Six trends from SXSW 2019

Last week I attended my first SXSW in Austin, Texas and was equally exhilarated and exhausted by the amount of information I absorbed over the seven days. From the ethical dilemmas surrounding self-driving cars to the biases making their way into artificial intelligence systems, the thought-provoking sessions had me considering how society will navigate the rapid rate of transformation in society. 

I’ve put together six of the themes that stood out to me during my time at SXSW. You’ll notice they don’t necessarily relate to advertising, but I’ll also be sharing my favourite brand and marketing-related sessions in the days to come.

1.    Brand purpose and the role brands play in politics

The idea of brand purpose isn’t a new one, but with countries currently divided by politics, more than one session stated that brands now play a bigger role in advocating for key issues than government. The new thinking for me here came from Mike May, who is VP of strategy at US ad agency Huge, who revealed research found no brands, from Gillette to Burger King, harmed their awareness, sales or other metrics by connecting with a brand purpose. While several speakers agreed brands shouldn't be opportunistic and adopt purpose just for a marketing ploy, they saw it as a critical move to future-proof a brand.

This was particularly interesting because the same research found that we are living in the age of the ‘brand boycott’, where customers are more likely to boycott a brand than ever before. But despite this likelihood to boycott, speakers agreed that it is more important than ever before to stand for something. One of the panellists said by not taking a stand, you're putting your brand's values in the hands of the consumer, which can be risky.

2.    The societal, moral issues of emerging tech 

The topics of AI, augmented reality and virtual reality have dominated the sessions of SXSW – and the wider media – for the last few years. But this year, it seemed that excitement turned to concern with more consideration around the ethical and moral issues that this type of technology will have on society. 

For example, futurist Malcolm Gladwell ponded onstage the ethical considerations of self-driving car that may have to act to preserve the safety of its occupants and in the meantime hit a pedestrian. 

There were almost a dozen sessions that discussed bias in AI and many examples of how the technology can mirror the worst in society, such as with Microsoft’s Tay that was transformed by the internet into a Hitler-loving sex robot in a matter of minutes. One of the best sessions I went to, called ‘When What Machines Learn is Wrong’, discussed the need for smart speakers, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, to train people to be polite. The panel agreed they are already starting to see the negative impact these speakers are having on the way children interact with technology and discussed how this could spill over into the playground. One of their concerns were the female-only voices employed by the smart speakers’ technologies, which was tackled by Vice with the launch of a gender-neutral voice for smart speakers at SXSW.

3.    Social media’s impact on society 

The long-term, negative impact social media is having on society was referenced in several sessions at SXSW. In one session, a panellist asked who in the audience of around 500 people thought social media was the new fast food and the majority of the audience raised their hand - a telling sign of how we feel about platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

‘Generation Lonely’ was an insightful, yet terrifying, reveal into how as a society we’re lonelier and more disconnected than ever before. In fact, more people aged 18-22 say they are lonely than seniors. The panel of researchers stated that we are losing our ability to make micro connections - we no longer learn the name of our barista or talk to people on the bus – and we are turning to isolation, which is detrimental to our health. Lonely people die sooner, they suffer from more disease and they suggested that this could be why chronic illness is rising in students in the US. 

While this is disturbing on a personal level, on a professional level for marketers and agencies, this awareness on the impact of social media could see audiences begin to turn away from the major platforms.

4.     Digital addiction dampens creativity

It’s no secret we are addicted to our devices, but how many of us would say they make us more productive? We argue they enable us to be able to work on our commute, to multitask and stay connected. Author and digital analyst Brian Solis thought this to until he failed to finish his eighth book because he’d become so distracted by his phone and his productivity levels suffered.  

He also was unable to sprout ideas and be productive because every second that he should be using his brain was filled with information from his mobile phone. Every gap of our lives is filled with noise; if we take a walk we are listening to a podcast, if we stand in line for a coffee we are endlessly scrolling… Solis found this has impacted our ability to be creative and we are so distracted by the perfect lives we are trying to build on Instagram. One of my favourite quotes from his session is: “true creativity happens when you live your life”. 

He shared this great video, which I recommend watching:

5.     Self-care: Mental health and mindfulness 

On the flipside of the discussion around the negative impact of social media, self-care, mental health and mindfulness were trends welcomed at SXSW, reflecting a wider conversation globally. Meditation app Calm had a presence, bringing a sloth to the Trade Show, as well as weighted blankets that are used to treat anxiety. Lululemon ran yoga classes, PwC offered massages and there was a Chillhouse lounge that offered a space to relax and healthy food options. 

With conferences often being a stressful and overwhelming experience that leave you a shell of yourself by the end of the week, it’s an important reminder to take care of yourself. 

6. Electric scooters - the new transport of choice?

According to SXSW, scooters are cool again and were the transportation of choice at SXSW. Thousands littered the streets of Austin and within a few days, almost everyone I spoke to had whizzed around the city on one. Three brands of scooters were available, including Lime, Bird and Uber. 

Already being an Uber user, the Uber scooter was easily connectable through the app, cost around $2 for 40 minutes and skirt-friendly. It will be interesting to see if they will take off in Australia with a trial set to launch in Manly later this year or if they'll flop like the bike sharing startups.

From scooters to societal issues, those are my six trends from SXSW. You can find almost all of the recordings on Soundcloud here and if you want more information on any of the above trends, please email me at [email protected].