South by Southwest (SXSW) is huge. The festival itself has Music and Film tracts, as well as the Interactive tract that we are attending. But even within the Interactive tract, programming covers a range of topics, from social media, big data, content management, application design, and usability design, amongst many other topics. It’s hard to choose what to go to amongst the plethora of great programming.
So we’ve taken a moment to gather 5 events that researchers attending SXSW should go to. These events will shed light on the state of digital and its implications for the plugged-in market research and innovation agency. You can bet we’ll be attending!
What makes a brand in a digital world where there are no beginnings or endings? Campaigns, one of the cornerstones of branding, don’t work quite so well anymore. But while patterns and fixed rules help maintain a brand image, they can also make a brand seem out of touch with what is currently affecting its customers. This panel will debate about how brands should behave in the digital world.
Relevance to Researchers: An guide towards developjng brand positioning that work for the new, empowered, social media consumer.
2. How to be yourself when everyone else is faking it
We are often pushed to use our real identities online, such as on Facebook. However social media makes it easy to consciously present a specific version of ourselves online. Add in that using our real identities can make it easier for repressive governments to control people, and the question gets stickier. This presentation will dip into the debate surrounding authenticity and privacy online.
Relevance to Researchers: Helping us understand how people are negotiating their identities through social media – of relevance not just for social media researchers, but anyone needing to connect brands with their consumers online.
3. How Your Data Can Predict the Future
We now have access to tons of data. From what consumers click on to who they share it with, from where they discover brands to where they become disillusioned with them, there is a wealth of data available to researchers these days. This data can be used to make predictions for marketing and advertising, but this presentation will also ask what else we can predict. Happiness?
Relevance to Researchers: The Holy Grail of much research is predicting consumer behavior. This panel will not only look at how “big” social data can help provide insight into prediction, but also how brands and advertisers can connect emotionally with consumers.
4. Cool Hunting and Cool Farming with Social Media
Are we about to see another burst in human civilization similar to that of the advent of agrarian society in humanity’s history? MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence is now actively researching “cool hunting” and innovation. Beyond the efforts of academia, this panel will discuss the practical business applications of pattern recognition and trend prediction.
Relevance to Researchers: This panel will take a different look at the challenge of prediction, covering theories and academic insights balanced with real business experience. Market researchers can learn from academia, but we must always balance it with the needs and experiences of our clients.
5. I May “Like” You, But I’m Not in Like with You
How much is a “Like” on Facebook actually worth? This presentation will look into what makes people value something, and how brands can capitalize on this. All the while, it will ask how much people value their relationship with the brands they interact with online.
Relevance to Researchers: Just like brands, researchers are using “Likes” and other online actions as demonstrations of support. But how much do these actions really reveal about the consumers’ values? Researchers can also benefit from a greater understanding of how to really judge consumer actions online.
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