Mike Caguin

Heading down to SXSWi for the first time, I was pretty skeptical that the conference could meet my expectations. So much hype has been built up over the years—it had me doubting that I’d return to Minneapolis digitally enlightened. In fact, I didn’t.

So much of the SXSWi experience is uninspiring. The long lines, the overabundance of choice, the panels that are simply boring. When I got past the harsh realities, however, I experienced what makes heading to Austin special.

Everyone who attends SXSWi is there to push the potential of what people can do. And it’s much bigger than talking technology. I was surprised by how most of my favorite talks barely touched on the notion of interactive as we typically understand it. Rather, the best speakers simply shared their ideas on how they’re improving the lives of people. It reminded me why interactive is not just a medium. It’s everything. Interactive has the power to affect everyone who roams this great Earth in the most meaningful ways. It's what we, as an agency, strive for with interactive.

I hope, in the years to come, to attend SXSWi. Or as I call it, The Human Potential Conference.

Mike Schwab

Dear Marketer,
While everyone else in our industry attended SXSW as a developer, advertiser, designer, or what have you. I actually attended SXSW as your consumer. And what I learned is that your entire industry is slowly getting in on my little secret:

It’s all about ME.

Yup, you used to think that you could bucket me with a bunch of other people who have similar HHIs, genital parts and ages. You were essentially saying that Marilyn Manson, Bobby Brown and Tim McGraw were the same person and had the same values. Turns out that we all want to be spoken to individually and that technology and the digital space are enabling that. Not only do we want to be spoken to individually, we want it on our terms and on our own schedule. I don’t want to wait for episodes of my favorite show; I want the entire season and I want it now on any device (see: Netflix’s “House of Cards.”)

And I want to be the star of the show. At SXSW I got to sit on the throne from HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones.” I got my picture taken and of course I put it on Facebook so all my friends could see ME. The New York Times made a profile of my face out of words, but then I learned that the words weren’t about ME—not cool. I visited the GE Brilliant Brew truck for a free latte and got my face drawn into the foam. I could have gotten a free latte with a GE light bulb drawn in the foam and only waited a few seconds, but instead I waited 45 minutes to get ME in the foam. It ended up looking like a mash-up of Abe Lincoln and Mr. Clean. But it was well worth the wait, Why? Because it was a picture of ME.

I was also shocked to see that brands were actually offering me things that I needed and wanted rather than yelling at me with a megaphone. Chevy offered me free rides around town through their “Grab a Chevy” program. AT&T let me power up my phone in a secure locker as I roamed the conference (while feeling naked without my phone). And countless brands gave me free stuff, like 3M post-its, battery packs and cell phone cases. The cell phone case came from a company that lets me customize and design my cover with—what else—pictures of ME.

The sessions were great, and, shockingly, they all revolved around ME. A few sessions touched on the power of humor, and I like to laugh—as long as you make it easy. And storytelling—I love a good story and you’re actually starting to learn that I would rather hear about the story behind your products than the features of your products. I attended Jonah Berger’s session (he’s the author of Contagious) and realized that you’ve started to figure out what makes things contagious. And as you suspected, it’s the content and type of content that makes things memes, not just calling them “viral” or making sure the right blogger or TV show mentions them. And, speaking of contagious, I waited in line one hour to get a picture of Grumpy Cat (and ME).

I even found it comforting to hear the stories of how Panera Bread and Whole foods are becoming more meaning-driven. It makes ME feel good when I eat there.

So keep it up marketers.

Best regards,

Your consumer (ME)

Carl Martin

At SXSW 2012, the programmers of the film festival brought back Lena Dunham, who had won the Grand Jury Prize two years prior for her film Tiny Furniture, to debut the first three episodes of her forthcoming HBO series “Girls.”

It seemed like an anomaly at the time—just one year ago—to have a television show represented at a festival showcasing independent film. This year, however, television was no longer an anomaly.

The networks had apparently taken notice of the runaway success of “Girls” and came out to the festival in force. HBO was back with an ingenious “Game of Thrones” installation—a replica of the Iron Throne that people could sit in and then post photos to social media. And, post they did. HBO also had Iron Throne pedicabs taking people around the city.

A&E screened their new show “Bates Motel,” hosted a panel with the show's creator, and took over one of the larger local bars, converting it to a branded experience. Even the Film Festival Shuttles were wrapped with ads for Showtime's current roster of programming.

The rise of television at the film festival was part of a larger trend we saw: The medium is becoming less important and content is what's truly creating an audience.

Fred Armisen talked about this on an IFC panel about alternative comedy on television. He talked about the potential for a low-budget show like “Portlandia” to find a large audience through the new channels of distribution. He explained that big budget Hollywood films and small basic cable TV series are going to end up right next to each other on Netflix, and audiences are going to watch whatever they find more entertaining. This puts everything on the same plane and opens up tremendous opportunities.

From the artists' perspective, tons of people are still watching and enjoying your work, but they are able to do it in a more flexible way. Viewers don't all watch at the same time, but the views over time are remarkably high.
This shift toward content over medium reflects the overall trend we saw at the festival that consumers are demanding experiences that are more personalized and centered around themselves. This new form of content distribution appeals to them because they get to curate what they watch according to their own interests and they get to watch it on their own schedules.

And, judging by the line for the “Game of Thrones” chair, these personalized, "centered around me" brand experiences have reach beyond the realm of content distribution.

John Neerland

A few months back, to much fanfare, Twitter bought video-sharing service Vine. Like Twitter before it, Vine is another excellent example of the freedoms of limitations. Instead of 140 characters, Vine limits you to 6 seconds of looping video.

The app recently had its mass media moment when someone’s Vine of the recent terrorist attacks in Boston was featured by news programs across the globe. The Tribeca Film Festival had a Vine contest this past April and brands like Lowe’s and Urban Outfitters have been experimenting with Vine-centric campaigns.

I appreciate the immediacy and urgency when creating Vines and thought it would be a great way to capture my experiences at SXSW. Because you need to capture video “live” and there is no editing after the fact, creating a Vine involves careful planning or just plain lucky timing. Brands will find success in the former, figuring out what story they want to tell in a mere six seconds. Those who understand the medium will embrace the spontaneity and rawness of the output and take advantage of features like perpetual looping.

All in all, I found Vine to be a great way to capture some of the various themes at SXSW. Themes such as:

the lines…

the hotel scenery…

the overstimulation…

the promotions…

the swag…

the former Vice President…

the transportation…

and, of course, the National Beer of Texas.