COLLABORATE AT SXSW2024
SXSW UNMASKED
By Head of Strategy, Martin Severs
I’m back from our first visit to South By South West in Austin, Texas with a group of fantastic Collaborate colleagues and clients. Taking in 16 talks and 8 brand experiences over 5 days, it was a brilliant experience but also a relief to escape the vast hotel seminar rooms with giant Texan Lone Star inspired chandeliers.
With so many sessions to choose from there’s a real knack to cutting through the ubiquitous and overused clickbait buzzwords (‘storytelling’, ‘culture’, ‘trends’, and ‘strategy’- the presenters are largely marketers …so they know how to sell their sessions!). And much content focused on WHAT a brand has done rather than HOW it achieved that ……so they become ‘state of our world’ talks rather than ‘change the world’ talks. However, if you take the right guidance and make good choices there’s an amazing wealth of expertise and inspiration to be found.
MY KEY TAKEOUTS:
1. HOT TOPIC = 'HAPPINESS'
It feels like that post-Covid spotlight on ‘resilience’ is shifting into a more optimistic focus on ‘happiness’ with repeated calls for it to be seen as an national index level with economic GDP.
A psychology session focusing on new proof that employee contentment leads directly to a company’s profitability with 5 new tips to drive it within your organisation (Embracing Negativity, Time Affluence, Self Compassion, Job Crafting and Social Belonging).
The inspiring John Maeda pivoting his design session by making the audience recite the list of top 5 ‘People’s Regrets When They Are Dying’.
A brilliant session about UK project Ranvier - depression is not only the leading cause of death for men under 50, one of the outcomes of at least a third of all pregnancies, but also impacts all aspects of society and productivity. A new ‘covid test’ style diagnostic tool is imminent that exploits the data connection between ability to taste and presence of depression so we can finally diagnose and measure improvements.
2. HOT TOPIC = 'AI, VR, AR and beyond'
AI was an inevitable big presence this year with some nervousness, some scare-mongering, little practicality, and many confusing the term with good old-fashioned data.
A highlight was the brilliant and entertaining John Maeda who started with a scattergun approach to references from the SORA AI film, Josh Clark’s approach to AI as just another material, to the simple joy of Sinerider. He then moved on to simple but empowering definitions (large/small, open/closed, mono/multi-modal, embedding/completion). Before finishing on a rare note of AI optimism celebrating the power of critical thinking within non-profits, and how technology challenges us to find our own human values.
Brands have for some years been overwhelmed by the demands of customers to not only listen but to visibly act on that feedback. This high volume data interpretation has been difficult but AI will increasingly act as a bridge between the information and the actions required IRL.
Responsible design and usage also took centre stage – how should brands use AI ‘ethically’ to facilitate better connections (and more effective results), who polices that, and can it even be policed? As with the ongoing challenges with the social media giants there is no clear, mandated guidance – yet brands, Big Tech, and national legislators should be taking learnings from the last 20 years. A consistent approach is clearly currently lacking.
With so much previous focus on VR, the shift in attention is to the revolutionary power of AR to empower, inform and enrich …..and it’s so obvious that we’re in that stage just before a tipping point of computing power and device weight which will revolutionise brand experiences and our lives for ever.
3. HOT TOPIC = 'TRENDS OBVS'
It wouldn’t be SXSW without a focus on trends and forecasting. With so many sessions in this space it’s inevitable that many cross over into something more akin to motivational speaking …but when it’s done right there are true moments of revelation and inspiration.
Amy Webb, the veteran SXSW presence, was as great and entertaining as ever. As all trend sessions should, she presented a balance of the subjective and objective, equal parts scary and inspirational, and made connections between different aspects of culture and technology you’d not make yourself to declare the arrival of a “technology supercycle” we’ve not seen the likes of since the Industrial Revolution. She also makes a fascinating introduction to the low energy, high speed emergence of organoid computing – scientists have already created a computer from living tissue that can play Pong! This talk is freely available on youtube now and well worth 69 minutes of your time ...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uLSDbh6M_U
4. 'THE FOCUS ON AMERICA'
Almost all talks seemed to assume that everyone in the audience was American, despite large contingents of Scandinavians, Koreans, UK, and many, many young Brazilians.
Some of the brand representatives would proudly announce ‘game changing changes’ to their airline, or their supermarket for the non-Americans to be left thinking “we’ve had that for decades”.
This was all slightly ironic, given that a regular theme cropping up in specific or general talks was the perilous state of Women’s and LGBTQ rights in USA.
Things in Texas are certainly bigger, but maybe not always better. And I left with a general pride to be European.
5. 'WE KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING!'
Sometimes it’s not about learning, it’s that reassurance that you as an individual and the organisation you’re in are smashing it.
Many sessions emphasised the need for a common thread from emotional to rational, from physical to digital, from attitude to value proposition ……which has been a fundamental tenet of all we’ve done in the last year and the reason we use creative journeys to double check the experience and zones within.
Many speakers talked of the importance of cohesive ideation, production and social culture that respects and plays on individuals’ strengths and weaknesses – this is something Collaborate has invested heavily in. We already have a fantastic work culture and put the work in around our well being and shared beliefs, but it was powerful to feel reinforced by a great talk by Professor Laurie Santos who focused on 5 key improvements (Embracing Negativity, Time Affluence, Self Compassion, Job Crafting and Social Belonging).
A highlight for me was the absolutely excellent Archetype session by TinyWins’ Lillian Marsh that reinforced the way we’ve been using the brand strategy tool for 20+ years.
And an interesting panel of editors from Hearst, Conde Nast, Time and National Geographic discussed the ongoing battle for attention span between magazines and influencers. Some great lessons for our Experience Content offer including differentiation, tonality, consistency and a sense of belonging.
TOP TIPS:
Finally, if you’re thinking of going next year it needs a fair amount of forward planning:
Seek out help from friends who’ve been before you go …. just to navigate the basic how, why and where of your visit.
If the same friends can also take a look at the agenda of 450+ sessions to help you sort the wheat from the chaff this is hugely useful.
Don’t ignore the 9am rush for tickets for the following day as collectively getting express tickets on your phone becomes a breakfast ritual like sorting Glastonbury tickets.
Talk to the people you’re sat next to and are queueing with ….for recommendations, gossip and fun.
Allow at least 3h per day for margaritas, fajitas and sourcing cowboy hats!
And enjoy!