10 SXSW Lessons We’re Executing Immediately

Some conferences are good for inspiration. Some are better for actionable takeaways. And then, there’s SXSW – the BEST combination of digital thought leadership, case studies, marketing trends and brand immersion. For the third year running, we sent some of our digital pros to the conference. In addition to overarching themes of trust, digital loneliness and corporate social responsibility, here are the trends we’ll be executing for clients.

1. Audio Brands – With the increase in podcast and smart-speaker adoption, we’ll be helping specific clients define their “audio brand.”

2. Influencer Marketing – It doesn’t make sense for everyone. But, with the rise of micro-influencers, we’ll explore more options, from paid promotion to a simpler organization of current brand ambassadors.

3. Behavioral Economics – Humans often make poor choices. But understanding the psychology principles behind that can help us create better ads.

4. Modern Believability Crisis — We’re living in the “post-truth” era, meaning it’s harder than ever to build trust. We’re helping brands remain even more authentic, transparent and passionate in order to rise above a muddled marketplace.

5. LatinX Outreach – From technology to specific digital outreach preferences, we’ll be evaluating and proposing LatinX strategies shared by international pros.

6. Empathy… Again – The rumors of empathy’s death have been greatly exaggerated, and this first step in Design Thinking is still crucial to a user-centric approach.

7. Trends and Blind Spots – Although paying attention to cutting-edge trends is important, most of them still only apply to the privileged few.

8. Give to Give – Considering the latest privacy issues and consumer concerns, it isn’t enough to ask for user data without something in return. We’ll be pushing a more mutually beneficial consumer/brand relationship.

9. Mobile First – With a low level of satisfaction in user testing compared to its desktop counterparts, mobile will continue to be a key focus for user-experience improvement.

10. Thumb-robics – Did you know we scroll the equivalent-height of the Statue of Liberty every day on our phones? That’s a lot of content – and brands must be memorable to succeed.

We already have some of our SXSW client-recap sessions booked. Contact us if you are interested in hearing more.