Mark Brouwers’ App Creatively Helps Answer The Question “What Will We Do Tonight?”

Name: Mark Brouwers

Company: Nocto

What are you building, and who benefits most from it?

Every industry is becoming more digital and data-driven. Hospitality is no exception. If the industry does not innovate fast, all stakeholders will continue to miss out on experiences and revenue. The opportunity to drive the digital transformation of hospitality is huge and global, and it has already begun.

Nocto is the connector platform for hospitality and events. We bring consumers, venues, event organizers, and brands together to ensure that they never miss out.

• Consumers use the Nocto social media app to find, share, and enjoy the best experiences.
• Businesses use the marketing and data platform to attract, bond with, and understand consumers.

Consumers effectively find. Businesses effectively attract. We bring them together. Nocto is better than alternatives because it is purpose-built for hospitality, location-based, real-time, and rewarding all contributors.

What is one of your startup’s most impressive accomplishments?

After having launched locally and being able to create value for the people and the businesses, we started to collaborate with beverage brands like Ketel1 and Pernod Ricard. This has had a big impact on the company’s ability to scale and create even more value for people and businesses. 

What has been the biggest challenge so far, and how did you overcome it?

COVID has been a huge challenge for us and the hospitality and events industry as a whole. All operations within Nocto needed to go on pause. We used this downtime to strengthen the tech so that when the industry opens, we are ready. When we look back on this time, we see this as a blessing for us. It gave us time to rethink and restructure. Besides, the market is now more ready than ever to be more effective in marketing. 

What tool or app could you not live without and why?

Trello. My Trello is always open. Besides having the personal agendas of the team, it is also the place where team members work together on plans and strategies.

What marketing strategies have worked for you?

I am a big fan of collaborating with companies that have similar audiences and goals. It is important to make it very concrete together and to think about ways to support each other that don’t take too much time for either party. This way, you are saving time, money, and effort.

What’s the best specific piece of advice you have for other entrepreneurs?

Every now and then, take a helicopter view of the company. By this, I refer to the ability to see the bigger picture. Train yourself to be imaginative and creative by visualizing a situation without having experienced it. 

What does your company’s trajectory look like over the next five years?

Nocto is now planning to scale up throughout the Netherlands. This is priority number one. At the end of 2023, we would like to start exploring international markets.

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