Each year, the city of Austin plays hosts to brands, agencies, studios, celebrities and even politicians all present to participate in what is arguably the world’s most buzz-building conference and festival.
From ASAP Rocky to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, this year’s South By South West (SXSW) was full of memorable events, spanning sessions, world premieres and interactive experiences.
Extravagant activations were the norm once again: from satanic nuns wishing everyone a “Merry Apocalypse” outside the convention centre to HBO staging their “Bleed for the Throne” campaign to promote the final season of Game of Thrones, SXSW 2019 had no shortage of immersive experiences.
Below, our team share their favourite experiences from this year’s edition.
Briony Bagge, Senior Event Manager
Amazon Prime was promoting its new release ‘Good Omens’, which will air at the end of May. The Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman series features well-known names, such as Michael Sheen and David Tennant. It was the only activation that made its presence known across the entire festival, with the actors, dressed as fallen angels, roaming the streets of Austin, as well as dogs wearing bibs stating ‘Hell Hounds in Training’ to capture attention.
The experience itself filled a parking lot where Prime had created “The Garden of Earthly Delights” featuring heavenly treats like hand massages and a string quartet, while the darker side had a smoking car and a hell hound petting area.
The trailer for the series aired every 30 minutes, proceeded with a clap of thunder that could be heard a fair distance.
The garden kept us entertained for well over an hour, but it was impressive that Amazon advertised consistently across the city, grabbing people’s attention for the series regardless of whether they had time to visit the full experience.
Isobel Webb, Production Coordinator
My favourite feature of SXSW was not a particular talk or activation, but seeing the different approaches brands took to attract and engage attendees, and the sacrifices made to do one vs. the other.
Snapchat, as a prime example, opted to offer a classic shareable moment, with a great big ghost-shaped swing in front of their brightly yellow cladded house. While great for getting the perfect looping video, lots of attendees queued up to have their photo snapped but left quickly without receiving any messaging about what Snapchat was promoting. Bose, among others, offered a more relaxed environment for fewer people, with a clear focus on its products and technologies.
Both brands clearly had very different objectives, and had highly successful activations, just in very different ways.
Janet Oliver, Event Director
LUSH Cosmetics is already well-known for its ethical range of products. However, they have not stopped there. The cosmetics retailer wanted to make sure that even the technology used is ethical in its origin, enabling them to be an all-around ethical business. LUSH developed its own technology and one quick example of that at SXSW went as follows:
- Download #lushlabs App
2. Open the “lush lens”
3. Take a picture of a package-free product
4. Receive information, such as product name, ingredients, and a digital demonstration, so (get this!) you can see how your chosen bath bomb behaves in water
Not only does this save on packaging, but also a huge amount of unnecessary water use, both when exhibiting at festivals such as SXSW and during in-store experiences.
Most of all, you can use it at home when you’ve inevitably forgotten what you purchased!
Simon Anderton, Design Director
Dell is aiming high for a sustainable future and showcased this brilliantly in THE EXPERIENCE at SXSW. From handing out reusable straws to giving away screen-printed canvas bags that used Pollution Ink, with the designs printed with captured soot from diesel engines in New Delhi, the computer tech giant made sustainability a fundamental part of its showcase.
By using pollution ink, Dell helps clear the air for about 110,000 people per year. The company highlighted the 100 million pounds of recycled materials used since 2012 with a brilliant interactive light-up photo opportunity.
