Marketers, VR enthusiasts, celebrities, musicians, and even gamers flock to Austin, Texas each spring for the South by Southwest Conference & Festivals. Sessions, sponsor activations, and events revolve around interactive, film, music and new to 2017, gaming. From VR cinemas to fashion moguls talking social media, to the effects of storytelling on your brain, here are the major takeaways from SXSW 2017.
The Power of Nurturing Creativity. Refinery29’s Piera Gelardi talked about the importance of nurturing your creativity. Referring to her peach colored office as “The Peach Pit”, Gelardi hosts regular invite-only meetings with staff. A new selection of employees each time are encouraged to dream without constraints over peach-colored treats and bubbly. Gelardi emphasizes that creativity is contagious and nurturing it is a key component of success.
The Power of Simplicity. Fashion designer Marc Jacobs brought a refreshing view to the power of social media. Referring to the Explore function on Instagram as a place where he finds inspiration from things the Internet Gods think he’ll like. Jacobs knows the power of social media, having used it to cast models for his last two runway shows, yet his childlike approach reminds us to see the simplicity of human interactions.
The Power of Immersion . Luxloop, a creative video agency, schooled us on the power of creating an immersive experience through virtual reality. Founder, Mandy Mandelstein reminded us that cave paintings were immersive stories. Although we’ve lost that way of storytelling, it can still be accomplished through virtual reality. Luxloop worked with a client to create an interactive immersive dinner party by projecting a 360-degree video onto four walls. Mandelstein encourages taking the headset out of VR and making it immersive instead.
The Power of Vertical Stories. Are you reading this on your phone? More and more content is being created for vertical viewing and SoulPancake is on a mission to prove it. In a secret screening of their new vertical video series, SoulPancake dished out free headphones and asked session attendees to follow a link to watch the first two episodes. Meant for vertical viewing, the video incorporated how newly matched partners use apps to connect; think Snapchat filters and emoji filled text messages. We use our phones vertically, why not incorporate storytelling vertically?
The Power of Perseverance. Outdoor Voices creator, Tyler Haney, dished about how perseverance helped her take her fitness apparel company out from under her college bunk bed, to an online store plus four retail locations. Haney, a former athlete, created an apparel line that focuses on being everyday active, not competitively active. Haney’s message focused on using “no’s” as fuel to move forward, grow and evolve her business.
The Power of Boundaries. Music mogul, Kesha, vulnerably dished about online bullying and reminded us all to set boundaries. From personal to business to social media, boundaries are key to creating your success. Boundaries are important for marketing; otherwise you risk targeting individuals who don’t need your product or services. Kesha reminded a captive SXSW audience that you have the power set boundaries on social media comments and with your audience.
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