SXSW Interactive 2012: a collection of learnings, summaries and takeaways

SXSW
interactive
2012
a collection of learnings, summaries and takeaways

Nathan Archambault | Copywriter | AKQA

So WTF is SXSW Interactive?

It’s a Technology and Innovation Trade Show
attended by Agencies, Clients and Nerds
with 2,700 Presenters
who speak at Keynotes and Panels
where like-minded people Learn, Network and Schmooze
in between Events and Parties
while collecting Swag, Hangovers and Stuff to Tweet About.



That’s a lot... how do you
make it useful?



That’s a lot... how do you
make it useful?

Let’s break it down.

When Cyborg Anthropologist Amber Case discussed
Ambient Location and the Future of the Interface I learned:

We’re already cyborgs.
But the technology isn’t
inside us.
It’s in our pockets.

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Throughout history, tools have extended our physical People and technology have become intertwined to
capabilities. But now technologies like smartphones the point of no return. Our phones are a remote control
extend our mental capabilities and reduce the amount of for our lives, providing us with an annotated reality.
time and space it takes for people to connect with We’re all Superhuman.
information.

Key stat: By 2020, there's going to be 50 billion connected devices in the world.
Overview and Podcast: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP992057

When Cyborg Anthropologist Amber Case discussed
Ambient Location and the Future of the Interface she said:

“The best technology is
invisible.”

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
The point of technology is to reduce the amount of time Today, we click a mouse to make an action happen. But
and space it takes for people to connect with information. gestures and voice commands are taking over. Soon
Thatʼs why you donʼt see the best technology, it just weʼll all be wearing Google Glass and weʼll just have to
works when you need it. think or blink or desire to make something happen. The
world is becoming the interface and it's happening
so fast and seamlessly that hardly anyone has
noticed.


When Mullen CIO Edward Boches, Vayner Media Co Founder AJ Vaynerchuck, The Difference Engine
Founder Farrah Bostic, Springpad Co-Founder Jeff Janer and VentureBeat reporter Jolie O'Dell discussed
How to Harvest Consumer Intent from the Social Web I learned:

Brands who insert
themselves into the
social graph are doing it
wrong. They fit more
seamlessly and naturally
into the interest graph.
SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
The social web lets us send out a constant stream of Thereʼs a tremendous opportunity for brands to
likes, tweets, check-ins, and reviews that we want to bridge the gap between discovery and action with
share. But thereʼs a new interest graph on the web that useful, timely and relevant information and offers.
allows people to express their passions and plans in a Pinterest, Fab, GetGlue and other emerging interest
way thatʼs much more valuable to brands. graph platforms let people categorize what theyʼre into
and when a personʼs intent becomes obvious, brands
can take advantage.


When Mullen CIO Edward Boches, Vayner Media Co Founder AJ Vaynerchuck, The Difference Engine Founder
Farrah Bostic, Springpad Co-Founder Jeff Janer and VentureBeat reporter Jolie O'Dell discussed
How to Harvest Consumer Intent from the Social Web I learned:

Whatever a brand does,
social or otherwise,
should be all about data.

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Conversations should be used to gather information, not Use social to learn more about people and how people
just for the sake of conversation. behave. Not just age and location but interests and
preferences. Forget about likes and follows and RTs.
They're useless when it comes to understanding us. The
right data can inform brands what people are into and
thatʼs whatʼs useful. Use relationships to learn what
your customers want and then give it to them.


When Difference Engine Founder Farrah Bostic talked about
How to Harvest Consumer Intent from the Social Web she said:

“If all you do is show,
all people are going to
do is look.”

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
We need to shift perspective from “say and think” Just putting stuff out there doesnʼt serve a purpose.
to “do and share.” Brands need to foster discovery, adapt to the interest
graph and learn how to engage in it, and start marketing
to the data. If brands tapped into our interests, theyʼd
know to send us useful information. The data is there
but brands arenʼt taking advantage and thatʼs got to
change.


When MIT Principal Research Scientist Andrew Mcafee and O'Reilly Media Founder/CEO Tim O'Reilly discussed
Create More Value Than You Capture I learned:

Jobs are being outsourced
not just to low-wage
countries, but to machines.
Machines! We need to rethink
how the economy works.

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Efficiency is making too much of our labor pool obsolete. Companies need to build great ecosystems, one in which
The race by companies to eliminate labor costs has been value is created not just for themselves but for partners,
a short term profit win but a long term loss. The cycle of people and other companies. Companies should have
capitalism depends on consumers as well as producers. hairy, audacious goals that go beyond the balance sheet.
If consumers are less able to find employment, we have Platforms like Kickstarter and Etsy are new ways of
to start thinking about how to put people to work, rather conducting business that put the emphasis back on
than how to put them out of work. Weʼve got to adjust our the people and reward individuals for hard, unique
economy for a world in which more of our lives are work. The world needs more platforms that give people
automated. the chance to become producers.

Key stat: Technologies like Siri will be 16 times better within 6 years.

When Rock God Billy Corgan and Altimeter Group Principal Brian Solis discussed
The End of Business as Usual I learned:

People changed the business
model. It’s up to people to
figure out how to make it
profitable.

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Starting with Napster, the world of business changed. Artists and producers need to ﬁgure out how to build
The standardized industry systems of yesterday donʼt new systems that work hand-in-hand with how they
work anymore. create and deliver things. A way to produce art and
inspiration that makes money and works within the
worldʼs new digital ecosystem.


When Rock God Billy Corgan talked about The End of Business as Usual he said:

“If you're going to have an
opinion, you better support,
and if you're not going to
support, shut the f*ck up.”

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Starting with Napster, power began to shift from Consumers have to get out of victim mentality, like
producers to consumers. Consumers realized they could they shouldnʼt have to pay for things they want. If
ﬁnd music, content and knowledge online. Producers, you believe in something, become a brand advocate and
who couldnʼt charge whatever they wanted anymore, donate. If people donʼt start supporting the products and
were slow to adapt and create a new model. services they love, those products and services are
going to go away.


When AKQA Mobile Director Tina Unterlaender & Audi Manager of Connected Vehicles
Anupam Malhotra discussed Why Your Car Will Be the 5th Screen in Your Life I learned:

The time we spend in our
cars shouldn't be wasted
time connectivity-wise,
but it can't disrupt the
driving experience.
SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
After movie theaters, TVs, PCs, and mobile phones, your Screens in cars need to create an experience thatʼs
car will become the next screen you embrace. Cars are relevant to people on the road and do it the right way.
already fitted with powerful computers but weʼre not This means a unique interface that accommodates the
using the technology to its full capacity. In time, inventors driving experience. Right now, every automaker has their
and marketers will partner with consumers to see how far own technology. There are no set platforms or UX
we can push the fifth screen. It will become the most standards, which stunts growth and holds down
innovative screen yet. what our cars are capable of doing.

Key stat: Cars are fitted with computers capable of completing 2,000 decisions per second.

When Mekanism CEO Jason Harris, 140 Proof Founder John Manoogian III, Barbarian Group
Director of Earned Media Kristin Maverick and Story Labs Founder Sarahjane Sacchetti discussed
Epic Battle: Creativity vs. Discipline in Social I learned:

Invite analytics to the
brainstorm.

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
As social media marketing moves from experimental to Hitting the numbers isnʼt going to get any less important.
institutional, brands no longer question the importance of Itʼs up to agencies to consider analytics from the start
social media marketing. But today’s strategies and and help brands understand the analytics that matter.
deployment of social campaigns produce big questions Word of mouth is joining clicks, likes and driving
about ROI versus spending. Agencies want to produce purchase as a key metric. But we still need more new
creative campaigns, brands care more about the metrics that measure creativity and not just numbers.
numbers, and measurement isn’t where it needs to be to
make both sides happy.


When AKQA CCO Rei Inamoto discussed
Why Ad Agencies Should Act More Like Tech Startups I learned:

We need to revitalize
the advertising business.
Tech startups can
teach us how.

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Ad agencies pride themselves on big ideas and Innovation and creativity donʼt ﬂourish in a
creativity. But for too long they’ve relegated technology hierarchical organization. Even when a company gets
and code as production tasks, not as strategic points of big, agencies can keep teams small. What if agencies
view. Today’s ad agencies need to embrace the Culture accepted less money up front to get a share of the proﬁts
of Code in order to stay relevant. As technology later? This makes the client feel like theyʼre getting great
influences consumer behaviors to change, the very value instead of getting ripped off.
definition of the “Big Idea” needs to evolve, too.

Example: Instagram was a completely different experience when it launched. But they were lean
and fast enough to completely change the experience based on how people were using it.

When AKQA CCO Rei Inamoto was talking about
Why Ad Agencies Should Act More Like Tech Startups he said:

“Specialization is the
enemy of innovation. But
generalization is the
enemy of excellence.”

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Tech startups and the people who work at them are We have to rethink creative roles. Concept isnʼt king
focused. They don’t have to answer to clients or anyone anymore . Tech and strategy and UX should have a
but their own high standards. Ad agencies, on the other seat at the table with creative. This leads to a better
hand, try to do it all - sometimes of their own accord and experience in the end. Itʼs still important for everyone to
other times because clients want everything crammed understand what other people do and how they do it, but
into one project. But this level of generalization makes itʼs more important to have talented specialists and let
the entire process inefficient and waters down individual them concentrate on their specialty. Agencies need to
projects. shift resource allocation to talent casting.


When AKQA CCO Rei Inamoto played a video interview during
Why Ad Agencies Should Act More Like Tech Startups Cyndi Gallop said:

“You can't do new-world-
order marketing from an
old-world agency
organization.”

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
When broken down to the simplest level, three things It doesnʼt matter how something is made, itʼs what is
that agencies need to have are structure, compensation made. Remember the 3 Sʼs: Strategy, Storytelling and
and process. Because tech start-ups don’t always have Software. Strategy makes your idea relevant, storytelling
these three things, they’re more free to operate as they makes it emotional & software makes it usable. When
want. Start-ups have proven that other models can work strategy, storytelling and software work together, the
and be successful. And this makes it that much more outcome is insightful, desirable and useful products.
obvious that the old model is failing.


When AKQA CCO Rei Inamoto wrapped
Why Ad Agencies Should Act More Like Tech Startups he said:

“If you love something,
keep at it. Somewhere
down the line the dots
will connect.”

SUMMARY TAKEAWAY
Stop asking questions. Stop overanalyzing. Stop Do what you love, dedicate your life to it, and
listening to everyone else. everything else will fall into place.

That sums up what I
learned this year.

Till 2013...

SXSW Interactive 2012: a collection of learnings, summaries and takeaways

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SXSW Interactive 2012: a collection of learnings, summaries and takeaways