-mail functionalities with Hot Banana and are sure that our customers will benefit from this partnership."Over the past couple of months, Connexion and Addemar have been working together to bring about a strong software integration. As a result, organisations can now roll-out complete e-Marketing campaigns from within Hot Banana and seamlessly have all e-mail actions done by Addemar®. Subscription to newsletters, for example, will still be done within the Hot Banana website environment, while the overall database management will be taken care of within Addemar®. Addemar®'s permission-based email marketing campaigns hence drive qualified visitors to Hot Banana websites that are optimized for e-Marketing. Thanks to the integration of both solutions, no leads are left unchecked. "It's amazing what this extra development means to the overall performance of both systems. Combining a website and an emailing engine in order to run a full-blown e-Marketing campaign, with full result statistics, is now readily available to every marketer." says Jo Gielen, Managing Director at Ideaxis. Tracking to a higher gear Connexion already offers the integration of the Hot Banana WCMS with major web analytics solutions like Sitestat, WebTrends and Google Analytics. These integrations take on a new dimension through the partnership with Ideaxis: Addemar® & Hot Banana users are now able to extend tracking to their full web presence, from website through e-mail campaigns - and back.Download the complete Press Release in PDF here!

2 ‘Best Content’ awards

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:08:00 PM

Connexion and Hot Banana receive 2 'Best Content' awards for new www.boomchicago.nlOnline sales boosted by 50% and web visitors raised by 20% in first 15 daysBrussels, November 20, 2006 - Connexion Corporate Communications s.a., a prominent integrator of Web Content Management Software (WCM) and business-to-business communication agency, is proud to have received two 'Best Content' awards at the CMS-Awards 2006 ( http://www.cms-awards.be/ ) for the recently launched Boom Chicago website based on the CMS Hot Banana. This solution helps Boom Chicago to maximize their revenue from online tickets, viral video's and merchandising sales. It also promotes interactive communication between the entertainment community, the audience and the press. Where business meets show businessBoom Chicago (Amsterdam) is an entertainment company and a comedy institution. Since 1993, Boom Chicago has brought a mix of comedy, improvisation and music on stage in a set of fast and funny shows. They tour with their programs at theaters, festivals and corporate events all over the world. From their production studios, they also create video content for broadcast, broadband and mobile (www.boomchicago.nl). The main part of the revenue for this 100 people entertainment company comes from online communication. This is why Boom Chicago required their new WCMS to allow visitors to obtain show information, see movies and pictures and interactively communicate in a creative and vivid environment. Additionally they should be able to easily buy seats and videos (on DVD) online. Boom Chicago required the system to run large scale viral marketing and mass emailing campaigns in a simple and straightforward manner. Last but not least, Boom Chicago wanted the integration of extended Web Analytics and excellent rankings on search engines. In a few months time, Connexion has built with Hot Banana a brand new website, meeting all Boom Chicago's requests and integrating such active e-marketing features as emailing, forum, subscription management, event management and e-commerce as well as RSS feeds on automated press campaigns, e-news, photo and video releases. Connexion has integrated the Boom Chicago ticketing system with Hot Banana so that seats availability and sales can be managed in real time. Luke Hilton, IT Manager at Boom Chicago: "The idea is to fill up our 300-seat theater in Amsterdam every night with tickets sold online. For this purpose, Connexion has also set up an extranet where hotels and tour operators can log in to order food and tickets for large groups. The great thing with Hot Banana is that the content maintenance cost is very low: our marketing team can update all content themselves in a swift and easy way without relying on external resources or any web expertise". Stany van Gelder, Marketing Director at Connexion: "We feel these 2 awards are the recognition of the real value of Boom Chicago's website content. The 20% surge of the visits and the 50% (!) boost in online sales over the first 15 days is nothing less than the proof of the pudding ".About Connexion Corporate Communications SAConnexion Corporate Communications is a Belgian business-to-business communications agency and WCMS integrator that has been operating on the international market since 1987. Connexion was appointed Hot Banana Channel Partner for Europe in 2004. Connexion Corporate Communications' clients include large high-technology corporations, such as Belgacom, Cognos, Econocom, Electrabel, Novell, SAS Institute and Tractebel; major industrial and services companies, such as Ansell Healthcare Europe and International Post Corporation; and aggressive, small and medium-sized enterprises, such as Grey, 4C Consulting, Xafax et Xpedite. For more information on Hot Banana or Connexion Corporate Communications, call Stany van Gelder on +32 (0)2 421 71 40.

New translation module for multilingual websites in Hot Banana saves time and money

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 09:06:00 AM

Brussels, Oktober 19, 2006 - Connexion Corporate Communications s.a., a business-to-business communication agency and prominent integrator of Web Content Management Software (WCMS), today unveiled a brand new translation module for Hot Banana, an active marketing content management system distributed by Connexion. Hot Banana is a powerful WCMS that powers corporate websites, intranets, extranets, landing pages and micro marketing sites for more than 200 companies worldwide in more than 16 languages. In order to help organizations with an international-oriented business to cut budgets and deadlines for their multilingual web communication, Connexion has developed an advanced translation module within Hot Banana. This new feature takes the management of multilingual websites to the next level. The 'Language Communication' division of Connexion has brought high quality translation and copywriting services towards its clients for almost two decades. The ultimate bridge has now been made between this division and Connexion's 'eCommunication' division, which stands for all online media. Customers can now easily export their website in full or in part, have it translated and upload the result in no time, without any editing work required. Hot Banana has been designed upfront for non-technical users and the same ease-of-use is offered in this new translation module. The process is fast, easy and straightforward. Via a simple button in the Hot Banana administration environment, the section, page or complete website that needs to be translated will be exported in XML format into an xml-compatible Translation Memory System. Translators will do their job within the TMS or any word processing software. When done, the translations will be converted back into xml and imported into new Hot Banana web pages with a few mouse clicks. Those language pages will be published instantly with the new content, pictures and links, in the same layout as the original pages, after possible validation. Bart Roofthooft, Project Director at Connexion Corporate Communications: "This unique module on the WCMS market is the ideal solution for all organisations with a global business but a local approach. It is again a good illustration of the intuitive ease-of-use of Hot Banana. It is the ultimate tool to bring local languages and cultures into the online process of a company at affordable cost, without depending on third parties." For more information on the Automated Translation Workflow module, call Stany van Gelder on +32 (0)2 421 71 40.

International LifeStyles Play Website

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:30:00 AM

Hot Banana CMS fastens the roll-out of award-winning LifeStylePlay website for 13 East European markets Brussels, September 28, 2006 - Connexion Corporate Communications s.a., a prominent integrator of Web Content Management Software (WCMS) and business-to-business communication agency, announced the roll out in English and 13 East European languages of a new commercial web site about condoms (www.lifestylesplay.com). This implementation has been fastened and facilitated by the use of Hot Banana, an active marketing content management system. LifeStyles is a brand of condoms, originated in the United States and owned by Ansell Healthcare. Today, LifeStyles is one of the key players in a very sophisticated and competitive US market and has a leading role in the Australian market. In Europe, it claims leadership in Hungary and has a strong second position in many other markets. LifeStyles has recently introduced LifeStyles Play, a brand especially designed for a younger audience. This marketing concept was lately rolled out in several Eastern European countries and needed a strong back-up in e-communications. For this purpose, Connexion developed a young and sexy-looking website with the use of the CMS Hot Banana. To enhance the liveliness of the web site, Connexion included a Flash movie, the content of which can be accessed directly through Hot Banana for editing and updates. The English version of www.lifestylesplay.com obtained an award at the latest Night of the Internet, as 3rd Best of Belgium WCMS Website, in the 'graphical design' category. Peter De Boos, CTO at Connexion Corporate Communications : "This unique experience is a good illustration of the intuitive ease-of-use of Hot Banana. This affordable active marketing CMS is a full-fledged answer to medium-sized and large multiple-site organisations that want their local management or representatives to maintain and update localised versions of their website themselves, without depending on third parties." In order to meet the request of the LifeStyles marketing department that wanted to give local affiliates or distributors in Russia, Bulgaria or other countries the possibility to change and add content themselves, Connexion developed a simplified 10 page HB user guide. As non-technical users and complete laymen in terms of web programming, the local people have learnt how to use Hot Banana in a few hours, based on the manual only. They have been able to efficiently localise the website, including the Flash movie, in their own language, without external help.

Hot Banana acquired by J.L. Halsey

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:42:00 AM

World-class Web Content Management, Email Marketing and Web Analytics brought together into one eMarketing platform.Brussels, September 14, 2006 - Connexion Corporate Communications s.a., a prominent integrator of Web Content Management Software (WCMS) and business-to-business communication agency, announced that emarketing Web content management company Hot Banana Software Inc. (www.hotbanana.com), of Ontario, Canada has been acquired by J.L. Halsey Corporation (OTCBB:JLHY) (www.jlhalsey.com), together with Web analytics leader ClickTracks Analytics, Inc. (www.clicktracks.com), of Santa Cruz, California. With more than 13,000 clients now, these acquisitions make J.L. Halsey one of the largest providers of marketing technology solutions to mid-market businesses. Peter De Boos, CTO at Connexion Corporate Communications : "Hot Banana clients will not see any disruption in their business interactions with us - support, training and sales will all continue as usual. However, in the next few months they can expect to see Hot Banana grow as the Canadian company will take on more staff and expand into larger offices. With the financial strength of J.L. Halsey behind Hot Banana, we intend to deliver better, more advanced products and services and build a stronger infrastructure." The acquisitions of Hot Banana and ClickTracks are significant steps in the strategy of J.L. Halsey - to become the leading provider of software solutions for digital marketers at mid-size businesses. The company is building on its existing portfolio of email marketing solutions, with an eye toward providing the key technologies that mid-size marketers need to produce greater return on investment from online marketing budgets. The company acquired email marketing leaders Lyris Technologies (www.lyris.com) and EmailLabs (www.emaillabs.com) in May and October 2005 respectively. All four companies will continue to develop and sell standalone products. In addition, many of the Halsey products will be integrated with each other in the coming 12-18 months. Initial plans include incorporating Hot Banana's landing page creation and optimization tools within the EmailLabs application. Hot Banana will also integrate the Lyris and EmailLabs email marketing features into the company's Active Marketing Solution. These integrated technologies will help clients better manage the points of intersection between their Web sites and their email marketing programs, such as site-based opt-in forms and landing pages. Other integrations include incorporating the ClickTracks Web analytics solutions into the Hot Banana Web content management tools and email marketing functionality within ClickTracks analytics' tools. Hot Banana and ClickTracks will operate as indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries and will continue to invest in R&D, sales and marketing and enhance their award-winning technologies. No restructuring actions are planned for either company.