I’ve just touched down from another SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, TX.
Over the next few days, I’m going to post some reflections on the event in 5 different segments, but before I do that, I feel like I still need to describe the conference to others.
SXSW is a incredibly difficult to describe, so I’ve come across an appropriate metaphor for SXSW. Austin is home to some terrific BBQ so, well SXSW is the ultimate BBQ pit- let me explain…
You/Your company Piece of Brisket/Meat
Austin Dry Rub
SXSW: The Smoker and grill
Your Clients/Friends/Agency The Sides (Mac and Cheese, Rice and Beans, Mashed Potatoes)
Ok so you’ve made your plans for SXSW. You’re just a simple piece of meat, but what happens to you over the course of a week in Austin every March is a true culinary experience.
Austin Texas, the Dry Rub
Austin, a.k.a. the Dry Rub. Your plane touches down in Austin. Austin is the place that spices it up. Each year has a different flavor. Maybe a bit more brown sugar, a little less cayenne, you get the drift. You (the brisket) arrive and start to get the Dry Rub treatment. You’re feelin the SXSW love. You hear the music, the sun is out. Who doesn’t love the dry rub?
The SXSW Conference- the Smoker/Grill
SXSW- a.k.a. The Smoker. You’re sloooow cooked over 5 days on a nice, even heat. You’re in this hot smoker for a while with constant heat. Heat=stimulation. Heat=meeting LOTS of people. Heat=learning. Heat= late-night parties. Heat=spontaneous discussions. Heat= serendipitous moments at the Driskill at 1:00am
The Sides: Your friends, clients, partners
Clients/Agency/Friends – The sides. BBQ doesn’t work without coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, beans and rice, right? You’re not at SXSW alone, and these relationships are crucial to the SXSW experience. You, the brisket, works really well with these sides.
Sometimes you’ll meet a new “side” or friend along the way, it’s a piece of cornbead, pickles, mashed potatoes, you name it.
So, are you starting to get the picture here? Upon your return, the table has been set (pun intended) for you to share this BBQ experience with everyone else. You’ve been seasoned, smoked and cooked and are ready to serve to the world. And, of course, you can’t do it alone. No matter how big a company you are, you’ll always need the sides. Sides equal technology, creative, staffing, partnerships, you name it.
Over the course of the year, you may need to go back for “seconds” at another conference. But there’s nothing quite like that first plate of BBQ, right?
And the following March in Austin, the cycle continues, but it might be a bit different, right? It may even be a different BBQ Pit. It’s Stubbs and not The Salt Lick. Maybe the dry rub is a bit sweeter, and maybe the wood in the smoker is oak, and not cherry. And you just have to meet this new side at SXSW..
So, are you getting hungry for the next BBQ at SXSW? I am…
By now we’ve already met at the water cooler and discussed what ads from Super Bowl XLV we liked. By all accounts, it looks like that Volkswagen, Doritos or Chrysler won the battle.
The Winning (old) Formula.
These advertisements won because of a simple formula. No, they didn’t involve cute animals, scantily clad women, or stupid “physical” comedy. They were popular because of what I call the “Can I watch it and “get” it in a loud crowded bar” formula. This formula simply relies on the following elements.
- You may miss a few seconds of the advertisement if you look away (while you are ordering your appetizers), but you still get it.
- You can watch this advertisement with the volume turned completely down, or you’re at or party that is REALLY loud, and still get it.
- It’s simple. Let’s face it, you might have a couple cocktails on Super Bowl Sunday. Don’t make me think too hard
- It tells a story.
Now, think back on why the Volkswagen ad was so good. We all can relate to Star Wars (simple) can watch this with the sound turned down, and tells a wonderful story. And, the bonus here was that you actually are intrigued by the new car. Remote car starter? Cool, maybe I’ll check out the new Passat…
Same goes for the Chrysler ad. Sure it would have been nice with the music (if I couldn’t hear it) but you get the general message. Chrysler is rebuilding, rethinking and “restoring” itself to the glory days. I might not even know who Eminem is, but I still “get it”.
If you still don’t believe me, take a look at Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl advertisement with the volume turned down…
Where Social Media comes in
I’m still amazed and impressed at how Social Media played such an interesting part of this year’s Super Bowl. My favorite was BrandBowl 2011. Brain child of Mullen’s Edward Boches and a joint partnership with one of the heavy hitters in the social media measurement world, Radian 6. This year, they partnered up with the Boston Globe and enjoyed tremendous success by encouraging Super Bowl viewers to tweet about the ads using the #brandbowl hashtag during the Super Bowl. BrandBowl2011 counted up more than 300,000 tweets to calculate tweets AND sentiment. And that’s where the interesting part comes in- sentiment. They quickly (and in real-time) got a feel for what advertisements worked and perhaps why they didn’t work. Edward, you probably already know this, but we’re watching you closely here- can’t wait to see what BrandBowl 2012 has in store for us.
The Winning (NEW) formula for next year
So, let’s combine the old winning formula with new technologies and create a new recipe for advertising success…..It should look something like this….
1 cup of story-telling
1/2 cup of simpleness
1/2 cup of GOOD images, people, scenery
4 tablespoons of social
3 tablespoons of mobile
2 teaspoons of instant feedback/gratification.
Here’s a quick example….
Let’s say McDonald’s wants to introduce another new hamburger called “the McSuper” …In the first quarter advertisement, there’s a simple story about the new hamburger featuring six new ingredients. At the end of the ad, there’s a call to action. Choose your favorite 3 ingredients AND what city you want the McSuper to launch in. Simple, right? Everyone breaks out their mobile phone and texts or tweets their “vote” to McDonalds. If you’re not near your mobile phone, head over to your computer and “vote” on McDonald’s facebook page or website by halftime.
For the next hour, McDonald’s scrambles to collect the data, and produces the video, a la Old Spice. In the fourth quarter, McDonald’s releases the ingredients of the perfect McSuper sandwich and where it’s going to arrive.
Think it would work? Or are you just getting hungry?
Facebook’s New Commenting System
Yep, the iPad 2 is rolling out today, but lost in the noise of that big (overhyped) announcement is bigger announcement with far-reaching, and longer-term consequences for social media. It’s the announcement of Facebook’s new Commenting System. Here’s the deal.
Facebook has created a plug-in that websites and blogs can use so when you comment on a website (let’s say it’s espn.com, nytimes.com, your sister’s blog) AND you’re logged in on Facebook, it will show your comment as a Facebook user/profile.
And, vice-versa.
The images below look identical, but they’re not. The top screenshot is , this is a screen shot of a comment I left on TechCrunch’s Page. You’ll notice that since this is a “public” site, you’ll see my Facebook name, title and description there If anyone on TechCrunch sees my post there- they can click on my Facebook name and if they want to- can connect with me. Make sense
Now look at screen shot below that one.. This is taken from a Facebook page. You’ll notice that when I commented ”yes, this is showing up on Facebook”, it automatically posted itself over to Techcrunch site- nifty eh?
Confused-?here is a 3 minute video describing it.- pop it open in full screen/HD to see it.
What does this mean? – Essentially 3 things…
What do you think? Comment below… (I tried earlier using this plugin but it’s still a bit buggy)