In what world could Kate Spade, Senator Rand Paul and Snoop Dogg coexist as keynote speakers or panelists? That would be Austin, Texas — where being called “weird” is considered the highest form of flattery — home of the 29th annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival which is kicking off this weekend. With sessions beginning Friday morning, we were curious about this year’s trends, particularly with their interactive programming.
Now including more than 800 sessions, this area has exploded since they added it to the music festival back in 1994. Their goal in adding both the interactive and film festival components that year was to develop an arena for creative people and the companies they work with to develop their careers, and to allow for more collaboration among creative disciplines — a love fest for content creators, if you will, in not only music, but also film and interactive. And succeed that goal has! The festival draws close to 80,000 people every March, with almost two-thirds of those crowds attending the film and interactive events.
A quick scan of their calendar reveals a not-so-surprising focus on content marketing, with a few sessions we’d love to sit in on:
“The Secret Ingredient to Killer Content Marketing”
“Content Marketing vs. Don Draper: The End of Ads”
“Why Your Content Marketing Is Failing, and The Fix”
“Are Brands Sabotaging Their Own Content?”
“Managing a S&#^ Storm and Restoring Your Brand”
“Content Is Content: TV, Social and Everything Else”
Other interactive session trends include focus on the transportation sector, next generation delivery ideas, media convergence (appropriate for a music festival that has grown into a film and interactive festival as well), and an interesting if not dark twist on the usual social media topics — cyber-bullying and analyzing social media skills of terrorist organizations.
At Shift Key, we make communication capital. We are journalists who know how to create original content, the foundational layer of digital marketing. We understand audience and the information your audience wants – whether you are an agency, brand, company or non-profit. Content is the bedrock of digital marketing. Shift Key creates unique and informative content that feeds marketing activities across a mounting number of channels, generating buzz for brands and leads for products and services.