Alex’s Gluten Free Spots is available for iPhone and free for a limited time. It’s a gluten free and celiac friendly restaurant review app that lets users locate gluten free spots, rate them, add new locations, and save favorites. Not only does it make eating out much easier, but it saves those with celiac from a night of misery.

So track Alex’s Gluten Free Spots down in the App Store and get your unique fingerprints all over it. Why is is so important that you add your favorite spots and your thoughts on gluten free places in your area?

The community counts on your feedback

As you may know from our beautiful infographic, the celiac community is growing fast. An estimated 3 million Americans suffer from it, and 30% of the United States population carries genes that make them susceptible to it.

Alex’s Gluten Free Spots has a long list of restaurants that talk the talk and say they’re gluten free, but we don’t know if they truly walk the walk until you publish your ratings and reviews. So whenever you’re eating out, help out your fellow GF diners and give your honest feedback on your meal. If the restaurant isn’t on the list, just plug in its information and then post your feedback. Easy peasy? Lemon squeezy.

Our promise to you

You are a valued contributor to Alex’s Gluten Free Spots, and we can’t thank you enough. It’s our pledge to you that we will not sell your email address or any other personal information. Creating an account within the app just lets us know that your reviews and locations are the real thing.

We welcome your feedback on the app, and we thank you for being a part of it!

Visit AlexsGlutenFreeSpots.com

Do you see “Gluten Free” whenever you’re grocery shopping or out to eat? If you haven’t noticed, take a look. Gluten free aisles at grocery stores are popping up everywhere, and labels on food products tout if they are gluten free. Restaurants have signs up or menu items noted as gluten free. Did you know, though, that gluten free is more than just a diet trend? A gluten free diet is the only known treatment for a growing diagnosis—Celiac disease.

Charles Falls, our fearless leader, is very familiar with Celiac disease—his daughter was diagnosed just this past year. And she is not alone. 1 in 133 people in our country have Celiac disease. After watching his daughter struggle to eat out at restaurants (since Celiacs can’t even eat food that comes into contact with gluten), Charles came up with the idea for an app where those who eat gluten free can rate restaurants. We launched the app, Alex’s Gluten Free Spots, last month and it already has over 1,000 downloads.

This isn’t the first gluten free restaurant review app, but it is the first to offer Celiac-friendly ratings. Since Celiacs need to know the risks of cross-contamination, the app allows users to rate the knowledge of the staff, whether the restaurant is Celiac friendly, and of course, the taste of the food.

In honor of Celiac Awareness month, check out the graphic below! More people than you know probably have Celiac disease, especially considering that 85 percent of those with the disease are undiagnosed. This and more amazing stats in our infographic.

Image Courtesy of: AlexsGlutenFreeSpots.com

DC Interactive Group is proud to announce the launch of Alex’s Gluten Free Spots, a new gluten-free iPhone app. The app will offer crowd-sourced reviews and ratings of gluten-free restaurant offerings, and it’s also the first of its kind to offer celiac friendly ratings, so users understand the risks of cross-contamination in restaurants with gluten-free items on the menu.

Why Gluten Free?

Not long ago, Charles Falls (our company president) had trouble finding out if gluten-free food offered at restaurants was safe for his daughter, Alex, 19, who was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease. “Existing apps showed that particular restaurants offered gluten-free food, but none offered a thorough rating system that said if the food was Celiac friendly, the risk of cross-contamination, or how well-versed staff members are in which items are gluten free,” he said.

Healthcare Impact

1 in 133 Americans are diagnosed with celiac disease, and on top of that, an estimated 85% who have it are undiagnosed. And despite the large number of undiagnosed, 5 times more people have been diagnosed with celiac disease today compared to a half century ago.

A gluten free diet is currently the only treatment for celiac disease. The number of people with gluten sensitivity is staggering, and more Americans express the desire to eat gluten free year after year. (Currently, 29% of adults say they want to cut back on gluten)

With gluten awareness and interest in eating gluten free on the rise, we’re excited to see just how far this new app can go.

About Alex’s Gluten Free Spots

Released for iPhone on April 14, 2013, Alex’s Gluten Free Spots is free to download. Offering the app free of charge will allow anyone with an iPhone and an interest in the app to download it, which will help build the database of gluten free spots.

Learn more about the app at AlexsGlutenFreeSpots.com. Find graphics and video for the press at AlexsGlutenFreeSpots.com/media.

Every business has competitors with more Facebook followers. After having clients approach us for creative ways to outpace their competitors on Facebook, we decided to create an app that would help them stand out from the rest. We are excited to finally announce the release of an exciting new app, Hostile Takeover, that allows businesses to anonymously take over their competitor’s Facebook accounts, and ultimately drive business away from competitors and to their own pages.

Hostile Takeover allows a user, in just a few clicks, to become an admin on any business account Facebook page. Once you are an admin, posts are up to your discretion. The takeover is completely anonymous, and other admins on the account are automatically boxed out. This allows you to take over the account until the competitor alerts Facebook to the takeover. “Most Hostile Takeovers will last up to 24 hours before Facebook can get the account straightened back out, which has proven to be enough time to do the necessary damage,” says Falls, President of DC Interactive Group.

You can also fully delete the competitor’s account. This is a good option if you want to be in and out, with no mess. This option also takes the competitor longer to recover the account, if they are able to at all.

For a limited time, Hostile Takeover is free for the first Takeover. Then the cost is $100 per Competitor.

Here are a few reviews from recent Hostile Takeover Users:

“We are a community hospital with a larger competitor a few miles away. Our Hostile Takeover allowed us to convince their followers that they had an outbreak of a rare disease and were under quarantine. That day our patient volume grew by 40 percent!”

“As a new restaurant, we were having trouble garnering business, likely due to repeat customers at nearby restaurants. After our Hostile Takeover of a few of their Facebook accounts, where we changed their hours to show they were closed on Fridays, our Friday night business has been booming! And the best part is, most of them didn’t even notice, so they are still shown as closed on Friday!”

As for what’s next, we may have a Twitter Hostile Takeover in the works. “People have asked us about the recent Burger King Twitter hack. We aren’t going to take credit, “says Falls. “We’ll just say, ‘We know a guy.’”

Some have questioned the ethics of a Hostile Takeover. To that, Falls simply responds: April Fool’s! If you have gotten this far without realizing this was an April Fool’s joke, we’ll just say, “Come on, people!” In all seriousness, though, we have created some cool apps for our clients that aren’t in any way questionable. Check out our branded ICE App for hospitals here, or sign up for the launch of our new Gluten free restaurant review app.

Smartphone and mobile app use is skyrocketing, and recent data proves it. Smartphone owners are increasingly using smartphones in their daily lives, so a natural connection is using them to manage their health. We created the below infographic, which points out that smartphone owners are hooked, and they are increasingly using their smartphones for health information. In fact, 1 in 5 has at least one health app on their phone.

The infographic concludes that in the next three years, health app use will skyrocket. Now is a great time for hospitals and those in the health industry to get on board. Click the infographic for a larger view.
Learn more about creating a branded app for your hospital.

With the increasing popularity of smartphones, brands everywhere are either releasing apps or wondering if they should. The health sector has even dubbed a whole new industry “mHealth” because of the potential smartphones offer. If you are a hospital marketer, does it make sense to create an app now? Stats and facts seem to say a resounding yes. Here are six arguments for hospital health apps.

1. Like, everyone has a smartphone. In the past few years, the smartphone market has exploded. Over half of adults who own cellphones have smartphones. According to Strategy Analytics, from 2011 to 2012, smartphones in use jumped 47%, surpassing 1 billion.

2. Even more people will have smartphones tomorrow. Strategy Analytics predicts that the next billion smartphones are predicted to be in use by 2015. So over the next few years this hot trend will be even hotter.

3. People are increasingly use phones for health. Pew Research Center discovered that of cell phone owners, 1 in 3 have used it for health information, compared to only 17% in 2010. And when we narrow it to smartphone owners, a full 52% gather health information on their phones. So as smartphones grow in popularity, even more people are likely to be looking up health information on their phones. A survey by Price Waterhouse Cooper confirms consumer expectations: 6 in 10 patients expect mHealth will significantly change how they find information on health issues in the next 3 years.

4. Put your hospital in front of consumers every day. People with smartphones are hooked—a survey by Harris Interactive found that 63% of females and 73% of males don’t go an hour without checking their phones. And as the population ages, smartphones will become even more important—from a Cisco survey, 90% of those 18-30 years old check their smartphones as part of their morning routine. Creating a great app will allow consumers to wake up with your brand in the morning, and be in front of them throughout their day.

5. Position your brand as technology-forward. People expect their phones to help them with their health. According to Pew Research Center, 1 in 5 smartphone owners have at least one health app on their phone. If you can create a usable app, people will download it, and they will see you as high-tech and helpful.

6. Apps can be simple to create and highly usable. And now to clear the roadblocks. Think of a simple idea, and it can be simple to create. App developers and interactive agencies can hear about your idea and let you know what will and won’t work. Now for the usability roadblock—will people download it and never use it? This won’t happen if your idea begs for daily use. Consider an app several hospitals have branded for their own hospital called the ICE App. This app puts your hospital logo on a person’s home screen, along with an in-case-of-emergency phone number, so first responders can see who to contact. Once users download the app and set up the lock screen, you are the first thing they see when they turn on their phones. Learn more about getting the ICE App for your hospital.

The stats are screaming an argument for your hospital to release a branded app. What’s stopping you?

Sources:
“Mobile Health 2012″, Pew Internet and American Life Project, Pew Research Center
“Worldwide Smartphone Population Tops 1 Billion in Q3 2012″, Strategy Analytics
Harris Interactive, June 2012
“Generation Y: New Dawn for Work, Play, Identity”, Cisco 2012
“Emerging mHealth: Paths for growth”, PWC 2012

We love to talk about our ICE App. Partly because we created it, but mostly because of how successful it has been. Our app has the potential to save every downloader’s life. Just how many people have downloaded our In Case of Emergency app? Check out the case study on our DC Interactive Group website.

http://www.dcinteractivegroup.com/category/case-studies/

It seems like everyone has an app idea. Especially if you work in your organizations marketing department, you have probably been approached by staff, board members, and other colleagues who claim to have the next great app idea for your company. But according to a recent Forrester Study, “Mobile Apps for Marketing,” branded apps aren’t for everyone—and they require a great deal of thought when creating them to be sure they are worth the effort.

A few years ago we created the ICE App as a branded app for hospitals. The app allows people to add a banner to their mobile phone home image that includes an In Case of Emergency phone number, so first responders can easily see who to call if someone has an accident or medical emergency, without having to open a person’s phone and search contact information. The app is offered by hospitals free for user’s to download. The branded portion of the app: next to the emergency number is the hospital’s logo.

So just what should you consider when evaluating your branded app idea? A few thoughts from Forrester follow, as well as a close evaluation of how our ICE App for Hospitals measures up:

Audience skews younger. Almost 2/3 of app users are Generation X and Generation Y. 19% of those 56 to 66 use mobile apps. So if your app is geared toward a younger crowd and you are aiming to reach those up to 55, you are more likely to find success.

• ICE App Evaluation: Ideally a hospital would like to reach the older generation also, but the younger generation does have health issues. And reaching Generation X, who is getting older, is great. These people also may be making health decisions for the older generation. As far as app content goes, anyone can have an emergency, and Generation X is increasingly aware of this.

The best apps enhance brand experience or build loyalty. Most people who will download your app are aware of your brand and like it before they do so. The app shouldn’t try to do the job of introducing your brand—it should be helpful and provide a reminder of who your company is.

• ICE App Evaluation: The ICE App is not out of the blue—it makes sense for hospitals. It certainly provides a valuable service to the users, making them prepared in case of an emergency. It also suits a hospital brand—it is about helping you when you have a health crisis. Users will hopefully become aware of your app through a solid marketing plan, and they will see that you are going out of your way to provide them with tools to better their health.

Create apps people will return to. Research from a Pew study shows once apps are downloaded, people may not open them very often. 68% of smartphone owners open only 5 or less apps one time a week. So your app idea needs to be functional, and something users need.

• ICE App Evaluation: Users have no choice but to see your brand when they use this app. They download it, set up the picture with their ICE information, and then they never have to open the app again. Your brand with their ICE phone number will appear on their home screen every time they turn on their phone. In terms of shelf life and stickiness, an app can hardly do better.

Learn more about the ICE App and how your hospital can put it to use.

As marketing continues to evolve from one platform to another it’s no surprise that companies’ budgets are also changing.  An online marketing presence is crucial these days, but with the giant increase in smartphones and mobile web browsing the importance of mobile marketing has even greater significance.

70% of marketers are planning to increase their mobile budgets for 2013, for mobile websites, search, advertisements, or apps.  This year’s mobile ad spending is estimated to be around 2.6 billion dollars.  According to Scott Forshay, mobile and emerging technology strategist, “Of that $2.6 billion spent, $2.5 [billion] of that was probably wasted.”

Scott is not implying that mobile marketing is a waste of money, but rather that there are smarter ways to allocate the funds.  Mobile marketing faces the challenge of an on-the-go audience that’s is looking for timely and contextually relevant information.

Although an increased budget is a good way to increase mobile presence, doing research and getting active can be a great way to increase your mobile marketing results.

Before your mobile budget gets increased here are a few simple tips to make your mobile marketing more effective and establish your mobile marketing needs!

1. Know your audience and where they are coming from. Is your audience search driven or are they coming from referral sites and page shares?
2. Why are people coming to your mobile site? Users ultimately have a goal or objective with every page they visit, whether it’s to research, purchase a product, chat about topics with fellow users, or fix a problem, there is a motive.  The more your mobile site can cater to the audience’s need, the more effective it will be.
3. Should your mobile site differ from your desktop version? Some websites offer the same site, scrunched to a 4” screen to serve the user’s purpose.  But knowing the user may be on-the-go and looking for a quick fix, does this change the information or features your site should have?
4. Is your mobile app necessary? Mobile budgets can go through the roof when app development and upkeep is involved.  Can the overall goal of your app be fulfilled in a mobile site?  Or on the other hand, is your site not offering enough and would an app be beneficial to your audience and brand?

Are you in need of a mobile site? We’re ready to build yours! Check out some of our past work here.

Page Manager, the new app recently released to help businesses create a stronger presence on Facebook, is now available for iPhones and soon for other devices.  It allows users to manage all of their Facebook pages in a single app wherever they go. There are many strengths and a few weaknesses. Let’s cover them.

Strengths of Facebook Page Manager

• Facebook Page Admins have a chance to separate their personal Facebook account from their business Facebook pages.  Users can leave their personal account on the normal Facebook app, and use Facebook Page Manager for pages built for their businesses.
• Make new posts or add a photo for up to 50 Facebook pages in a single app without needing to sign out and sign back in over and over again.
• Get notifications for activity on your page as it happens, and be able to delete or like the comment or post right away.
• Look at your page insights and page administers for all of your different Facebook pages.
• Greatest benefit: Do all of this on the go through your mobile device!

Weaknesses of Facebook Page Manager

• Cannot create an event, question, or milestone for your pages.
• Insights are limited to Total Likes, People Talking About You Page, and Weekly Total Reach.
• Absence of a newsfeed, which makes it difficult to share other pages or posts.
• Lack of an option to view and reply to messages.

At launch, Facebook Page Manager is missing plenty of features. But it’s already an essential app, and one that will likely get better over time as it gets updated. It’s free to download, so try it out if you’re an admin of multiple pages.