Select a partner in countries candidates for admission to the EU, or countries not yet in Euro, to adapt and distribute the Euro-Mind product, and sign an exclusive country-wide licence agreement with the owner.

The CD-ROM’s were produced and distributed in Belgium, during 2001, in order to acquaint the general public and the school children to the day to day usage of the EURO, and also to reinforce the European awareness. The version for the schools (EuroReflex) was the most complete and had the following components:

• euro-drill « articles » (create mental reference points for current products)
• euro-drill « coins and bills » (estimate buying power)
• euro-shopping (virtual shopping in a supermarket)
• euro- village (shopping in a village, stressing the fact that the Euro is where I live)
• euro-visit (a game to improve european awareness and culture)
• euro-school (economy, geography, history of the European construction, details on the European institutions and how they work, and even math to improve decimal computing)

The other version was called « Penser Euro », it means «Think in Euro » and was more focused on the consumer market, with more exercises and more products, and less on history,geography and economy.

Although initially a private initiative of New Mind S.A, specialised in E-Learning solutions, the project received the sponsorship of the Belgian Minister of Finance, and also from the Ministry of Economy, who ordered a large quantity for the schools market. Other sponsors came along, like Renault, Banksys, and an international travel agency. The press coverage was enthusiastic. Many interviews and demonstrations took place on the national TV channels. Many newspapers commented positively the initiative. The Minister of Finance himself, and representatives of the Minister of Economy attended the official launch and the press conference, for the general public version.

In Belgium, 2 distinct distribution channels were organised : the Ministry of Economy took care of the schools orders, while the general public version was distributed by large retail stores (Carrefour, FNAC, to mention only a few). Many institutions or entreprises ordered quantities to distribute to their personnel or customers, as end of year gift or in order to show their focus on the Euro. Direct orders were managed through Internet by New Mind S.A.

Alltogether, more than 20000 copies were sold between October and December 2001, which is a very high volume for a CD-ROM in such a small country. The feedback was very positive.

They are extremely simple: the idea is to create mental associations between products and services, and their value in euro. It does NOT involve currency conversions at all. Several types of exercises converge to this goal and are nice to play with friends or in a family atmosphere.

The criteria to select a local partner are as follows:

• Technical ability to translate and localise the master disk, and do minor changes in the databases (product names, and pictures, depending on the local consuming habits and price levels).
• Ability to market and distribute the final product

While in Belgium, the project lasted only a couple of months, and was made at the last minute, it would be wiser to extend this kind of project to the countries candidates to the UE, during a much larger time frame. Assumptions: 6 months to adapt the product (translations, photographies, collect local prices, …), then start marketing awareness and product distribution during at least 2 years, even before the country joins the European Union.

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