If you represent or work for a lifestyle brand, chances are you’re always on the go. And even though you’re running to and from meetings, media appointments, photo shoots and events, your client still expects you to be available to handle things while you’re away from your desk.
And with this 24/7, always on reality, smartphone and tablet applications are literally the gift that keeps on giving (or, the gift and the curse depending on who you ask).
Here are a list of apps that every lifestyle brand manager or publicist should download right now:
SOCIAL MEDIA:
You probably already have the usual suspects: Echofon for Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare and Linkedin. But here are a few others that you may want to consider:
IMO is an instant messaging app that makes voice calls and provides support for Facebook Chat, Google Talk (Gchat), Skype, MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger and more all from one platform.
If your brands still care about Klout, the KloutScore app provides an easy way to keep track of Klout Scores for yourself and the people you are interested in. See how your Klout Score changes from day to day and find out more information about who you influence and who influences you! The KloutScore app is not the official Klout app.
PRODUCTIVITY:
If you work on a team and you want to keep all of the tasks for a specific project organized, this is the app for you. Asana is the shared task list for your team, a great system for group collaboration and communication.
Evernote helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use. Stay organized, save your ideas and improve productivity. Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders–and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go.
With Google Drive you’ll no longer need to carry around a flash drive as you’ll have up to 5GB of free space to store and edit all of your most important files. You can access your files anywhere. I prefer this over Dropbox or any of the other cloud apps since I already use the Google apps for business platform.
The native mail app on the iPhone/iPad is fine, but I prefer to keep my gmail and business accounts separate from my others. The latest gmail app update is beautiful and brings you with real-time notifications, multiple account support and search across your entire inbox.
MUSIC:
Having a music/radio app on your phone is great for streaming music at your desk, listening for client spins or for playing background music on the drop of a dime if necessary.
Pandora Radio is free personalized radio that only plays music you’ll love. Just start with the name of one of your favorite artists, songs or classical composers and Pandora will create a custom “station” that plays similar music.
Spotify gives you instant access to millions of songs on your smartphone or tablet.
iHeartRadio offers free music in an all-in-one, digital internet radio service that lets you find more than 1,500 live radio stations.
NEWS:
Flipboard is a personal news magazine filled with everything being shared across the Web, from breaking news to stories on world events, sports, travel and more. You can also use Flipboard to ‘flip through’ your social media accounts (ie. Tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram photos).
Zite is an intelligent magazine that helps you discover interesting things to read.
PRWeek doesn’t have an official app but in order to get a button on your home screen you need to go to Safari –> www.prweek.com –> Add to Home Screen.
The PitchEngine marketing app enables on-the-fly content creation and instant, real-time distribution to customers and fans.
Official mobile app for The Hollywood Reporter.
Official mobile app for Ad Age.
Bloglovin’ for iPhone helps you follow all your favorite blogs & discover new ones.
Keep up with what’s going on in your industry or monitor your own press releases with this wire service app.
TRAVEL:
This travel app lets you compare flight, hotel and car rental deals for when you need to jetset across the country.
Use the Uber app to request a private car in any city the service is available. The app lets your driver know precisely where to pick you up, and lets you know exactly how long until they arrive. At the end of your ride, the fare is charged to your credit card on file (no need to tip), and you receive a detailed receipt in-app and via email.
You don’t have time to get lost so make sure you have the most reliable maps app on your phone or tablet!
EVENTS:
Find local events, get tickets, and quickly access all of your Eventbrite tickets and event information from your iPhone. Discover music events, food and wine events, classes, conferences, free events and more. The world of events – right in the palm of your hand.
Entry Manager (for Eventbrite)
If you’re using eventbrite to manage ticket sales for your event you can use this app to check in attendees.
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App Machine Photo Credit: Google Images