What I learned at SXSW 2013
Finally my scattered thoughts/observations from SXSW interactive are immortalized on the web. The conference was overwhelming and I've had a hell of a time compiling a coherent post. Here's a bit on 8 key things that stood out as themes of the conference:
Twitter + TV + Gaming + IRL = A new media experience The media consumption process is changing––the lines are becoming blurred and it is becoming a new experience. Youtube celebrities are becoming TV celebs and making appearances at real life events. TV viewing is being enhanced by live-tweeting or apps that keep you glued to your couch even during commercials. We are switching mediums without noticing and most of us are using more than one device at a time. It's going to be interesting to see how brands take advantage of these and lifestyle changes.
Brand fans are the new marketers How 'influential' are influencers really? Are they more influential than a legitimate fan of your business? Brands are shifting from paying influencers to post on their blogs to trying to uncover true fans. These fans will have more sincere and interesting things to say about your brand.
People don't like marketers telling them what they're going to like. This is why having brand fans spreading our messages is so much more effective. As time goes on, we are starting to have to get more creative with our influencer outreach.
Memetics AKA the study of memes. There are three things you need to create a successful meme: 1. Relevancy. 2. Timing. 3. LUCK.
Once something becomes a meme, it's fair game to repurpose and have a little fun with, but they're really only ever safe to repurpose for the web. Radio and print campaigns often take months to produce. By the time your ads go live, the rest of the world will have moved on to the next meme. Except Grumpy Cat. He'll be around forever.
Laugh at yourself Ben Huh of I Can Has Cheezburger and many others at SXSW emphasized the importance of incorporating humor into your brand, especially on social media. Think of a brand as a person. If someone is serious ALL the time, they're boring. If they joke ALL the time, you won't take them seriously. You need to find the balance for your brand.
The rise of the visual web As Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, etc. continue to grow, so does our desire for images and videos across all platforms. Remember, a picture says a thousand words.
3D printing is the future There were a lot more hardware-related demos, seminars and even keynotes at this year's SXSW than other years. From Kickstarter success OUYA gaming console, to Memoto, the life blogging camera, SXSW is beginning to realize that us social media folk are not only concerned about the software, but we're thinking bigger-picture with hardware we're using as well. The piece of hardware I noticed more than others, however, was the revolutionary MakerBot desktop 3D printer.
In the SXSW opening keynote, Bre Pettis of MakerBot announced their second product, to be released to the public in November: the Digitizer. The Digitizer is a 3D digital scanner which allows you to scan items, store the 3D file and print it at your convenience using your MakerBot replicator.
The more I think about these two products, the more opportunities I see. It kind of makes my brain hurt.
SPACE is big right now At least 15 panels at SXSW focused on space travel, space exploration or just space in general. Elon Musk, Ron Garan, Dr. Mae Jemison and even Levar Burton made appearances at the conference. I didn't attend any of the space-related talks due to lack of any sort of relevancy to my job, but the sheer number of space-related sessions surely means something, right?
Advertising EVERYWHERE Everywhere I turned, someone was handing me a card, an invite or asking me to download their new app. Lots of them seemed to be checkin-based and most of them got drowned out by the big guys. Vice obviously made a huge impression by having their own tent/venue running most of the day, every day. Samsung, however, had the biggest impression on me. Whenever my phone was almost dead, I just had to tweet them and they'd bring me a new battery. Not to mention, their space was unicorn apocalypse themed....
All in all, I had a great time, learned a lot and left physically exhausted but mentally refreshed. I'm excited for what the next year holds for my industry.
