Roundup: Day 4 at #SXSW by Fox
Fox Agency
Fox Agency is an award-winning integrated B2B marketing agency for the world’s most innovative tech brands.
Day 4 allowed us to take in more of the full #SXSW experience with a combination of tech, creativity and music.
Data vs Instinct: Making Creative Decisions with speakers Karen Boswell, Amber Chenvert, Karla Davis and Melonie Parker
We started the day with a bit of a non-starter session. This was a great reminder of what we always must do, which is always strict to the brief! Unfortunately, they didn’t and as a result the session rambled between speakers without any direction, which resulted in a huge amount of people leaving the session (including us). So, just remember we can always learn something from every situation. Hopefully they will use both their data and their instinct for their next speaking sessions!
Featured Session: 10 Non-Obvious Megatrends Shaping 2022 and Beyond with speaker Rohit Bhargava
Now from one extreme to another… this session was excellent and a great demonstration of how a great speaker can engage with the audience and take them on a journey of enlightenment.
The people who understand people always win.
We are sadly surrounded by bullshit… But don’t just join in, do something different, do something better. Just tell it straight, don’t try to weave a journey of non-truth. There is currently so much misinformation that now we don’t know what to trust. Pay attention to what matters. You can’t get smarter by trying to consume everything. What if you could see the things that others people miss? Be a non-obvious thinker. Read a wide range material, including content outside of your profile, take notes and then group similar things together. You will have a lot more and broader information set that will help you to see things differently.
I am not a speed reader, I am a speed understander – Isaac Asimov
10 Non-Obvious Megatrends
1. Amplified identity – we have (will have) multiple identities in different places.
Tip: Prepare for our identity divide
2. Ungendering – Removing gender from things that don’t need gender.
Tip: Remove longstanding gender bias
3.Instant knowledge – We can ‘learn’ anything from YouTube. But we need to appreciate mastery.
Tip: Help people get smarter faster.
4. Revivalism – Go back to the things that worked in the past and adapt for today.
Tip: Go retro to inspire trust.
5. Human mode – Be inclusive and things change for everyone.
Tip: “Made with empathy” as a strategy
6. Attention wealth – Everyone wants our attention.
Tip: Beware of spectacle used for engagement.
7. Purposeful profit – Everything must aim to make the world a better place.
Tip: Take a stand to show your values
8. Data abundance – 90% of all data was created in the last 2 years and this creates data pollution.
Tip: Ask better questions and seek more insight.
9. Protective tech – We expect tech to proactively make us safe.
Tip: Prioritise being useful
10. Flux commerce – Don’t always take yourself too seriously.
Tip: Disrupt the assumptions in your industry.
You can download the slides for this presentation
Recommended by LinkedIn
Next up, time to expand our creative horizons:
2022 Banksy Experience
Superheroes and Superstar Experience
Think like a (Nordic) Futurist with speakers Anssi Komulainen, Sven Stormer Thaulow, Anna Tillberg Pantzar and Amy Webb
The value of Nordic tech companies is estimated at $1bn. Within this, many are tech unicorns. Nordic companies export 97%of what they produce. The oil crash 10 years ago drove engineers into tech. 20 years ago, Nokia drove engineer ambitions but also taught modesty with the highs and lows of the Nokia ride.
The Nordics are highly educated, which results in relatively cheep engineers. These are not Silicon Valley salaries. Everyone from the bus driver to the CEO has high salaries, which are all open for everyone to see. The gap between engineers and CEO is narrow. The high tax (50%) economy provides a safety net, which means you can try and fail. Freedom and autonomy is important.
The Nordic governments have had digital services at the core for 20+ years, including taxes. Everyone has a national digital identity and these can be shared across all Nordic countries. The government knows everything, but this isn’t bad, it makes everything easy. Approximately 50% of government ministers in all Nordic counties are female.
Many stores now don’t take cash in the Nordics, as they become a true cashless society. Parental leave is 18 months and often shared between parents. High tax, but high services (education and healthcare) results in the Nordic countries have the highest level of happiness compared to anywhere else in the world.
Trust is a key part of daily life and business. When surveyed “Do you trust someone?” the UK polled at 30%, US 40% and Nordics 70%. The default is that you trust people. Trust and transparency are key in organisations and this enables employees to work together and run with ideas.
Data sovereignty and digital sovereignty are highly valued, and this enables companies (under strict contract and control) to share data. The idea is to create a fair data model and cultivate innovation.
Key takeaway
Act, learn, adapt – Test small, then scale. Remember, most of the stuff you experiment with will not work, but this is needed to find the good ideas and great innovation. You need to start with the question and then work with scenarios to see what is possible. Don’t forget, you can have KPIs for the future, for innovation.
Brandemonium: Daring Brands To Do Different & Win with speakers Jon Burkhart and Lizi Hamer
58% of branded content is not meaningful and doesn’t fill you with wonder. What is the purpose of the content, why has it been created and who is it for? It’s time to dare to be different and look at how to reperception your curiosity.
There is a dynamic difference between doing something and doing something meaningfully for your brand that will help you to stand out, energise your existing customers and attracts new ones in the process.
Key takeaways:
1. Surprise with smart storytelling
2. Personalise for powerful connection
3. Amplify to attract your ideal customer
4.Relate in relevant, timely ways
5. Kickstart a Kinetic content revolution
Creek and the Cave
Finally, time to relax as we head over to the Creek and the Cave for some stand-up comedy.