As the third day of SXSW kicked off, I was able to experience some of the more relaxed SXSW experiences. Since Friday I’ve wanted to stop by the Pinterest House, so this morning I made that my priority! They had a really cool photobooth that made a compiled video of you from different takes that you could then email to yourself. Paloma and I really struggled with what to do during the video takes, so ours came out not so cute. They also had a Taste Tuner, which had you answer certain questions and would then come up with your preferred tastes.
During my time at the Pinterest House, I was able to catch a SXSW panel on “The Arbiter of Taste.” Panelist included Kate Parnet of Man Repeller, Vikram Bhaskara of Pinterest, Michael Broukhum of FabFitFun, and Anjelika Temple of Brit+Co. This panel covered the cultural shift from magazine editors being the only dictators of fashion and lifestyle trends for the world to the democratization of content creation. Since these new forms of distribution, such as Pinterest and FabFitFun, have emerged individuals are now able to share their own personal taste and be just as influential.
Michael Broukhim described how prominent and “god like” the magazine editor position prior to the lifestyle websites and blogs. Magazine editors basically control what was in and who the next big name was. However, since the rise of influencers this is no longer the case. By simply partnering with influencers from shows like the Real Housewives and The Bachelor to post videos of themselves opening their seasonal box, FabFitFun is able to garner brand awareness and marketshare within those demographics.
Anjelika also touched on the lack of representation when magazines were the sole fashion influencers, whereas now there are so many diverse influencers for people to choose from. There is a vast representation of all kinds of people consumers can relate to. Consumers have now become in charge on what is trending and what the next big thing will be. The job of businesses is now to listen to the consumers and stay up to date with the latest trends and follow what these “influencers” are doing.
My next stop was the Bose Lounge, where I was able to enter into an immersive VR experience. As you entered into a private room, you were given a set of sunglasses. These sunglasses allowed you to hear and see from the view of a person riding a bike through downtown Austin. The VR glasses provided the user with a seamless experience, which made you feel like you were living through this particular experience.
They also had some really amazing donuts!
After attending the Bose Lounge, I made my way to the Fairmont to listen in on the “Facebook IQ: The Five Consumer Shifts Shaping 2020” panel, which was thought-provoking and informational. Panelist included Toma Beczak and Ann Mack from Facebook. As the future shifts to being digital and mobile first, so must our thought process when trying to market to consumers.
One line that keeps being repeated in almost every panel I have attended is “tell a story.” Consumers want to be told a story and be entertained. This is why you have seen an increasing amount of companies using video or images to tell their story as opposed to the traditional advertisements.
There is currently a shift for more visual based content that will entice and elicit a more emotional response. Statistics show that time spent watching videos on Instagram has increased 8% year over year. Additionally, people gave 5 times as much time to video content than static content across Facebook and Instagram.
Another topic they discussed was the reality that in 2020 the majority of the world will be connected to the Internet. Additionally, mobile will be making up more than half of U.S. e-commerce sales!
Unfortunately, people consume media 41% faster on mobile feed than they do desktop. This is why is it becoming much more important and imperative for advertisers and marketers to create relevant and eye-catching content. 