Tag: SXSW

SXSW Interactive 2013: Mobile First

Posted on | by Ketner Group

This blog is reposted from Digby’s The Mobile Retail Blog.

By Kirsty Hughan, Digby

Austin, Texas has just finished playing host to one of the most innovative and forward-thinking technology conferences in the world. South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSWi)  is a five day conference and trade show dedicated to the advancement of digital creativity and hosts sessions by industry leaders addressing cutting-edge concepts unfolding in the world of technology.

Mobile has been an exponentially growing industry in the last few years, both in widespread use as well as capability. We’ve seen mobile websites, apps and commerce explode, but what should we expect to see next in the push toward a highly mobile-centric society? This is what we’ve learned from our sessions at SXSWi.

Location, Push Notifications and Relevancy

In the U.S., 74% of smartphone owners use their phones to access real-time location–based information. Roe McFarlane, VP of Product Innovation and Customer Experience at Redbox spoke Saturday on the hyper-relevancy and personalization location adds to marketing. McFarlane discussed the personalization already intricate to Redbox’s mobile application, which allows users to create wishlists of movies they look forward to watching and favorite their nearest Redbox locations. But he also discussed the incredible future mobile has, mentioning how convenient it would be to receive a push notification as you drove by your favorite Redbox location letting you know that Spiderman is available for rental.

McFarlane also spoke about interesting joint advertising opportunities brought on by understanding location. Since Redbox locations rely on local vendors, the two have a symbiotic relationship. It is frequent that a drugstore displays popcorn, candy, and soda next to its Redbox location, encouraging visitors to stock up for movie night. McFarlane suggested pushing coupons to customers visiting a Redbox, offering them a discount on a bag of Doritos.

Retail: Going Mobile

Retailers, motivated by fears of showrooming are now engaging customers in and out of the store. A number of retailers and brands including Starbucks, ABC, WWE, and Redbox emphasized the need to contextually and personally engage customers through mobile, a technology that has the benefit of being always present with its owner.

A number of emerging trends in store including mobile point-of-sale, in-app check-out, and digital signage.  Starbucks’s Category Manager Dana Kruse discussed the opportunity mobile opens up between baristas and regular customers.  As the ordering and checkout process becomes more seamless, customers are freed from check out process in order to check in with their local barista and build a relationship.

Personalization was another key trend in mobile because of its ability to link to loyalty programs and customize content.  Both Tina Prause, Senior Director of Mobile Products at WWE and Peter Roybal, Product Management for ABC mentioned the success they have had in allowing users to customize their own experience.  In particular, Roybal mentioned how ABC’s mobile app allows users to follow specific news sources and receive push notifications updating them on how the news is evolving.

Consolidation & Specialization

At SXSWi, it is always interesting to learn about new apps that have been launched and the ones that stand out this year offer consolidated personal and business solutions.

pplconnect is a virtual smartphone app that allows you to tap into your personal information from any device with WiFi and urges consumers to pursue “mobile freedom,” a positive thing for Americans, who are constantly on the go.

Industry leaders also expressed a need for specialization in mobile commerce and sharing. Giving users the ability to search locally for services and products based on location and preferred cost not only customizes a purchase, but supports local merchants and small business. Zaarly is a mobile app that offers handpicked and highly specialized merchants, services and products using a smartphone application as the primary channel for search and purchase.

Lastly, the app on everyone’s lips was Uber, an app that not only makes it easy to find a nearby private driver but makes riding a private car seamless. By providing private drivers with their own smartphone with Uber installed, drivers and riders can quickly find each other. Further, riders can plug in where they are going and pay for the service on the spot, making trips quicker and less confusing.

Kirsty Hughan is Digby‘s Marketing Manager and as such is excited by the opportunity mobile provides to finally allow for a 1:1 marketing strategy for brands.  To stay in touch, you can find her on Digby’s Facebook, Twitter or the Digby Blog.

Attention Tech Companies: DO NOT – I repeat – DO NOT Launch at SXSW

Posted on | by Ketner Group

This blog post is reposted from Laura Beck’s shirtshorts blog. See Laura’s awesome fan-wear business at stripedshirt.com. Also, check out what Ketner Group has to say about SXSWi on our Be Spectacled page.

After 18+ years working for PR agencies, Laura Beck is focused on independent marketing and PR consulting as well as running her own commerce business, www.stripedshirt.com. Until May 2010, she ran the Austin Texas office of Porter Novelli for nearly 10 years.

 

I’m not kidding this just happened to me: this morning, last day of SXSW Interactive 2012, I get an urgent plea from a friend helping a friend who’s “PR firm dropped the ball” b/c the client was ticked no one wrote about them yet, and they needed to call in some favors, get some coverage. This client launched at SXSW (and I’m not making this up): a Smartphone app that’s a free mobile guide for events, complete with location based mapping and social media integration. iPhone only now, but coming soon for iPad, Android.

SERIOUSLY? You and about 2,000 other companies.

This one, is irritated with their PR people for not getting them enough coverage, especially after they got 50 requests for beta day 1. 50??? SXSW attracts over 20,000 tech people. 50? You are but a speck of sand on the beach, in so many ways.

Now, I feel for this PR person or firm, but really, ultimately, it’s their own fault, and here’s where this public service announcement blog post come in handy. Read it, believe it, remember it, and PLEASE please preach it from now on, for all the rest of us PR folks, and the press and bloggers, and the betterment of the tech companies of today and tomorrow.

DO NOT Launch at SXSW

The odds of you “being the next Twitter” are slim to none. And remember, that big moment for Twitter at SXSW 2007 wasn’t its launch anyway. Jack sent the first tweet a full year earlier. SXSW 2007 is just when that “hockey stick moment” happened for Twitter and everyone has been trying to replicate that magic ever since. YOU CANNOT. It was MAGIC. This stuff sometimes happens at SX, often times does not.

Last year, you could argue Group.me and Uber were the buzz, but holy cow they put the money down to do so, whether hundreds of free grilled cheese sandwiches or branding every pedi cab in town. This year, this sweet delusional mobile apps company is competing against Amex launching Sync with freaking JAY Z. Seriously? How can anyone compete with that?

So, again, DO NOT LAUNCH AT SXSW. Or at least do not come expecting traditional PR, press and blogger meetings or coverage. Just do us a favor, and do not come here with those unrealistic expectations that kill us all.

But come! SXSW is an amazing 10 days, 5 (or more) of just us tech folks. There are 20,000 people here, and over 2,000 of em are press, bloggers, influencers. And they are here to meet, and talk, and network. BUT NOT TO BE PITCHED, not to commit to a sit down briefing or meeting.

They come once a year to Austin to put faces with names, meet the companies they covered last year, get their research in for companies to cover in the future, LEARN, and network. They want to spend time with the tech community, with each other.

They will not commit to time with you or make a packed schedule (or shouldn’t) because at SXSW, you don’t know what’s coming at you when. You need to be fluid and flexible, and go with what happens. Enjoy the ride.

So PR people, please counsel your clients. And companies listen and learn. COME to SXSW, use it as an opportunity to talk to anyone and everyone about what you are up to, what you care about, and LISTEN to what they care about too. Talk with the masses, and tell them about your company, your apps, your tools, your location based social discovery smart phone apps. Do take advantage of the feeding frenzy that is 20,000 people combing the streets of Austin as awareness building, branding, marketing, stunts.

Enjoy the ride and that it is so crazy. Do not torture your PR person asking where “so and so” is, and why “such and such” didn’t agree to a meeting. Do not come here thinking you are the next Twitter, or Amex Sync. Just come, and enjoy the experience, and respect the rest of us (including the press and analysts) doing the same. With the influencers, meet them, let them know you love their writing or read their story last week. Build relationships that will last you your tech life time. But don’t pitch them or ask them for anything. Not this week.

I have done SXSW now since 2004. I have seen the show grow like crazy. I still love it. But maybe that’s because I play it right. Along with friends, I created an event each night for a smaller group of people, including national – and local – press, bloggers, analysts, influencers, VIPs where you can go to just talk with people, hang out, catch up. A “no pitch zone.” I do the same at any other events I hit, I enjoy the moment, don’t party hop or try to catch Leo or Tobey. I don’t look over my shoulder the entire time I’m talking with someone to see if anyone better is there. And I decline any PR project that comes my way that involves “launching at SXSW.” I have a lot of press friends who I hope respect and like me, because I will NOT call in favors or abuse their time here at SXSW (or anytime).

Please keep this blog URL, PR peeps and tech entrepreneurs, because I promise, if you’ve gotten to the bottom and agree with me, you’ll forget by SXSW 2013. Or you’ll talk with someone who doesn’t know, hasn’t been here, and will need this advice. It’s easy to get caught in the glamour of imaging you doing the PR for the next Twitter, being the “Next Big Thing At SXSW.” But those odds are very slim, rare and Magic! DO NOT Launch at SXSW. Rather, just come and enjoy the experience. It’ll serve you way better in the future, and over the crazy 5 days we live every March.

5 SXSWi Sessions PR Pros Shouldn’t Miss

Posted on | by Ketner Group

Image provided by SXSW.com, photo by: Brittany Ryan

Image provided by SXSW.com, photo by: Brittany Ryan.
It’s T-minus one month and six days until Austin’s most anticipated conference of the year. South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) begins Friday, March 9 and the whole city is preparing. Hotels have tripled their rates and are mostly booked, the city is organizing the transportation routes and local Austinites are planning their schedules and thanking their lucky stars they live close by.

I’m excited Ketner Group is sending a couple of us to SXSWi—I can’t wait to absorb all of the marketing, new media and technology ideas and advice everyone has to share. The session line up looks really interesting, and the only thing that disappoints me is that I can’t be in more than one place at the same time. You should see my schedule on the SXSWi. The site lets you star the sessions you find interesting and adds them to your “My SXSW Schedule” tab in your account. There are places where I have five sessions at the same time—that’s just not possible.

This got me thinking, “I wish someone would read through all several hundred sessions and let me know which ones are a MUST-SEE as a PR professional.” Apparently, bottles aren’t big enough to hold genies and leprechauns are really hard to catch. So I read through every single session description and starred my favorites. If you’re a PR pro, I would recommend starring the following sessions for yourself:

“Newsjacking: How to Inject Your Ideas”
Presenter: David Meerman Scott (Best-selling author!)
The rules have changed. The traditional PR model—sticking closely to a preset script and campaign timeline—no longer works the way it used to. Public discourse now moves so fast and so dynamically that all it takes is a single afternoon to blast the wheels off someone’s laboriously crafted narrative. Enter newsjacking: the process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real-time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business. It creates a level playing field—literally anyone can newsjack—but, that new level favors players who are observant, quick to react, and skilled at communicating. It’s a powerful tool that can be used to throw an opponent or simply draft off the news momentum to further your own ends. Marketing and PR expert and bestselling author David Meerman Scott prepares you to launch your business ahead of the competition and attract the attention of highly-engaged audiences by taking advantage of breaking news

“We Made This, and it’s Not an Ad”
Presenter: Robbie Whiting, Director of Creative Tech & Production, Duncan/Channon
What if agencies and marketers created products and services, not just ads? And what if they made these things for themselves, not just for clients? They do. But tackling things like product design, creating new businesses or building complex real-world experiences requires a creative, technical, managerial and entrepreneurial spirit more associated with Silicon Valley than Madison Avenue. It demands new roles, agile approaches, external partnerships, technologies, investments and compensation models that can drive even the most hardened finance director crazy. And in some cases, it may even require a complete reboot from the ground up. The ability to make something that isn’t an “ad” is no longer optional in modern advertising. But it’s certainly not easy, either. So what can we learn from the makers, technologists and agencies already playing in this space? Turns out, a whole heckuva lot.

“Get Lit: Why Story Matters”
Presenter: Jill Meyers, Editor, American Short Fiction
You built a product. It’s amazing, brilliant, even earth-shattering. You know it, your team knows it, your mom knows it. So why doesn’t anyone else seem to get it? The answer may be that you haven’t told them the right story. As it turns out, good writing is hard to come by, and people who are good at making things aren’t necessarily the best at telling their story. But don’t worry: you can learn! In the world of fiction, we’ve been thinking about story–and how to make it powerful, visceral, and beautiful–for a long time. This panel will bring the practices and structure of fiction to help you transform your idea, product, or service from the mundane to the sublime. Continue reading →

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes

Posted on | by Ketner Group

It’s coming. I can hear the buzz, the distant rumble of excitement from anticipation and preparations. It may be early, but people are already planning for it. It comes every year and the eyes of passersby twinkle at all the sights and sounds that flood the senses…

…at the annual South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, Film and Music festival in Austin, TX. Did I have you thinking about Christmas for a second? I don’t blame you. But today, I’ve got SXSW on my mind.

We Ketner Groupies are just plain excited. We all have special connections with SXSW. I got married this year during the music festival (which hosted an awesome Friday-night outing for our out-of-towners). Another Ketner Groupie’s love story began there. We helped launch a new social media application there. And every year, we learn something new and valuable that we can share with our clients and friends.

As PR professionals, we ‘heart’ SXSW Interactive (SXSWi), the marketing, digital media and technology hub of the festival. How lucky are we to have the brightest minds and entrepreneurs from all over the globe meet up in one place to share an explosion of ideas and knowledge—right in our own backyard? And we are doubly excited for SXSWi 2012, because three of our clients have submitted their own panels, which are up on the 2012 SXSW PanelPicker now! Check these out and if you like what you see, give ‘em a thumbs up (AKA: vote for their panel)! Continue reading →

Austin Got a Tattoo, and it spells Social Media

Posted on | by Ketner Group | 2 Comments on Austin Got a Tattoo, and it spells Social Media

Have you heard? Mashable has challenged us to celebrate this year’s Social Media Day by proving why our city is the most social media savvy city in the world. Is it even a contest? When you think of social media’s birth of innovation and its spirit of togetherness while celebrating oppositeness, and find you still have the energy to be enthusiastic about it all, are you from LA? New York? London? No. You’re from Austin, baby.

That’s right. Home to the geek producin’, barbeque lickin’, music lovin’ masses, Austin, TX, is the birthplace of social media acceptance. Austin lifted the concept of social media from its crib and nursed it to maturity, accepting it as a part of its own flesh and blood, because that is what it has become. To Austin, social media is an organic life force, an interwoven fiber of networks that has been braided into nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Social media has tattooed itself upon our city and to prove it, we’ll give you the “A, U and S, the T and I to the N” of why Austin is the most social media savvy city in the world.

A is for Apps. Austin is a playground for social integration app developer companies. Anything from smartphone games for consumers to mobile web integration apps for businesses are created here. Many smartphone app developers call Austin home, including Qrank, Gowalla and Pangea Software, developer of the iPhone game Enigmo, which was one of the most downloaded apps in 2008.


U is for User-Friendly. For years, the City of Austin and other community groups, like the Austin Wireless City Project, have been campaigning for free wireless throughout the city. In 2006, the City of Austin partnered with the World Congress on Information Technology and Cisco Systems to provide high-speed, outdoor Internet wireless access to select areas in town. Austin’s emphasis on the importance of providing complimentary wireless access to citizens highlights its commitment to fostering an online, social and sharing community.


S is for SXSW. “South by Southwest” is probably the largest contributing factor to our argument that Austin is the most social media savvy city in the world. In fact, people from all over the world travel to Austin to spend one week of every year at the SXSW Interactive (SXSWi), Film and Music festival. According to SXSWi, attendees get “five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology…showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer.” In fact, one of the most successful social media debuts at SXSWi was Twitter. That’s right, Twitter introduced its recently launched concept in Austin, TX, in 2007 to a very receptive crowd and has since grown so successful that the term, “Tweet,” has a place in the Merriam-Webster dictionary (as a noun AND a verb). Foursquare, which actually launched its location-based service at SXSWi in 2009, is another SXSWi success story. There is a reason that SXSWi in Austin is the go-to show for innovative technology companies to teach, learn and share ideas. Continue reading →

Psychology of the User Experience

Posted on | by Ketner Group | 2 Comments on Psychology of the User Experience

Right after SXSW Interactive, I promised a comprehensive recap, and I have a confession to make – this  Word document has been sitting here in blog post purgatory for over a week (literally!) now, because I’ve realized that: A) I’m not an authority on this event, since it was my first time going, B) there are tons of great posts out there recapping the event as a whole (check out see Omar Gallaga, Jay Baer, and Chris Brogan’s helpful and thoughtful posts), and C) while SXSW was incredibly valuable to me overall for reasons I mentioned in the previous short post, there are only a few things that I took away as total “a ha!” moments in terms of bringing new ideas and practices to Ketner Group and our clients. One of those was definitely Brian Solis’ session on How Your Brand Can Succeed in the New Web, but I’d much rather speak about that after I’ve read his new book, Engage! – and how handy that I asked a question during the Q&A portion of the talk and scored a crisp hardback copy! Be on the lookout for my review on that book soon.

For now, I’d like to dedicate this post to the other session I felt most interesting and pertinent to the work we do here at KG, Stephen Anderson’s talk on the Art & Science of Seductive Interactions – basically, how we can apply the principles of human psychology to creating a better User Experience (which can apply to developing products, websites, etc.)  I love the study of psychology, and in fact I also recently discovered a great lecture series on the Mind & Brain from the University of Arizona available for free download from iTunes U – I highly recommend checking that out. Anyway, Stephen Anderson’s main point in his SXSW panel was that, when we are creating something for other people, we need to get back to the basics. What makes successful experiments, products, and campaigns work? Generally, at the root of it is human psychology. Are you building your product or website or campaign by starting with a basic assessment of what you want people to do and how you can incent them to do so?

Continue reading →

Public Relations, the wild child: Commonly misunderstood and wrongfully stereotyped

Posted on | by Ketner Group

Public relations may be one of the most widely misunderstood professions. SXSW® Interactive is taking place here in Austin this week and I’ve been hearing chatter about “those PR types” that are annoying to who exactly, I’m not sure. During inevitable polite small talk babble, when I get asked the “What do you do” question, I typically respond, “I do PR for high tech companies.” More often than not, my inquisitor will look at me in one of two ways:

  1. As if I just told them I worked in quantum mechanics (they have no idea what PR is), or
  2. As if I just told them I’m an evil advertiser who sucks up all of your money, sends you mail you hate to receive and interrupts your Sunday evening showing of Desperate Housewives once every 15-20 minutes with those darn commercials.

I must say that I am neither one of those. I am also not at all like Samantha Jones from Sex and the City, I do not throw parties and plan events all day long, and – much to the dismay of a BCBG sales associate a few weeks ago – I could never get away with wearing a slinky, tight skirt suit that distracts from my awesome personality while I’m representing a client.

Because that’s what we do. We represent – we ARE – our clients. Everything we say and do reflects upon our clients. Perhaps the reason why PR is so widely misunderstood is because we work hard to remain invisible to those on the outside. We are essentially our clients’ eyes, ears and mouths. “What are people saying about X?” “What do we see X’s competitors doing?” and “What does X need to say to effectively and positively communicate with their audience?” Continue reading →