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SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE
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SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
04/15
JWTINTELLIGENCE.COM
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
VIRTUAL REALITY
THE AUGMENTED HUMAN
MATERIAL FUTURES
SUSTAINABILITY –
A BUSINESS AND MARKETING IMPERATIVE
USER-GENERATED CONTENT –
MEERKAT AND BEYOND
TINDER –
THE NEW MARKETING PLATFORM
UBER DEBATE
THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
BEST OF THE REST:
BRAND ACTIVATIONS, EVENTS, POP-UPS
07
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THEY CAME, THEY LISTENED,
THEY ATE TACOS… THEY SAW AL GORE,
AND MAYBE EVEN CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF
SHIA LABEOUF’S BEATING HEART.
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SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
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SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
This year’s SXSW Interactive was bigger than ever,
with over 33,000 attendees. A brand new JW Marriott
— its paint barely dry and reflective façade
glimmering — became a beacon for the event and a
venue for many of the panels. Its Corner bar on
street level, meanwhile, an open-air margarita den,
became a hotspot for defecting attendees.
There were many constants at SXSW Interactive this
year. Fast Company brought back its Fast Company
Grill entertainment space, its editorial staff again
leading many panels and interviews. MIT Media Lab
was out in force. A&E returned with a bigger version of
last year’s Bates Motel street-level brand activation
(a life-size stage set mockup of the famous motel in
the series, occupying a corner next to the Convention
Center, which many passersby took pictures of).
New to the roster was Soho House, which created
a temporary events venue in the backwaters of East
Austin, staging panels, dinners and parties for movers
and shakers across both the Interactive and Music
parts of SXSW. Fashion and Retail also took up a much
bigger part of the content — the presence of fashion
and retail brand attendees has been steadily
increasing year-on-year. SoulCycle and Equinox were
also out in force on panels and launching pop-ups for
guilty conference partiers.
Dazed Group, publishers of Dazed & Confused
magazine and AnOther, staged a series of events on
and off the schedule — the group is turning innovation
into a key platform, having recently launched the first
digital video magazine cover for AnOther magazine with
William Casey company PCH. Dazed & Confused has
also been exploring the convergence of innovation and
art. Another initiative launched at SXSW was a new
conceptual art piece in which people could watch actor
Shia LaBeouf’s heart beat online while he was attending
the festival. The piece, #followmyheart,
made in collaboration with artists Luke Turner and
Nastja Säde Rönkkö, required him to wear a tracking
device for six days. It was designed, the creators said,
to bring emotion to the internet.
PEOPLE COULD
WATCH ACTOR
SHIA LABEOUF’S
HEART BEAT
ONLINE WHILE HE
WAS ATTENDING
THE FESTIVAL.
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SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
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This was a rising theme at SXSW 2015. Where the Film,
Music, and Interactive parts of the conference have
historically remained quite separate, this year many
platforms overlapped, reflecting a growing general
freefall between all digital, entertainment and social
industries — be it digital art, movie marketing through
social networks, virtual gamescapes and beyond.
“There was a whole convergence between these
areas, reflecting that to consumers it’s really the
same thing now,” observed Elizabeth Gore,
entrepreneur-in-residence at Dell, and speaker on
many panels.
The role of humanity and nature in relation to rapidly
evolving technology was also a key theme — from
artificial intelligence to synthetic biology. Connor
Dickie, CEO of Synbiota, MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito,
University of Pennsylvania professor Orkan Telhan and
managing director of Bioeconomy Capital Rob Carlson
ran a panel: “Synthetic Biology: Learn, Do and Dream.”
Koert van Mensvoort also gave a talk: “Next Nature:
How Technology Becomes Nature.” Meanwhile, Paola
Antonelli, senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art,
spoke of coats made from stem cells, growable leather
and food that is still "semi-living." The concept of
augmenting the human through data, exoskeletons and
technology, pushing the boundaries of our capabilities,
was also a rising topic.
Much debate was centered on the ethical questions
surrounding this as it becomes possible to "hack
nature," 3D print organs, and — in theory — replicate
minds.
Our perceptions of what humanity and nature should
be are clearly being challenged or forced into flux
by the rapid pace of innovation.
The content is hugely mixed at SXSW Interactive. Or at
least, the schedule is so bloated that finding a valuable
talk is like finding a needle in a haystack. Which
organizers should be mindful of in an ever-crowded
landscape where new conferences are nipping at their
heels — chiefly Dublin's Web Summit, which has
launched a sister event called Collision in the U.S., and
C2 in Montreal, which is heavily curated. That said, as a
sense check on macro trends the event endures. It
also continues to draw the great and the good of not
only tech industries but also entertainment, luxury,
retail and media.
THE ROLE OF HUMANITY AND NATURE IN RELATION
TO RAPIDLY EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY WAS ALSO A
KEY THEME — FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY.
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IMMERSIVE, DIGITAL EXPERIENCES
IN EXERCISE AND MEDITATION
ARE ON THE RISE.
LUCIE GREENE, WORLDWIDE DIRECTOR OF JWTINTELLIGENCE
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Martine Rothblatt, CEO of biotech company United
Therapeutics Corp., and highest-paid female
executive in the U.S., gave a much buzzed-about talk
on how artificial intelligence will allow humans to
become immortal by replicating them. In her biotech
business, she’s already been developing ways to grow
human organs for transplanting. Through her personal
foundation she’s also been developing new
technology for what she calls "mind cloning" —
translating human mannerisms, personalities, beliefs
and behaviors into digital form so they can be
replicated and applied in cyber form to regenerated
human bodies — allowing us, in essence, to become
immortal.
Rothblatt spoke about the possibility of using the vast
data pool of people’s social media feeds, video and
other digital assets over a lifetime to create a new
cyber consciousness — sort of a doppelganger of
ourselves. Rothblatt has also been credited with
creating the first "sentient robot": Bina48, a living,
breathing, emotive android version of Rothblatt’s wife.
Fear about AI aside, Rothblatt’s talk comes at an
interesting time. The limits of humanity are being
pushed with new technology. Already Time
magazine’s February cover ran with the picture of a
child, declaring, "This baby could live to be 142 years
old." Google has famously invested in Calico, a
biotech company, to explore how to reverse aging.
Meanwhile, Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, has talked
of Silicon Valley’s next frontier being the battle with
aging.
ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE
ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
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From Princess Reema (pictured right) to U.S. CTO Megan
Smith, who both appeared in keynote sessions, women as
a force in technology and business was a rising theme at
SXSW Interactive. Reema spoke of the challenges facing
Saudi women in the workplace, while also discussing her
work promoting awareness of breast cancer, which is a
leading cause of death to Saudi women aged 20-59,
according to the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile, at a talk with Megan Smith, Eric Schmidt,
executive chairman of Google, and Walter Isaacson,
CEO of the Aspen Institute, unconscious gender bias
was also highlighted live during the talk, as Schmidt
was publicly called out by an audience member (and
Google staffer) for repeatedly cutting Smith off in
discussion.
There were a host of events designed to connect and
celebrate women in technology. Twitter threw a
Women of Tech brunch that drew female founders,
VCs, directors and strategists from the Levo League to
Andreessen Horowitz and a host of new companies.
Protein, Dazed & Confused and Soho House also co-
hosted an off-schedule panel exploring women in
technology — as a market, but also a force in innovation
and entrepreneurship in tech, featuring our own Lucie
Greene, worldwide director of JWTIntelligence; Dell’s
Elizabeth Gore; Emma Sutton, head of marketing for
Dazed and Confused; and Tamsin Glasson, founder of
gaming/media company VRSE.works. Discussion focused
on how women as tech consumers (women now control
over 50% of tablets and make up over half of gamers)
but also as leaders in technology.
“It needs to go far, far, further though,” argued Gore of the
event. “There was such an appetite for it as a discussion
among women too. It could double as a presence on the
schedule and I don’t think it would be going far enough.”
Bob Safian, editor and managing director of Fast
Company, agrees: “The whole issue of diversity in
general in technology is generating momentum. Users
of technology cut across all demographics and lines.
Everything needs to catch up.”
WOMENINTECHNOLOGY
WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
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There were a number of virtual reality experiences
on show at SXSW Interactive — most connected
with Google in some way. Google has been ramping
up its visible connection with digital creatives, artists
and entertainment vehicles recently to showcase its
capabilities. Following a transmedia partnership for
the launch of Interstellar — in which Google created
a microsite with education, games and storytelling to
complement the movie — an immersive virtual
reality experience was staged at SXSW Interactive.
Conference-goers wore headsets sitting down
to “explore the craft in zero gravity” using virtual
reality headsets.
At Google’s Fiber Space, virtual reality game The Living
World was showcased by cloud games company Shinra.
The 32 by 32 km "world" houses 1 million trees, 16,000
dragons, real-time terrain deformation — powered by
the ultra-fast Google Fiber connection speeds and
supercomputer data center. “All of these elements are
fully loaded into memory running off of Shinra
Technologies’ supercomputers, resulting in zero loading
time, up to 64 possible players interacting in the same
game world, and a multitude of other features
otherwise impossible on existing video game consoles
or PCs,” said Shinra. The North Face also showcased a
virtual reality cinema experience at the Google Fiber
Space, exploring U.S. national parks.
VIRTUALREALITY/THEAUGMENTEDHUMAN
Hugh Herr, head of Biomechatronics at MIT Media Lab
also hosted a keynote dubbed “Extreme Bionics: The
End of Disability.” Herr talked about how we are moving
beyond prosthetics that bring humans back to zero,
that are compensatory, to electromechanical
enhancements that will “eliminate the barriers between
human limitation and human potential.”
J. Walter Thompson covered this in our Future 100
report. Increasingly — from clever fabrics that
accelerate your workout, to exoskeletons, to
prosthetics — we’re moving beyond the idea of using
technology to solve disabilities and be compensatory.
The next era will include “augmented humans” who are
capable of much more. This of course will create ethical
concerns, but it’s exciting to see. It also forces the
question: Is normal actually better?
VIRTUAL REALITY THE AUGMENTED
HUMAN
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Paola Antonelli (below right), senior curator at the
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), gave a brilliant talk
on how designers are pushing new boundaries and
creating credible future solutions to world problems
by exploring the intersection of disciplines from
biology to technology and design.
She talked in particular about how creatives are revisiting
old techniques and craft to create sustainable furniture
materials. Like Formafantasma, a studio that has
experimented with resins made from insect excrement.
She also talked about the growing intersection between
biology, science and design — designers using biology to
“grow” art forms, as MIT Media Lab’s Neri Oxman has done
with her Silk Pavilion (above right), a giant structure
woven entirely by silk worms. Other designers are
growing alternatives to Styrofoam using mushrooms.
These creatives spilling outside traditional parameters
will help shape the future. Oxman’s work in particular is
innovating in sustainability and the function of materials.
Oxman, a professor at MIT, founded the Mediated
Matter design research group, which explores the
“intersection of computational design, digital
fabrication, materials science and synthetic biology.”
MATERIALFUTURES
MATERIAL FUTURES
THERE WAS A WHOLE
CONVERGENCE BETWEEN FILM,
INTERACTIVE AND MUSIC THIS YEAR,
REFLECTING THAT TO CONSUMERS
IT’S REALLY THE SAME THING NOW.
ELIZABETH GORE , ENTREPRENEUR-IN-RESIDENCE AT DELL
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
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Sustainability and social good were major themes
at SXSW Interactive. “There was a big focus on the
triple bottom line: People, Profit, Planet,” said Gore,
who worked for the U.N. before joining Dell. “It’s being
driven by a number of things. There’s so much idealism
among Millennial entrepreneurs. It used to be that you
made your money then you entered philanthropy.
Millennials want to start doing good through their
businesses right away and find new ways to give
money while still being profitable.”
Al Gore spoke about the “challenge” and “opportunity”
in the climate crisis. The creative director and president
of sustainable luxury brand Maiyet, Kristy Caylor, was
also the center of a talk on the future of sustainable
fashion. Maiyet, like Toms (the one-for-one shoe brand),
has created a new business model to be sustainable.
It has established craft hubs in emerging economies
and works with local communities to make its goods.
Levi Strauss & Co., which outfitted all 350 of the
SXSW staff in denim jackets, made saving water its
cause celeb at the conference, unveiling how it's
saved 1 billion liters of water since 2011 by reducing
water in the garment finishing process by 96%. It also
launched #WashLessPledge, asking consumers to
commit to washing less to save water.
There was SXgood, a major social good hub
exploring social innovation, entrepreneurship,
impact design and cause issues, with speakers from
the U.N., Google.org and various brands.
SUSTAINABILITY—ABUSINESSANDMARKETINGIMPERATIVE
SUSTAINABILITY —
A BUSINESS AND MARKETING
IMPERATIVE
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Alongside talking about his new emotional visual sharing app
Super, Biz Stone (right) spoke of the importance of CSR.
“The future of marketing is philanthropy. Young people in
particular are attracted to companies with meaning,” he
said, adding that increasingly companies will need to do
more CSR and philanthropy to retain Millennials as
employees.
Fast Company’s Bob Safian agrees: “We talked about this
recently. It’s increasingly important for brands to find their
‘mission.' It’s a business imperative to settle on what their
purpose really is, aside from making money. There are too
many brands, and this will become a key way in which people
filter the ones they buy into.” Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario
also led a passionate discussion about innovation in
sustainability.
Patagonia has had massive success in this space,
innovating in sustainable fabrics, creating recycled
clothing collections and even donating solar panels
to people in Hawaii as part of its efforts. In the process,
it is getting a slew of organic press attention. Patagonia
has a team called “creative idealists” who create products
that outperform while being responsible to the planet.
Marcario also echoed Naomi Klein’s recent argument that
publicly traded companies are damaging the environment
because the necessity for short-term profitability does
not allow brands to think long-term, strategically or
“bigger picture” in investing in sustainability.
Daniel Bobroff, head of investment at ASOS, touched
on this same issue on the same day in a talk dubbed
“Building a Lean Mean Fashion Business Machine.”
Companies are not thinking about their long-term life
or building strategies for the distant future (which, by
the way, is not that distant any more) and sustainability
is central to that. Bobroff said that the average life
span of a company now is 15 years, whereas previously
it would have been 50.
SUSTAINABILITY—ABUSINESSANDMARKETINGIMPERATIVE
SUSTAINABILITY —
A BUSINESS AND MARKETING
IMPERATIVE
IS UBER SIMPLY THE NEXT
STEP TOWARD AUTOMATED
SHARED MOTOR TRANSPORT?
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By now everyone will have heard of Meerkat, the live
streaming video app that was the sensation of SXSW
Interactive, which allows consumers to post live video
footage to Twitter. The intrigue was propelled further
during SXSW when Twitter announced that it would limit
Meerkat’s access to its social graph, in light of launching
its own version through recently acquired video
streaming app Periscope (which went live March 26).
The bigger picture with these two developments is the
rise in user-generated content, and also the switch in
social media coverage not just to visual sharing but social
media sharing. (Interestingly, most coverage of the recent
round of fashion shows in New York, London, Milan and
Paris this year featured heavy video instagram coverage.)
“People want unpolished content, they want authenticity,”
Meerkat founder Ben Rubin has said. This echoes our
"Real Aspirations" trend in the Future 100 report.
The rise of Tumblr, grassroots Instagram and YouTube
celebrities, consumer entertainment gaming platforms
like Twitch and citizen journalism on platforms like Vice
Media, all show that consumers are increasingly looking
to each other — to their peers — for entertainment.
A sign of the increasing influence of user-generated
content at SXSW Interactive was Diesel’s new campaign,
unveiled by Nicola Formichetti during SXSW. Rather
than using a big-name photographer, Formichetti picked
out Instagrammer Doug Abraham, aka “BessNYC4.”
Is this the sign of things to come? Platforms like
Instagram and new apps for smartphones are
allowing users to take professional-standard photos
and also be creative with treatments. Brands from Marc
by Marc Jacobs to Dove have featured consumers. Will
future campaigns be created by them?
USERGENERATEDCONTENT—MEERKATANDBEYOND
USER-GENERATED CONTENT —
MEERKAT AND BEYOND
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While we’re on the subject of humanity and technology,
one of the most buzzed about campaigns launched
during SXSW Interactive was the one seeded on Tinder
for forthcoming sci-fi film Ex Machina, which explores
artificial intelligence. In lieu of unveiling the movie at the
film portion of SXSW, marketers created a fake digital
avatar of the lead character Ava, played by Swedish
actress Alicia Vikander, which was fully interactive.
In conversations with Ava, responses slowly revealed
aspects of the film plot. She asked Tinder users what it
felt like to be human. Eventually, users were led to an
advert for the movie. The campaign stands out not only
as a clever blurring of the lines between fact and fiction
— echoing similar techniques in the marketing of movies
like 2012’s sci-fi outing Prometheus, which even had a
fake future TED Talk created and released on YouTube.
It also is an innovative use of Tinder, a dating sight, as a
marketing platform. More of this to come?
TINDER—THENEWMARKETINGPLATFORM
TINDER — THE NEW
MARKETING PLATFORM
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Award-winning journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell
and Benchmark’s venture capitalist Bill Gurley teamed
up to discuss everything from Uber to health care. Most
interesting was the discussion around Uber. Gurley is on
the board of Uber and said that currently Uber is adding
50,000 jobs per month. Gurley said it was dramatically
reducing road deaths from drunk driving and impacting
the way consumers navigated cities.
“Take Los Angeles. You take a bus to pick your hire car.
You have to pay $40 to park it at your hotel. There’s
maps... With Uber all of that goes away.” Gurley said much
of the demand for Uber was new — aka it has unlocked a
new consumer base for taxis. “For years we’ve grossly
underestimated the demand for transport services,”
he said, adding that Millennials see cars as “utiliity, not a
social statement.”
Gladwell, in a counter question, asked what impact
Uber would have on the legions of carmakers. In other
words, while it may be creating jobs for some, in the
bigger picture if it forces automakers into decline its
effects will be counterbalanced. The next stage of this,
with the rise of automated vehicles, will be the question
of whether taxi driving itself will become obsolete. Is
Uber simply the next step toward automated, shared
motor transport?
UBERDEBATE
UBER
DEBATE
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
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Many talks inevitably talked about the future of retail and
wearables. Liza Kindred, founder of U.S. fashion-tech
think tank Third Wave Fashion, led an interesting
discussion with FashTech London and Cortexica on this.
“What does the future website look like if it’s a few inches
big? Or there’s no website at all. Retailers are going to
have to start thinking about this. About other ways to
communicate about products. What does my brand
smell like? Or feel like?” said Kindred.
Meanwhile, wearables — the subject of many a talk —
endured a collective backlash among audiences.
“There’s been so little innovation in the space,” says
Elizabeth Canon, founder of Fashion’s Collective, a
fashion and technology consultancy. “They’re all too
singular in what they do.”
Westfield, which hosted a networking lunch at the W
Hotel, is innovating in physical retail spaces. This
spring, the Australian shopping center group is
launching "Bespoke" at its San Francisco mall — a
mixed-use co-worker space, supporting startups
and connecting new ventures to bigger retailers and
consumers. Described as a “trifecta of co-working,
demo and event spaces,” the group will run beta
workshops allowing retailers to actively trial new
technology and concepts. New companies will be
able to demo their products. The co-working space
will be open 24/7 with 14 conference rooms, a library
and "sleep nooks."
THEFUTUREOFRETAIL
THE FUTURE
OF RETAIL
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF THE
WEBSITE LOOK LIKE IF IT'S A FEW
INCHES BIG? OR THERE'S NO
WEBSITE AT ALL. RETAILERS ARE
GOING TO HAVE TO START
THINKING ABOUT THIS.
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LIZA KINDRED, FOUNDER OF THIRD WAVE FASHION
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This is an interesting move for Westfield. Increasingly
we’re seeing brands use empowering or facilitating
entrepreneurship as a PR platform. Pernod Ricard has run
two initiatives like this. It’s launched Our/Vodka, a series
of microdistilleries in cities from Berlin to Detroit, that
invites locals to create their own Vodka, market it, run
the distiller and get a cut of the profits.
Through its brand Chivas, it has also launched The
Venture, a $1 million fund to mentor and develop new
entrepreneurs. It’s an effective way to reach Millennials
in particular. 2013 research by the Prince's Trust in the
U.K. found that 25% of young British people expect to be
self-employed by 2018.
One other interesting innovation, highlighted at Google and
Fashion Collective’s post-SXSW session, was the
forthcoming launch of LinkNYC. This year, 10,000 Wi-Fi-
beaming pods with interactive screens will be installed
throughout New YorkCity, giving nearby users free
internet while also directing them to local restaurants and
stores.
They’ll be able to make free calls through the devices
and charge their phones for free. By driving
consumers to local business through targeted ads
and suggestions, the creator CityBridge (a
consortium that includes Titan, Qualcomm and the
Control Group, among others) estimates that they
will collectively drive $500 million in revenue to New
York within the first 12 years of launching.
THEFUTUREOFRETAIL
THE FUTURE
OF RETAIL
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BEST OF THE REST:
BRAND ACTIVATIONS,
EVENTS, POP-UPS
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LIFE BELOW ZERO
National Geographic Channel’s “Life Below Zero:
Escape the Cold” experience stood out as one of the
better brand activations at SXSW Interactive. The
pop-up was a series of pods that simulated the icy
conditions of Alaska inside. Visitors taking part were
asked to sit in the pods and complete challenges and
tasks as the temperature dropped to freezing.
We’ve seen this a lot recently. Experience-hungry
Millennials have progressed beyond wanting novelties
such as immersive cinema (Future Cinema).
Increasingly there’s a desire for experiences to be
challenging, uncomfortable or even scary for bragging
rights. “Life Below Zero” is a good example of this.
BESTOFTHEREST:BRANDACTIVATIONS,EVENTS,POP-UPS
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SPORTS AND THE NEW DIGITAL FRONTIER
Sport in general was a theme on schedule, and off.
Equinox President Sarah Robb O’Hagan hosted a talk —
“How the Data Era Will Build High Performing Humans” —
featuring speakers Haile Owusu, chief data scientist at
Mashable; Victor Cruz, wide receiver for the New York
Giants; and Michael Gervais, Ph.D. in high performance
psychology. The talk centered on the quantified self and
using data to augment human performance in sport —
from athletics to members of Equinox connecting their
Jawbones or Fitbits to their branded app — tracking
heart rate, success, time and sleep.
O’Hagan revealed some interesting insight on Equinox
members about how increasingly they are motivated by
not just shared exercise experiences but competition.
“We’ve set up leader boards for cycle classes, East vs.
West Coast. We have a SXSW one, too,” she said. “The
fact that your score is public on display adds to it.”
NBCUniversal is also applying gamified mechanics to its
fitness video program Radius.
A sign of the rising cult status of lifestyle/sport
temples SoulCycle and Equinox was their presence at
SXSW Interactive, not just on the stages but in
services. The conference partying continued, but
come dawn those same revelers were also pounding
the streets of downtown Austin, sweating off
excesses.
SoulCycle, CrossFit and Equinox all had presences on
the lineup and are staging classes or pop ups. Equinox
set up next to the Fast Company Grill, inviting visitors
to take part in its new immersive competitive spin class
The Pursuit, in which data from each bike is collated in
real time with leader boards on display.
The class has just been introduced. In the official version,
cyclists are surrounded by screens displaying creatively
visualized data generated by their movement.
This is an interesting addition for Equinox. We are seeing
more digitally immersive exercise classes. Reebok just
introduced a whole series of immersive fitness classes
with Les Mills that are offered in enclosed boxes lined in
digital interactive screens. At CES, artist Lia Chavez
also created a "meditation nightclub" for The
Cosmopolitan hotel, which translated meditative
brainwaves into a visual digital experience.
BESTOFTHEREST:BRANDACTIVATIONS,EVENTS,POP-UPS
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SUPER, VISUAL SHARING FOR GENERATION Z
Biz Stone discussed his brand new Super app at SXSW.
His bold aim, he said, is to redefine social sharing by
bringing empathy and emotion to it. Stone’s hunches
with his ventures and their relation to consumer
behavior have so far been spookily accurate. Twitter’s
immediacy and quick-paced snippets were the perfect
antidote to verbose blogging when it launched. Medium,
his more recent "slow" social network, dedicated to
carefully considered, thoughtful content, has chimed
with the mindfulness movement.
Super is a visual sharing app that invites users
to state an emotion and then search for
an applicable image to go alongside it. It looks like the
perfect comic book mix of Tumblr, emojis and a fanzine,
with bright poppy colour and collage effects. Users can
switch up their profile picture by layering over cartoon
sunglasses. The look is inspired by artist Barbara Kruger.
The empathy part supposedly comes when users share
how they feel and another fan endorses it.
The interesting thing about Super is the amount of
information users must upload to join. Participants
are asked to give over their phone number,
location, and Facebook and Twitter logins, among
others. If it takes off it will be a data goldmine.
BESTOFTHEREST:BRANDACTIVATIONS,EVENTS,POP-UPS
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE
25
THE LAST WORD
FROM JOI ITO, DIRECTOR OF M IT MEDIA LAB
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE
26
IN THE FUTURE, IT WON'T
BE JUST PFIZER THAT
INVENTS NEW THINGS.
SXSWINTERACTIVE2015
JOI ITO, DIRECTOR OF M IT MEDIA LAB
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE
27
ON SYNTHETIC
BIOLOGY:
The cost of doing scientific research is diminishing.
We’re seeing the rise of street biology. There’s new
access, platforms and tools allowing more consumers,
even in their garages, to be involved in scientific
research and biology. In the future it won't be just
Pfizer that invents new things. It’s a two-way
conversation though. While science is being
demystified, these startups can also learn from
institutional research.
ITO LED A PANEL THAT EXPLORED
THE ADVANCEMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
EDUCATION THROUGH ENTRY-LEVEL
TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS RAPID DNA
PROTOTYPING (RDP) KITS, #SCIENCEHACKS,
THE SYNBIOTA PLATFORM AND CITIZEN
SCIENCE INITIATIVES IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY.
ON THE DEBATE ABOUT THE
HUMAN/NATURE AND TECHNOLOGY BLUR:
Thirty years ago Time magazine ran a cover about the
first test tube babies. Now IVF is covered by medical
insurance. It’s interesting to look at what we think is
ok now, and how that will change. Our kids today won’t
remember a world without smartphones, and
therefore probably won't fret about their children
using the internet. It’s a moving target.
Art and design are leading exploration in this area in a
non-threatening way. The Museum of Modern Art has
exhibited leather jackets made of grown stem cells.
We’ve also had pieces explore bioluminescence.
ON
INNOVATION:
In general innovation is being democratized. We’re
seeing it occur in workshops from East Detroit to
Nairobi. One interesting development I’m seeing is
contextual innovation. In different parts of Kenya, if you
can’t repair it locally it doesn’t work. Hence you have
lots of devices being designed around materials you
could find in a junkyard. Every region of the world is
fundamentally different. These innovators are
leveraging the peculiarities of each area. But this can
grow globally. Take Spotify. This launched in Sweden,
outside of the U.S., because of the U.S.’ copyright laws.
But now, because it’s thrived so much, it’s big enough to
expand to the U.S.
ON
SXSW:
The most exciting thing to me was the reaction to all
this change at SXSW Interactive 2015. Not only was
there a vast range of inspiring content. People seemed
genuinely receptive and engaged in these new ideas. I
look forward to next year, when this gets built on even
more.
ON THE RISE OF
THE CITIZEN SCIENTIST:
As a society we’re increasingly multi-disciplinary.
No discipline exists in a silo. This is also being fueled
by citizen sicentists who don’t care about silos.
There’s a structural overhead on experimenting that
doesn’t make sense. The cost to set up a lab meeting
all regulations is still very high. But now, there are
processes available that allow consumers to conduct
tests in their own home.
SXSWINTERACTIVE2015
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE
28
JWTINTELLIGENCE.COM
SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015
28

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JWT: SXSW Interactive 2015 (April 2015)

  • 1. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 1 SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 04/15 JWTINTELLIGENCE.COM
  • 2. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY VIRTUAL REALITY THE AUGMENTED HUMAN MATERIAL FUTURES SUSTAINABILITY – A BUSINESS AND MARKETING IMPERATIVE USER-GENERATED CONTENT – MEERKAT AND BEYOND TINDER – THE NEW MARKETING PLATFORM UBER DEBATE THE FUTURE OF RETAIL BEST OF THE REST: BRAND ACTIVATIONS, EVENTS, POP-UPS 07 08 09 09 10 12 15 16 18 17 21
  • 3. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 3 THEY CAME, THEY LISTENED, THEY ATE TACOS… THEY SAW AL GORE, AND MAYBE EVEN CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF SHIA LABEOUF’S BEATING HEART. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 3
  • 4. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 4 SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 This year’s SXSW Interactive was bigger than ever, with over 33,000 attendees. A brand new JW Marriott — its paint barely dry and reflective façade glimmering — became a beacon for the event and a venue for many of the panels. Its Corner bar on street level, meanwhile, an open-air margarita den, became a hotspot for defecting attendees. There were many constants at SXSW Interactive this year. Fast Company brought back its Fast Company Grill entertainment space, its editorial staff again leading many panels and interviews. MIT Media Lab was out in force. A&E returned with a bigger version of last year’s Bates Motel street-level brand activation (a life-size stage set mockup of the famous motel in the series, occupying a corner next to the Convention Center, which many passersby took pictures of). New to the roster was Soho House, which created a temporary events venue in the backwaters of East Austin, staging panels, dinners and parties for movers and shakers across both the Interactive and Music parts of SXSW. Fashion and Retail also took up a much bigger part of the content — the presence of fashion and retail brand attendees has been steadily increasing year-on-year. SoulCycle and Equinox were also out in force on panels and launching pop-ups for guilty conference partiers. Dazed Group, publishers of Dazed & Confused magazine and AnOther, staged a series of events on and off the schedule — the group is turning innovation into a key platform, having recently launched the first digital video magazine cover for AnOther magazine with William Casey company PCH. Dazed & Confused has also been exploring the convergence of innovation and art. Another initiative launched at SXSW was a new conceptual art piece in which people could watch actor Shia LaBeouf’s heart beat online while he was attending the festival. The piece, #followmyheart, made in collaboration with artists Luke Turner and Nastja Säde Rönkkö, required him to wear a tracking device for six days. It was designed, the creators said, to bring emotion to the internet. PEOPLE COULD WATCH ACTOR SHIA LABEOUF’S HEART BEAT ONLINE WHILE HE WAS ATTENDING THE FESTIVAL. SXSWINTERACTIVE2015
  • 5. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 5 This was a rising theme at SXSW 2015. Where the Film, Music, and Interactive parts of the conference have historically remained quite separate, this year many platforms overlapped, reflecting a growing general freefall between all digital, entertainment and social industries — be it digital art, movie marketing through social networks, virtual gamescapes and beyond. “There was a whole convergence between these areas, reflecting that to consumers it’s really the same thing now,” observed Elizabeth Gore, entrepreneur-in-residence at Dell, and speaker on many panels. The role of humanity and nature in relation to rapidly evolving technology was also a key theme — from artificial intelligence to synthetic biology. Connor Dickie, CEO of Synbiota, MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito, University of Pennsylvania professor Orkan Telhan and managing director of Bioeconomy Capital Rob Carlson ran a panel: “Synthetic Biology: Learn, Do and Dream.” Koert van Mensvoort also gave a talk: “Next Nature: How Technology Becomes Nature.” Meanwhile, Paola Antonelli, senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art, spoke of coats made from stem cells, growable leather and food that is still "semi-living." The concept of augmenting the human through data, exoskeletons and technology, pushing the boundaries of our capabilities, was also a rising topic. Much debate was centered on the ethical questions surrounding this as it becomes possible to "hack nature," 3D print organs, and — in theory — replicate minds. Our perceptions of what humanity and nature should be are clearly being challenged or forced into flux by the rapid pace of innovation. The content is hugely mixed at SXSW Interactive. Or at least, the schedule is so bloated that finding a valuable talk is like finding a needle in a haystack. Which organizers should be mindful of in an ever-crowded landscape where new conferences are nipping at their heels — chiefly Dublin's Web Summit, which has launched a sister event called Collision in the U.S., and C2 in Montreal, which is heavily curated. That said, as a sense check on macro trends the event endures. It also continues to draw the great and the good of not only tech industries but also entertainment, luxury, retail and media. THE ROLE OF HUMANITY AND NATURE IN RELATION TO RAPIDLY EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY WAS ALSO A KEY THEME — FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY. SXSWINTERACTIVE2015
  • 6. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 6 IMMERSIVE, DIGITAL EXPERIENCES IN EXERCISE AND MEDITATION ARE ON THE RISE. LUCIE GREENE, WORLDWIDE DIRECTOR OF JWTINTELLIGENCE
  • 7. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 7 Martine Rothblatt, CEO of biotech company United Therapeutics Corp., and highest-paid female executive in the U.S., gave a much buzzed-about talk on how artificial intelligence will allow humans to become immortal by replicating them. In her biotech business, she’s already been developing ways to grow human organs for transplanting. Through her personal foundation she’s also been developing new technology for what she calls "mind cloning" — translating human mannerisms, personalities, beliefs and behaviors into digital form so they can be replicated and applied in cyber form to regenerated human bodies — allowing us, in essence, to become immortal. Rothblatt spoke about the possibility of using the vast data pool of people’s social media feeds, video and other digital assets over a lifetime to create a new cyber consciousness — sort of a doppelganger of ourselves. Rothblatt has also been credited with creating the first "sentient robot": Bina48, a living, breathing, emotive android version of Rothblatt’s wife. Fear about AI aside, Rothblatt’s talk comes at an interesting time. The limits of humanity are being pushed with new technology. Already Time magazine’s February cover ran with the picture of a child, declaring, "This baby could live to be 142 years old." Google has famously invested in Calico, a biotech company, to explore how to reverse aging. Meanwhile, Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, has talked of Silicon Valley’s next frontier being the battle with aging. ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
  • 8. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 8 From Princess Reema (pictured right) to U.S. CTO Megan Smith, who both appeared in keynote sessions, women as a force in technology and business was a rising theme at SXSW Interactive. Reema spoke of the challenges facing Saudi women in the workplace, while also discussing her work promoting awareness of breast cancer, which is a leading cause of death to Saudi women aged 20-59, according to the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, at a talk with Megan Smith, Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, and Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute, unconscious gender bias was also highlighted live during the talk, as Schmidt was publicly called out by an audience member (and Google staffer) for repeatedly cutting Smith off in discussion. There were a host of events designed to connect and celebrate women in technology. Twitter threw a Women of Tech brunch that drew female founders, VCs, directors and strategists from the Levo League to Andreessen Horowitz and a host of new companies. Protein, Dazed & Confused and Soho House also co- hosted an off-schedule panel exploring women in technology — as a market, but also a force in innovation and entrepreneurship in tech, featuring our own Lucie Greene, worldwide director of JWTIntelligence; Dell’s Elizabeth Gore; Emma Sutton, head of marketing for Dazed and Confused; and Tamsin Glasson, founder of gaming/media company VRSE.works. Discussion focused on how women as tech consumers (women now control over 50% of tablets and make up over half of gamers) but also as leaders in technology. “It needs to go far, far, further though,” argued Gore of the event. “There was such an appetite for it as a discussion among women too. It could double as a presence on the schedule and I don’t think it would be going far enough.” Bob Safian, editor and managing director of Fast Company, agrees: “The whole issue of diversity in general in technology is generating momentum. Users of technology cut across all demographics and lines. Everything needs to catch up.” WOMENINTECHNOLOGY WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY
  • 9. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 9 There were a number of virtual reality experiences on show at SXSW Interactive — most connected with Google in some way. Google has been ramping up its visible connection with digital creatives, artists and entertainment vehicles recently to showcase its capabilities. Following a transmedia partnership for the launch of Interstellar — in which Google created a microsite with education, games and storytelling to complement the movie — an immersive virtual reality experience was staged at SXSW Interactive. Conference-goers wore headsets sitting down to “explore the craft in zero gravity” using virtual reality headsets. At Google’s Fiber Space, virtual reality game The Living World was showcased by cloud games company Shinra. The 32 by 32 km "world" houses 1 million trees, 16,000 dragons, real-time terrain deformation — powered by the ultra-fast Google Fiber connection speeds and supercomputer data center. “All of these elements are fully loaded into memory running off of Shinra Technologies’ supercomputers, resulting in zero loading time, up to 64 possible players interacting in the same game world, and a multitude of other features otherwise impossible on existing video game consoles or PCs,” said Shinra. The North Face also showcased a virtual reality cinema experience at the Google Fiber Space, exploring U.S. national parks. VIRTUALREALITY/THEAUGMENTEDHUMAN Hugh Herr, head of Biomechatronics at MIT Media Lab also hosted a keynote dubbed “Extreme Bionics: The End of Disability.” Herr talked about how we are moving beyond prosthetics that bring humans back to zero, that are compensatory, to electromechanical enhancements that will “eliminate the barriers between human limitation and human potential.” J. Walter Thompson covered this in our Future 100 report. Increasingly — from clever fabrics that accelerate your workout, to exoskeletons, to prosthetics — we’re moving beyond the idea of using technology to solve disabilities and be compensatory. The next era will include “augmented humans” who are capable of much more. This of course will create ethical concerns, but it’s exciting to see. It also forces the question: Is normal actually better? VIRTUAL REALITY THE AUGMENTED HUMAN
  • 10. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 10 Paola Antonelli (below right), senior curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), gave a brilliant talk on how designers are pushing new boundaries and creating credible future solutions to world problems by exploring the intersection of disciplines from biology to technology and design. She talked in particular about how creatives are revisiting old techniques and craft to create sustainable furniture materials. Like Formafantasma, a studio that has experimented with resins made from insect excrement. She also talked about the growing intersection between biology, science and design — designers using biology to “grow” art forms, as MIT Media Lab’s Neri Oxman has done with her Silk Pavilion (above right), a giant structure woven entirely by silk worms. Other designers are growing alternatives to Styrofoam using mushrooms. These creatives spilling outside traditional parameters will help shape the future. Oxman’s work in particular is innovating in sustainability and the function of materials. Oxman, a professor at MIT, founded the Mediated Matter design research group, which explores the “intersection of computational design, digital fabrication, materials science and synthetic biology.” MATERIALFUTURES MATERIAL FUTURES
  • 11. THERE WAS A WHOLE CONVERGENCE BETWEEN FILM, INTERACTIVE AND MUSIC THIS YEAR, REFLECTING THAT TO CONSUMERS IT’S REALLY THE SAME THING NOW. ELIZABETH GORE , ENTREPRENEUR-IN-RESIDENCE AT DELL SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 11
  • 12. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 12 Sustainability and social good were major themes at SXSW Interactive. “There was a big focus on the triple bottom line: People, Profit, Planet,” said Gore, who worked for the U.N. before joining Dell. “It’s being driven by a number of things. There’s so much idealism among Millennial entrepreneurs. It used to be that you made your money then you entered philanthropy. Millennials want to start doing good through their businesses right away and find new ways to give money while still being profitable.” Al Gore spoke about the “challenge” and “opportunity” in the climate crisis. The creative director and president of sustainable luxury brand Maiyet, Kristy Caylor, was also the center of a talk on the future of sustainable fashion. Maiyet, like Toms (the one-for-one shoe brand), has created a new business model to be sustainable. It has established craft hubs in emerging economies and works with local communities to make its goods. Levi Strauss & Co., which outfitted all 350 of the SXSW staff in denim jackets, made saving water its cause celeb at the conference, unveiling how it's saved 1 billion liters of water since 2011 by reducing water in the garment finishing process by 96%. It also launched #WashLessPledge, asking consumers to commit to washing less to save water. There was SXgood, a major social good hub exploring social innovation, entrepreneurship, impact design and cause issues, with speakers from the U.N., Google.org and various brands. SUSTAINABILITY—ABUSINESSANDMARKETINGIMPERATIVE SUSTAINABILITY — A BUSINESS AND MARKETING IMPERATIVE
  • 13. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 13 Alongside talking about his new emotional visual sharing app Super, Biz Stone (right) spoke of the importance of CSR. “The future of marketing is philanthropy. Young people in particular are attracted to companies with meaning,” he said, adding that increasingly companies will need to do more CSR and philanthropy to retain Millennials as employees. Fast Company’s Bob Safian agrees: “We talked about this recently. It’s increasingly important for brands to find their ‘mission.' It’s a business imperative to settle on what their purpose really is, aside from making money. There are too many brands, and this will become a key way in which people filter the ones they buy into.” Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario also led a passionate discussion about innovation in sustainability. Patagonia has had massive success in this space, innovating in sustainable fabrics, creating recycled clothing collections and even donating solar panels to people in Hawaii as part of its efforts. In the process, it is getting a slew of organic press attention. Patagonia has a team called “creative idealists” who create products that outperform while being responsible to the planet. Marcario also echoed Naomi Klein’s recent argument that publicly traded companies are damaging the environment because the necessity for short-term profitability does not allow brands to think long-term, strategically or “bigger picture” in investing in sustainability. Daniel Bobroff, head of investment at ASOS, touched on this same issue on the same day in a talk dubbed “Building a Lean Mean Fashion Business Machine.” Companies are not thinking about their long-term life or building strategies for the distant future (which, by the way, is not that distant any more) and sustainability is central to that. Bobroff said that the average life span of a company now is 15 years, whereas previously it would have been 50. SUSTAINABILITY—ABUSINESSANDMARKETINGIMPERATIVE SUSTAINABILITY — A BUSINESS AND MARKETING IMPERATIVE
  • 14. IS UBER SIMPLY THE NEXT STEP TOWARD AUTOMATED SHARED MOTOR TRANSPORT? SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 14
  • 15. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 15 By now everyone will have heard of Meerkat, the live streaming video app that was the sensation of SXSW Interactive, which allows consumers to post live video footage to Twitter. The intrigue was propelled further during SXSW when Twitter announced that it would limit Meerkat’s access to its social graph, in light of launching its own version through recently acquired video streaming app Periscope (which went live March 26). The bigger picture with these two developments is the rise in user-generated content, and also the switch in social media coverage not just to visual sharing but social media sharing. (Interestingly, most coverage of the recent round of fashion shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris this year featured heavy video instagram coverage.) “People want unpolished content, they want authenticity,” Meerkat founder Ben Rubin has said. This echoes our "Real Aspirations" trend in the Future 100 report. The rise of Tumblr, grassroots Instagram and YouTube celebrities, consumer entertainment gaming platforms like Twitch and citizen journalism on platforms like Vice Media, all show that consumers are increasingly looking to each other — to their peers — for entertainment. A sign of the increasing influence of user-generated content at SXSW Interactive was Diesel’s new campaign, unveiled by Nicola Formichetti during SXSW. Rather than using a big-name photographer, Formichetti picked out Instagrammer Doug Abraham, aka “BessNYC4.” Is this the sign of things to come? Platforms like Instagram and new apps for smartphones are allowing users to take professional-standard photos and also be creative with treatments. Brands from Marc by Marc Jacobs to Dove have featured consumers. Will future campaigns be created by them? USERGENERATEDCONTENT—MEERKATANDBEYOND USER-GENERATED CONTENT — MEERKAT AND BEYOND
  • 16. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 16 While we’re on the subject of humanity and technology, one of the most buzzed about campaigns launched during SXSW Interactive was the one seeded on Tinder for forthcoming sci-fi film Ex Machina, which explores artificial intelligence. In lieu of unveiling the movie at the film portion of SXSW, marketers created a fake digital avatar of the lead character Ava, played by Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, which was fully interactive. In conversations with Ava, responses slowly revealed aspects of the film plot. She asked Tinder users what it felt like to be human. Eventually, users were led to an advert for the movie. The campaign stands out not only as a clever blurring of the lines between fact and fiction — echoing similar techniques in the marketing of movies like 2012’s sci-fi outing Prometheus, which even had a fake future TED Talk created and released on YouTube. It also is an innovative use of Tinder, a dating sight, as a marketing platform. More of this to come? TINDER—THENEWMARKETINGPLATFORM TINDER — THE NEW MARKETING PLATFORM
  • 17. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 17 Award-winning journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell and Benchmark’s venture capitalist Bill Gurley teamed up to discuss everything from Uber to health care. Most interesting was the discussion around Uber. Gurley is on the board of Uber and said that currently Uber is adding 50,000 jobs per month. Gurley said it was dramatically reducing road deaths from drunk driving and impacting the way consumers navigated cities. “Take Los Angeles. You take a bus to pick your hire car. You have to pay $40 to park it at your hotel. There’s maps... With Uber all of that goes away.” Gurley said much of the demand for Uber was new — aka it has unlocked a new consumer base for taxis. “For years we’ve grossly underestimated the demand for transport services,” he said, adding that Millennials see cars as “utiliity, not a social statement.” Gladwell, in a counter question, asked what impact Uber would have on the legions of carmakers. In other words, while it may be creating jobs for some, in the bigger picture if it forces automakers into decline its effects will be counterbalanced. The next stage of this, with the rise of automated vehicles, will be the question of whether taxi driving itself will become obsolete. Is Uber simply the next step toward automated, shared motor transport? UBERDEBATE UBER DEBATE
  • 18. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 18 Many talks inevitably talked about the future of retail and wearables. Liza Kindred, founder of U.S. fashion-tech think tank Third Wave Fashion, led an interesting discussion with FashTech London and Cortexica on this. “What does the future website look like if it’s a few inches big? Or there’s no website at all. Retailers are going to have to start thinking about this. About other ways to communicate about products. What does my brand smell like? Or feel like?” said Kindred. Meanwhile, wearables — the subject of many a talk — endured a collective backlash among audiences. “There’s been so little innovation in the space,” says Elizabeth Canon, founder of Fashion’s Collective, a fashion and technology consultancy. “They’re all too singular in what they do.” Westfield, which hosted a networking lunch at the W Hotel, is innovating in physical retail spaces. This spring, the Australian shopping center group is launching "Bespoke" at its San Francisco mall — a mixed-use co-worker space, supporting startups and connecting new ventures to bigger retailers and consumers. Described as a “trifecta of co-working, demo and event spaces,” the group will run beta workshops allowing retailers to actively trial new technology and concepts. New companies will be able to demo their products. The co-working space will be open 24/7 with 14 conference rooms, a library and "sleep nooks." THEFUTUREOFRETAIL THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
  • 19. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF THE WEBSITE LOOK LIKE IF IT'S A FEW INCHES BIG? OR THERE'S NO WEBSITE AT ALL. RETAILERS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT THIS. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 19 LIZA KINDRED, FOUNDER OF THIRD WAVE FASHION
  • 20. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 20 This is an interesting move for Westfield. Increasingly we’re seeing brands use empowering or facilitating entrepreneurship as a PR platform. Pernod Ricard has run two initiatives like this. It’s launched Our/Vodka, a series of microdistilleries in cities from Berlin to Detroit, that invites locals to create their own Vodka, market it, run the distiller and get a cut of the profits. Through its brand Chivas, it has also launched The Venture, a $1 million fund to mentor and develop new entrepreneurs. It’s an effective way to reach Millennials in particular. 2013 research by the Prince's Trust in the U.K. found that 25% of young British people expect to be self-employed by 2018. One other interesting innovation, highlighted at Google and Fashion Collective’s post-SXSW session, was the forthcoming launch of LinkNYC. This year, 10,000 Wi-Fi- beaming pods with interactive screens will be installed throughout New YorkCity, giving nearby users free internet while also directing them to local restaurants and stores. They’ll be able to make free calls through the devices and charge their phones for free. By driving consumers to local business through targeted ads and suggestions, the creator CityBridge (a consortium that includes Titan, Qualcomm and the Control Group, among others) estimates that they will collectively drive $500 million in revenue to New York within the first 12 years of launching. THEFUTUREOFRETAIL THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
  • 21. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 21 BEST OF THE REST: BRAND ACTIVATIONS, EVENTS, POP-UPS
  • 22. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 22 LIFE BELOW ZERO National Geographic Channel’s “Life Below Zero: Escape the Cold” experience stood out as one of the better brand activations at SXSW Interactive. The pop-up was a series of pods that simulated the icy conditions of Alaska inside. Visitors taking part were asked to sit in the pods and complete challenges and tasks as the temperature dropped to freezing. We’ve seen this a lot recently. Experience-hungry Millennials have progressed beyond wanting novelties such as immersive cinema (Future Cinema). Increasingly there’s a desire for experiences to be challenging, uncomfortable or even scary for bragging rights. “Life Below Zero” is a good example of this. BESTOFTHEREST:BRANDACTIVATIONS,EVENTS,POP-UPS
  • 23. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 23 SPORTS AND THE NEW DIGITAL FRONTIER Sport in general was a theme on schedule, and off. Equinox President Sarah Robb O’Hagan hosted a talk — “How the Data Era Will Build High Performing Humans” — featuring speakers Haile Owusu, chief data scientist at Mashable; Victor Cruz, wide receiver for the New York Giants; and Michael Gervais, Ph.D. in high performance psychology. The talk centered on the quantified self and using data to augment human performance in sport — from athletics to members of Equinox connecting their Jawbones or Fitbits to their branded app — tracking heart rate, success, time and sleep. O’Hagan revealed some interesting insight on Equinox members about how increasingly they are motivated by not just shared exercise experiences but competition. “We’ve set up leader boards for cycle classes, East vs. West Coast. We have a SXSW one, too,” she said. “The fact that your score is public on display adds to it.” NBCUniversal is also applying gamified mechanics to its fitness video program Radius. A sign of the rising cult status of lifestyle/sport temples SoulCycle and Equinox was their presence at SXSW Interactive, not just on the stages but in services. The conference partying continued, but come dawn those same revelers were also pounding the streets of downtown Austin, sweating off excesses. SoulCycle, CrossFit and Equinox all had presences on the lineup and are staging classes or pop ups. Equinox set up next to the Fast Company Grill, inviting visitors to take part in its new immersive competitive spin class The Pursuit, in which data from each bike is collated in real time with leader boards on display. The class has just been introduced. In the official version, cyclists are surrounded by screens displaying creatively visualized data generated by their movement. This is an interesting addition for Equinox. We are seeing more digitally immersive exercise classes. Reebok just introduced a whole series of immersive fitness classes with Les Mills that are offered in enclosed boxes lined in digital interactive screens. At CES, artist Lia Chavez also created a "meditation nightclub" for The Cosmopolitan hotel, which translated meditative brainwaves into a visual digital experience. BESTOFTHEREST:BRANDACTIVATIONS,EVENTS,POP-UPS
  • 24. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 24 SUPER, VISUAL SHARING FOR GENERATION Z Biz Stone discussed his brand new Super app at SXSW. His bold aim, he said, is to redefine social sharing by bringing empathy and emotion to it. Stone’s hunches with his ventures and their relation to consumer behavior have so far been spookily accurate. Twitter’s immediacy and quick-paced snippets were the perfect antidote to verbose blogging when it launched. Medium, his more recent "slow" social network, dedicated to carefully considered, thoughtful content, has chimed with the mindfulness movement. Super is a visual sharing app that invites users to state an emotion and then search for an applicable image to go alongside it. It looks like the perfect comic book mix of Tumblr, emojis and a fanzine, with bright poppy colour and collage effects. Users can switch up their profile picture by layering over cartoon sunglasses. The look is inspired by artist Barbara Kruger. The empathy part supposedly comes when users share how they feel and another fan endorses it. The interesting thing about Super is the amount of information users must upload to join. Participants are asked to give over their phone number, location, and Facebook and Twitter logins, among others. If it takes off it will be a data goldmine. BESTOFTHEREST:BRANDACTIVATIONS,EVENTS,POP-UPS
  • 25. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 25 THE LAST WORD FROM JOI ITO, DIRECTOR OF M IT MEDIA LAB
  • 26. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 26 IN THE FUTURE, IT WON'T BE JUST PFIZER THAT INVENTS NEW THINGS. SXSWINTERACTIVE2015 JOI ITO, DIRECTOR OF M IT MEDIA LAB
  • 27. SXSW INTERACTIVE 2015 J.WALTERTHOMPSONINTELLIGENCE 27 ON SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: The cost of doing scientific research is diminishing. We’re seeing the rise of street biology. There’s new access, platforms and tools allowing more consumers, even in their garages, to be involved in scientific research and biology. In the future it won't be just Pfizer that invents new things. It’s a two-way conversation though. While science is being demystified, these startups can also learn from institutional research. ITO LED A PANEL THAT EXPLORED THE ADVANCEMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY EDUCATION THROUGH ENTRY-LEVEL TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS RAPID DNA PROTOTYPING (RDP) KITS, #SCIENCEHACKS, THE SYNBIOTA PLATFORM AND CITIZEN SCIENCE INITIATIVES IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY. ON THE DEBATE ABOUT THE HUMAN/NATURE AND TECHNOLOGY BLUR: Thirty years ago Time magazine ran a cover about the first test tube babies. Now IVF is covered by medical insurance. It’s interesting to look at what we think is ok now, and how that will change. Our kids today won’t remember a world without smartphones, and therefore probably won't fret about their children using the internet. It’s a moving target. Art and design are leading exploration in this area in a non-threatening way. The Museum of Modern Art has exhibited leather jackets made of grown stem cells. We’ve also had pieces explore bioluminescence. ON INNOVATION: In general innovation is being democratized. We’re seeing it occur in workshops from East Detroit to Nairobi. One interesting development I’m seeing is contextual innovation. In different parts of Kenya, if you can’t repair it locally it doesn’t work. Hence you have lots of devices being designed around materials you could find in a junkyard. Every region of the world is fundamentally different. These innovators are leveraging the peculiarities of each area. But this can grow globally. Take Spotify. This launched in Sweden, outside of the U.S., because of the U.S.’ copyright laws. But now, because it’s thrived so much, it’s big enough to expand to the U.S. ON SXSW: The most exciting thing to me was the reaction to all this change at SXSW Interactive 2015. Not only was there a vast range of inspiring content. People seemed genuinely receptive and engaged in these new ideas. I look forward to next year, when this gets built on even more. ON THE RISE OF THE CITIZEN SCIENTIST: As a society we’re increasingly multi-disciplinary. No discipline exists in a silo. This is also being fueled by citizen sicentists who don’t care about silos. There’s a structural overhead on experimenting that doesn’t make sense. The cost to set up a lab meeting all regulations is still very high. But now, there are processes available that allow consumers to conduct tests in their own home. SXSWINTERACTIVE2015