Interactivity
My first session of the day doesn’t start until noon, and we arrive at the conference center around 9:30. My plan is to go wait in line to meet Grumpy Cat, the adorable, always-unhappy looking internet meme. The tent was empty, so I asked an info booth about it, and apparently she was only here over the weekend. But they told me that the line averaged about four-hours long, which I wouldn’t have waited in anyway.
From 12:00-6:00 I am booked, running from session to session. My schedule includes Infographics: The Power of Visual Storytelling, How to Measure Social Media, and a workshop called Storytelling: The Next Wave of Engagement.
Memorable highlights from a day of sessions include Jason Lankow speaking to the future of infographics (we will see an increase in problem-solving as a focus and interactive graphics embedded with video and more), and Nichole Kelly describing her more traditional approach to measuring social media using the sales funnel.
This afternoon I had a workshop called Storytelling: The Next Wave of Engagement, that was a few miles away at the AT&T Conference Center. I decided to catch a ride instead of hoofing it. Note to newbies: in Austin there is a service called Side Car that gives free rides through 3:00 PM the week of South by Southwest (no fare, no tips). You download the app, set your pick-up and drop-off locations, and watch the GPS map locate a nearby driver. Once someone’s available, you get a text with a photo of the driver and the vehicle, and the driver calls you to confirm the ride and arrange an exact pick-up location. The driver, in his or her own vehicle, accepts donations only (the result of some sort of brawl with the City Council, according to my driver). Since people who use the service have to have the app (which stores your personal information), there is an intriguing social aspect. If you’re a cheap customer, the driver can flag you and you can develop a bad reputation that will make it less likely you’ll get picked up. It works the other way too. If your driver’s a dick, you can give him a bad rating. My experience with side car was positive. The app works pretty seamlessly. It only took a few minutes of refreshing my request before there was an available driver.
The workshop was interesting and I walked away with some inspiration and new perspective. The hosts liken social media to a stage,
and say that storytelling has always been at the core of smart marketing. We should be telling stories in the way that is compelling to our customers and potential customers. How does the brand affect the customers? It’s not about the toothpaste, it’s about what the toothpaste allows customers to do, like smile ear-to-ear, have fresh breath for a first kiss, or feel confident meeting people.Those are the stories the toothpaste companies should be sharing. The hosts also said that every social media story should have all of the essential elements (characters, obstacle to overcome, etc.), which I’m not entirely convinced by. Not every brand needs a hero and a villain or a character to represent them, and I can think of many B2B executives who wouldn’t be thrilled with that concept. Although it got a little theatrical and entertainment-oriented at times, the core message was strong and inspirational.
Some of the notes I took include:
- Our customers’ stories should be a part of brand stories.
- Let customer comments guide your ideas. What content is engaging them?
- Social media should be both structured and improvisational.
- Reward people who engage with your brand.
- Focus on shareability.
- Go from story to story and tie them together into an overall arc.
Austin After Dark
At the end of the workday, I hail a cab and head downtown to start nurturing a fifteen dollar minimum at The Casino. Afterwords, I grab some pizza at Jackalope and head across the street to eat at Maggie Mae’s and hang while I wait for Hannah to meet me downtown. There was an amazing blues band called Michael Mulligan and the Altar Boys playing, so I moved from the bar to directly in front of the stage. They killed it: mean guitar, mean harmonica, and mean, wailing vocals. When they were finished with their set, I grabbed a CD from the frontman, his head still glistening from tearing it up onstage, and shook his hand.
If there’s anything else Austin knows, it’s music.