Rodney’s South by Southwest Journal Part III
DAY 5 (Tuesday, March 13)
This experience has been insane and I can’t believe it’s my final full day at SXSW. Begin my day with the Quiche Lorraine at 1886 Café & Bakery. Just as delicious as yesterday’s brisket hash!
First activation of the day is the Panasonic House. Several of the installations, including the three below, were from Panasonic’s Game Changer Catapult division.
· Panasonic has a brand new teeth whitening method called Sylphid that doesn’t use chemical substances that cause pain or discomfort. It’s basically a functional mist technology that produces the active ingredient for whitening. Looked almost like a headset that could be put on at home or at the dentist. I’d definitely give this one a try in the future. One thing to note, after this exhibit was over the reps handed out candy for guests. Kind of a strange juxtaposition don’t you think?
· The Famileel is a new way to communicate with family who live far away. It looks almost like a colorfully large egg on a platform. You connect the device with your TV and you can talk face to face with your family through the microphone and camera within the device.
· Famileel also provides the visual of the family member you’re calling and large text display of your conversation on the TV. This is great because it’s combining a bit of everything (visual, audio, text) to make connecting with your family even more simple. I have a feeling kids with grandparents who live far away will love this one.
· My favorite installation was Panasonic’s Aromation. Basically, you move two pawns on a glowing table to reveal how you are feeling (stressed, excited, relaxed, etc.). Aromation then takes a cue from how you’re feeling and releases aromas and music that match you mood. This was insane!
· I was tense, but excited, so Aromation decided that my scent was Pepper & Lavendar, which I loved. The music was pretty calming, but had a nice bass that kept me nodding my head. Really cool activation that I would love to have in my home one day.
· Apparently, this device can also be plugged into your Google Calendar to learn how busy your day is and when you may need to relax. *Ahem* this could be great for an office environment…
First session of the day is #BlackTwitter in the Trump Era
· Was excited about this one again because of my thesis, and because I met the presenter a couple days before at the #OscarsSoWhite presentation.
· This was a great back-and-forth discussing the rise of #BlackTwitter, the use of humor to interact on the interface and how that humor is deeply rooted in pain and suffering.
· Kimberly Ellis, Ph.D, known as @DrGoddess on social channels, made an excellent point that there is still money to be found in Twitter, especially if trying to reach members of the black American community. She uses the rise of Black Panther, which the community has known about for years, and several other examples to exemplify what she calls “the bombastic brilliance of #BlackTwitter.
Walked around the Trade Show in the convention center for a bit. While I was happy to see all of the companies and organizations doing great work, this was completely overwhelming.Stopped by Vice’s party lot called “Viceland.” Not only did they have great music, but they also had swag and baby goats for visitors to play with, or as a friend called it, “everything Millennial.”
My last session of the trip was Modern Branding Concepts: Make Enemies & Gain Fans!
· What a fun way to end the conference. This was a reminder that if “brands are afraid to make enemies, they will never make real fans, who become the ambassadors, influencers, and driving force of the brand.”
· This session was led by two leaders of a design & film agency located in Sweden, and they had some interesting stories to share.
· In one instance, the leaders of the agency were getting a tattoo. When their client walked in on them, she admitted that she wanted to get one just like theirs. She did and a beautiful relationship was formed with her agency partners. When the client moved to another company, she reached out to the agency partners insisting that they work with her at her new organization. Now that is relationship management.
· The duo talked about their #monkifesto campaign, which celebrated clothing line Monki’s 10th anniversary. In the campaign, several photos were to normalize often taboo subjects such as periods, body hair and women in STEM related fields. It was a bold campaign that allowed Monki to put their values up front and empower and celebrate women.
· Lots of good insight from the team: “When launching something new, sometimes branding & PR are more important than the actual product.”
· A great note to end on for individuals: “If you don’t push the project and the client, no one else will and your portfolio will end up feeling uninteresting.”
No one wants to be or feel uninteresting. As a communications professional, that may be one of the most hurtful insults ever. We have to continue to push and probe until we make the familiar strange and the strange familiar (great insight from an old college professor).
Overall, that was a great way to end the conference. It’s a reminder that we have to stand out in an increasingly cluttered marketplace. Something we should keep at the forefront of our minds going into every client meeting, every brainstorm.
I’m exhausted, but all of these sessions and activations were definitely worth it. Now for more Torchy’s Tacos…
Thanks for reading!
Rodney
