Trends & Insights - SXSW 2017

TRENDS & INSIGHTS

TRENDS & INSIGHTS 0

SXSW 2017: The Battle for Humanity Over the years, SXSW has been less about breaking news or product launches and more about converging to talk about what products mean, what technology makes possible and what’s being built on the systems, platforms and devices that made headlines at other trade shows. This made SXSW 2017 the perfect place for conversation around the most significant tech topic of our time: the nature of technology’s role in our lives.

We saw a new trend arise: the Battle for Humanity, which is born from general unease that technology and screens may be removing our core human essence and separating us from the real world. In this report, we discuss three key trends that emerged as a result of the struggle between man vs. machine, all centered around the question on everyone’s mind in Austin: Is all this change good for us?

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Data Transparency & “Trading” Shift to No Screens Content Tunnel Vision

We also explore some of the best and most-buzzed about Interactive Experiences (the best part of SXSW!), as well as insights from MRY’s Morning After initiative.

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People are becoming increasingly aware that everything they do online creates a trail of data. While many people—especially younger generations—are comfortable sharing personal data on social media, they may be less comfortable when it comes to sharing data associated with emerging technologies that power smart homes, wearables, connected cars and voice-activated assistants.

To foster trust, brands should become more transparent with users around the personal data they collect and how that data is being used.

DATA TRANSPARENCY & “TRADING”

Is My Data Showing?

IBM Personal Data Sharing Activation

IBM invited SXSW attendees to take a photo of themselves and take a cyber-security test.

Depending on the amount of information they provided, their photo would appear on a wall as blurry (if they entered less data) or clear (if they overshared). Other SXSW exhibitors started to reveal the idea of “privacy trading”—incentivizing people for the use of their personal data, rather than using it without their permission (e.g. offering free hardware for people who agree to share dashcam videos).

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The fight against screens certainly heated up at SXSW, as many believe that removing the screen is the best way to stop people from constantly staring at our phones. However, VR, wearables, smart insoles, AR glasses—or any other option to replace the smartphone—have not yet become mainstream. Voice-activated assistants like Amazon Alexa have great potential to replace screens, but SXSW was more focused on a few different solutions:

“Fashionables”

SHIFT TO NO SCREENS

Sony Xperia

Trendy, better-made wearables and smart watches could help the wearable market scale. To illustrate, a new “fashionable” called Project Jacquard debuted at SXSW. Project Jacquard is a collaboration between Google and Levi’s that creates a way for people to connect through a trendy denim jacket.

Tabletop Touchscreens Why carry a screen in your pocket when you can project one onto a surface? In the future, every tabletop could be a touchscreen— for social networking, email, web surfing, gaming and even making music—as showcased by the Sony Xperia. However, it remains to be seen what will emerge as the future screen (or no screen). It could be a combination of tactile interfaces, optimal design, great battery life and helpful apps. Brands must ensure that they’re visible and positioned to engage consumers if/when this new technology scales.

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CONTENT TUNNEL VISION

Another hot topic, on the streets and in the sessions, was the role of algorithms and curation in spreading news (especially fake news). Do consumers have content tunnel vision? Content producers now have the ability to hyper-personalize content to very specific audiences, especially in social. With fake news, the problem isn’t necessarily the volume of false stories, but the ability of these stories to go viral, with millions of shares. Personalization powers this virility. To illustrate, many consumers have created ultra-personalized, insular social media communities for themselves, allowing content producers to laser target audiences that are more likely to engage with and share the fake content.

The Downside of Personalization The big lesson for brands is that content hyper-personalization may sound great, but it can also have disadvantages. If consumers have content tunnel vision, they may only see and share content within the tunnel that they’ve created for themselves. Personalization can slot consumers into one dimension, potentially limiting visibility of new ideas or products.

Brands should use personalization tools to their advantage, but keep in mind that, sometimes, consumers are in the mindset to see something completely different, try something new or be exposed to an experience that’s not in line with their previous behavior or “profile.”

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BEST INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES

Pinterest Lens: Consumers can now point, shoot and search to find related images, transforming the in-store shopping experience.

Brands should amp up on creating these types of experiences to engage people searching for their category or competitors.

Gatorade Data-Based Injury Predictions: By calculating angles of your posture, users can learn more about their body's strengths and weaknesses, informing where to focus training.

Such innovations make wearables more actionable, scaling into a viable opportunity for more marketers.

New Virtual Reality: Sony VR Rock Climbing took immersive video to the next level.

Layering the realworld into VR helps in the Battle for Humanity. It brings a new aspect to the VR medium, which must continue to evolve to break into the mainstream.

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MRY’S Morning After SXSW is a source of innovation and inspiration for marketers and agencies alike—but for many, it can be a real challenge to make all that whiz-bang actionable.

This year, MRY decided it was time to turn all that confusion into action by introducing MRY Morning After, a way for brands to understand what’s happening on the ground in Austin and apply it directly to their challenges. Insights included: •

Spirits: Brand purpose and visual identity are inter-twinned

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Skincare: Micro-influencers are the most effective influencer group, as they drive better engagement vs. just chasing scale

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Hospitality: Luxury is no longer all about the item or environment; it’s about overall well-being

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Non-profit: It’s not always the most expensive channels that provide the best way to reach audiences (e.g. chatbots and emoji keyboards can be effective)

With MRY Morning After’s nimble approach, the team was able to turn all those SXSW questions into actionable answers!

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