
The first day of SXSWi was cold and wet outside, but vibrant and crowded inside!
I’m live-tweeting from panels at @chavoen – ping me if you’ve a question you’d like me to ask or a panel you want me to check out. My initial plan for attending sessions is below and you can find the full schedule at sxsw.com
At SXSW, my goal for every panel is to learn (at least) one new thing, and find a concrete example that will resonate with at least one client or colleague.
Today’s panel topics included brand authenticity, higher ed and social media, and social media for real-world activation. At each full-capacity panel there was much to be learned and shared.
First panel was on brand authenticity. At MSL, and most likely throughout the PR/Marketing/Communications world, the idea of brand authenticity and consistency is already in our framework, but a few critical thoughts were shared that resonated with the audience. (Full disclosure: I shared my thoughts as an audience member during this session and was delighted by the response.)
Thinking about the full customer experience is critical — being authentic ONLY in social doesn’t work. Social is a tool and can help define, refine, and extend the experience and voice, but the voice must be authentic and consistent across all touchpoints and channels.
One of the panelists made an outstanding point as well — a campaign isn’t authentic if you can just replace the brand with a different one. Specifically referencing the Old Spice campaign that went viral and garnered so much attention, he asked if that same concept would have worked for Mennen. Or Taco Bell. And if the answer was yes, successful or not, it isn’t authentic. That is the difference between a campaign and a brand experience.
Moving to the higher ed panel, I was excited to hear several ideas of relevance to our higher education clients in Chicago. The first was about audience segmentation, making the point that an institutional voice may only be one of several voices necessary for messaging to be relevant to a wide variety of audiences. Some specific strategies were discussed for involving administrators from across the organization into the marketing effort and integrating their ideas and support. There was also a great discussion around highlighting and harnessing student voices in a way that offers dimensions and perspectives critical for longevity.
Finally, the social activation panel identified several different pathways for translating social media activity into real world actions, proving that key PR activities around influencer identification and engagement are more relevant than ever in today’s multi-channel cross-media world. PR gets relationships, has been creating stories and content for centuries, and remains the discipline that can and does conduct the orchestra of digital, marketing, communication, advertising, media, employee engagement, and sales. When all of those are working in concert? The gorgeous symphony of an authentic brand, playing the music relevant to each audience.
Looking forward to my sessions today, including panels on effective transmedia strategies, data/analytics, and PR for better business. I’m still deciding between a panel on daddybloggers or one on local…. Tweet me at @chavoen and help me decide!