Chad Sour

Reminiscing About SXSW: Technology and Trends

Mar
24

Written by: Chad Sour

Of course, one of the biggest questions coming out of SXSWi is, “What’s the new hot technology?” While nothing really emerged this year as the new Twitter or Foursquare, I was able to make a few interesting observations:

The Group: In one of my previous SXSW posts, I talked about the power of The Group and tools that empower all things group-oriented. While it’s tough to say that any of the group messaging applications (Beluga, GroupMe, etc.) really broke out at SXSWi this year, they were certainly being used, and I expect that as they fine-tune their services, we will see more from these applications.

Foursquare: Interestingly, Foursquare cited some intrigue with GroupMe, so we may see a partnership between those two before too long. Moreover, Foursquare has had a bitter history with Google. Several years ago, Google bought (and subsequently killed) Foursquare’s predecessor, Dodgeball. There has been some speculation in the industry that after being burned once by Google, Foursquare founders would be hesitant to sell to them again. But Foursquare didn’t rule it out, and actually cited that there may be some partnership opportunities with Google coming along shortly.

QR Codes: For those of you unaware, these are barcodes that consumers can scan with phone to be redirected to a website or application. These have been around for a few years, but not popularly adopted, I think QR codes are poised for widespread adoption. QR codes were posted everywhere around SXSW – on flyers, cards, t-shirts, cupcakes (yes…cupcakes). Like anything, there is a time and place for this, but as phones continue to get faster and the apps needed to scan these codes become standard features out-of-the-box, I think we’ll start seeing an uptick on the horizon.

Gamification: Yes, I might have just made up a word here at the Thinkstand, but it’s a concept that you’ve probably already experienced, though you may not have known it. This was a principle discussed over and over at SXSWi and was kicked off by SCVNGR’s Seth Priebatsch. At its very core, gamification is all about prompting consumer action (buying a product, engaging on social media, etc.) through game dynamics. In essence, debunk what you think you know about traditional marketing and instead apply the fundamentals of game play. Provide incentives for consumer action. Give them a value for playing your game. Make it fun (and easy) for them to participate. So, for example, we’ve seen Groupon apply these fundamentals quite nicely. Each morning when you receive your Groupon offer, it’s a bit of a game of chance to make sure the deal is “on” by recruiting enough folks that want to purchase it (a minimum number of people must opt-in to the deal for anyone to get it). Moreover, you have the ominous deal countdown clock, which is a lot like, well….queue that all-too-familiar Jeopardy music. By applying these fundamentals to its core marketing structure, Groupon has seen a ton of success, but this is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Gamification, which is probably a whole other post.

So, as you can see, while there may not have been a monumental launch at this year’s SXSWi, there were a lot of great concepts and ideas that we will no doubt see mature in 2011, and that the Jackson Spalding team will be able to apply to its client’s campaigns.

Tomorrow, we’ll cap this five-part series off with a few final thoughts as well as some Dos and Don’ts for next year’s conference.

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Reminiscing About SXSW: The Brands

Mar
23

Written by: Chad Sour

What do you get when you combine 14,000 people, their smartphones and their tens of millions followers on social media? Well, if you’re a brand manager, it’s the perfect opportunity to make a splash and create some viral buzz.

The past few years, clients mentioned to me that they wanted to launch or promote products at SXSWi, so one thing I really focused on while in Austin was how different brands leveraged the event to build brand equity and awareness.

This was no easy task. The fact of the matter is that there are so many brands trying to make an impact that they collaboratively run the risk of just netting out as a bunch of noise. There were, however, a few brands that were able to break through the clutter, and they did so because they found a way to be more than just a gimmick – they found a way to be relevant.

Golden Ticket

I won a Golden Ticket!!! Big Boi, here I come!

A few examples:

Pepsi /Foursquare – Pepsi’s first smart move was to team up with Foursquare. This proved to be its tie to the social media community.

With that, the two took over an entire parking lot and turned it into party central with free food, Pepsi products and prizes, all with an old-school twist: you could compete in an actual four-square tournament, playground style.

All of this culminated in a concert by Atlanta’s very own Big Boi.

Gaining entry into the concert, required Foursquare check-ins across downtown to uncover a Golden Ticket. And guess who got one?

One of Chevy's 30 Catch A Ride cars

Chevy – Two things that SXSWi attendees really needed?

A ride to the next session (sometimes two miles away) and electricity (to power dead gadgets).

Chevy covered both essentials. Its Catch a Ride program spread 30 Chevys across downtown to give attendees a firsthand brand experience while giving their feet a break.

Chevy’s branded power strips helped attendees “recharge” between sessions.

And while Chevy did an excellent job providing value to attendees, something more than a magnetic sign on the door of the Catch a Ride cars would have made them more visible from afar and provided even more exposure to the brand.

Squarespace Menu

The Squarespace Truck's always changing, always interesting menu - zoom in...it's worth it!

SquareSpace – This website publishing service tapped a hot trend for one of the most effective promotions at SXSWi: Food Trucks.

This is exactly what it sounds like. SquareSpace sponsored trucks that pulled up and dished out some delectable street grub with an edgy, gourmet spin.  Each day SquareSpace sponsored a branded food truck that featured the cuisine of a different Austin food.

A photo of the line for the SquareSpace Food Truck. In this photo, the line is relatively short

The food was free with an ever-changing menu that resulted in folks standing in line for up to 45 minutes to take part.

That’s right – the company had some consumers spend almost an hour with their brand.

Talk about impressions.

Again, these are just a tiny fraction of the brands that tried to make an impression at SXSWi. There were hundreds of brands vying for your attention. Some were well-known brands that wanted to leap into the social media space. Others were using SXSWi to launch their product or service. Some of these brands were winners, others not so much.

Tomorrow, we’ll discuss the winners as well as other technology and trends that emerged from SXSWi. Stay tuned…

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Reminiscing About SXSW: The People

Mar
22

Written by: Chad Sour

With an estimated 14,000 in attendance, the people who took part in SXSWi are really what made the conference shine.

There were web designers, entrepreneurs, graphic designers, people in advertising, public relations, technology, and the list goes on. What was really cool, though, is that there was an international attendance. I met folks from Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Australia and Germany. One day, in fact, I was standing in a line chatting with a digital designer from Toronto. In just the 20 minutes we were waiting in line, we were able hatch some amazing ideas based on panels we had seen earlier in the day.

One of the things I loved the most about SXSWi is that it didn’t matter if you’re roaming the conference hall, sitting in a panel or getting a quick bite to eat at a restaurant – chances are you’ll run into some huge names. These could be wildly successful entrepreneurs or highly influential social media thought leaders and despite their success and stature in the industry, they were always happy to have an impromptu chat.

The highlight for me was a conversation with Pete Cashmore, founder of Mashable, the leading social media blog. I ran into Pete as we were crossing the street just minutes after he interviewed Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley for a crowd of more than a thousand. All of a sudden, I had the chance to rehash the interview and get a little off-the-record commentary. That was the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the massive list of thought leaders our team interacted with or whose presentations we attended.  We met managers of social media for blue chip brands, experts on online influence, social media metrics junkies, and the list goes on.

So, what did I learn from meeting all of these people? Next year, I’m bringing more than just “a lot” of business cards – I’m taking a whole dang box!

You’ve got to imagine, with so many people at SXSWi, it’s become quite an attractive opportunity for brands to build awareness, and they stop at nothing to make sure conference attendees remember the brand. Tomorrow, we’ll take a closer look at three brands that really blew it out of the water this year.

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Reminiscing About SXSW: A Texas-Sized Event

Mar
21

Written by: Chad Sour

It’s been a few days since I got back from SXSWi. Since then, I’ve caught up on e-mail, returned all my calls and gotten a little bit of rest. Finally, I’ve arrived at a point where I can reflect on my time in Austin. On the flight home, I was wracking my brain for a way to describe what I had experienced in Austin for the last five days, and the only word that came to mind was – WOW!

To break down my drinking-from-a-firehose experience, we’re going to kick off a five day series here on Thinkstand where I’ll address the Texas-like size of the event, the people, the brands and finally the technology that all played a vital role in molding my first SXSWi experience.

First thing first, let me set the scene. The very, very large scene.

SXSWi is beyond huge. There were nearly 14,000 attendees, listening to speakers and participating in events on 10 campuses – some miles apart from each other. With this scale there were a ton of simultaneous activities, so if you’re doing one thing, you’re missing another. From the moment I arrived at badge pick up, the sheer size of the event had an almost disorienting affect on me – and this is coming from a guy that lived in Austin for five years! There is a constant “GO!” mentality, and it’s tough to get your bearings off the bat.  The days were long — I logged 20 hours each day — and arduous, but endlessly rewarding.

Generally speaking, we were all hoofing it across the multiple locations, so you can imagine what an advantage it was to have two other colleagues there. This gave Jackson Spalding the opportunity to cover more ground and take in more of the conference. We were able to share notes, ping each other during sessions, and grabbed a happy hour or two to discuss (and sometimes debate) what we learned.

The size of the conference lent itself well to the amount of people there. I’m told more people attended SXSWi than ever before. In a lot of ways, it’s the people that make the conference what it is, which is going to be the focus of tomorrow’s post. Come back to find out who I met while at the conference.

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SXSW – Day One

Mar
11

Written by: Chad Sour

I have to admit, I’m pretty pumped up for my first session today. It’s actually a writing workshop all about “saying it short.” At JS, we work with a lot of clients on telling their stories via digital content. In some cases, it’s content for their website or an HTML e-mail, other times it’s helping them with content for their social media channels like Facebook or Twitter. In each case, words count. The fewer, more meaningful words we can use, the more impact it will have on the marketplace. So this should prove to be a highly valuable workshop.  The workshop is run by Helen Klein Ross, who turned heads a few years ago when she began tweeting as @BettyDraper – the character from AMC’s runaway hit Mad Men. On Twitter, Betty is always in character and she’s able to weave a story for her followers that is captivating and keeps them hanging on until the next episode. In fact, Helen’s portrayal of Betty is so dead-on that even AMC has embraced her efforts.

The other big conversation here at SXSWi is all about hot new tools and apps. I mentioned in my last post that services like Twitter and Foursquare have taken flight here at SXSW in the past – so what’s on tap this year?

Thus far, I’m seeing a lot trends leaning toward the power of the group. Specifically, ways to meet up with your group, stay in touch with your group, etc. For the last couple years, we’ve seen the rise of the group through services like Groupon and ScoutMob, so it seems like a natural progression. One of my favorite new tools this year is Beluga. This is a group texting application – think of it as a chat room for your phone. So, instead of Bryan, Stefany and me texting each other to get whereabouts, thoughts, opinions, etc., we’re all tapped into this common space so we can keep in touch. One of my favorite features of Beluga is its mapping feature. You can actually pull up a map that tells the location of everyone in your group. The photo I’ve included here shows the map from my Dallas Social Media Club group. As you can see, some of us are still in Dallas, some in Austin and others are en route. This will be a great asset as we spread across downtown Austin at the various panels and networking events. As I’ve told folks about this feature, I’ve received a common response – What if I don’t want people to know where I am? While you can always turn this feature off, keep in mind that we’re only joining groups where we actually know the people, and they will be the only ones with access to the location data. Another interesting fact about Beluga is that they acquired by Facebook a week or so ago, so I bet you can start looking for the features to be coming to your Facebook mobile application over the next few months.

That’s all for now, folks, stay tuned for more from SXSWi…..

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JS is Headed South (by Southwest)

Mar
11

Written by: Chad Sour

Last night, as my plane came in for a landing, I looked out to my right and could see the beautiful sunset over the Texas Hill Country. After just a few minutes, I headed up Congress Ave. toward the Texas State Capitol. All of a sudden, I was taken back in time – back to my college days at The University of Texas. That’s right folks, I’m in Austin. While it’s easy to think that I’m here to relive my college glory days, instead, I’m channeling my inner-geek and doing something I’ve wanted to do for the past five years.

Later today, I’ll head down to the Austin Convention Center and grab my credentials for the South by Southwest Interactive Conference (SXSWi) – and I couldn’t be more excited. You’re probably asking yourself, “What the heck is SXSWi?”

For that, let’s back up a bit. SXSW is really several conferences in one. It launched as a music conference/festival back in 1987 and it quickly became THE conference to attend. But it’s since spawned sub-conferences, one of which is all about interactive and social media (SXSWi).

SXSWi has arguably become one of the top interactive/social media conferences in the world. Spanning five days, it attracts the industry’s brightest minds and biggest ideas. More importantly, though, this is where big things in the industry happen. I bet you’ve heard of Twitter. Well, back in 2007, it was SXSWi that made the microblogging platform take flight. Checked in on Foursquare recently? Back in 2009, lots of folks were checking in around Austin, the day it launched at SXSWi.

This conference is too big to do alone, so over the next few days, I’ll be joined by fellow JSers Bryan Jordin and Stefany Sanders. We’re going to divide and conquer this conference to see what sort of cool ideas and tools we can bring back to JS that’ll help move the needle for our clients.

We’ll (literally) have thousands of panels/presentations to choose from and hours upon hours of networking and idea sharing. Nevertheless, we want to keep all you ThinkStanders posted over the next few days on the hottest trends and tools on the horizon, so stay tuned! We’ll post here throughout the conference to provide insight as we go along.

Now, before I get too wrapped up with the conference, I hear The Salt Lick calling my name…..

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More Than Just a Pretty Face(book)

Feb
1

Written by: Chad Sour

There I sat Friday morning, sipping my coffee, enjoying a sesame seed bagel and catching up on articles in my RSS feed.  As I scrolled through the 200+ headlines, one in particular caught my eye – it was from Chris Brogan’s blog and it was entitled “Compelling Facebook Fan Pages.” A couple of us here at JS noticed a few days prior that he asked his Twitter followers for suggestions of compelling pages, so we were dying to see what fan pages this social media guru chose as his “best in class” examples.

To be clear, Chris is a behemoth in the social media world. Thousands of people read his blog and subscribe to his teachings, so you can imagine our shock when the second Facebook fan page he listed was one JS built just months ago for Equifax’s Debt Wise product.

E-mails started flying furiously here at JS – we were ecstatic, and frankly humbled, that he selected the Debt Wise page as one of his most compelling. We wanted to bottle this magic, so attention quickly shifted to why Chris chose Debt Wise. While he didn’t go into too much detail, we can speculate on a few deliberate characteristics of the page that we were passionate about as we built it:

  • DESIGN – As we launched the design phase for the Debt Wise page, there were a few absolutes. The page had to be clean, uncluttered, easy to navigate and most importantly, it had to look like a Facebook fan page. This meant we could toss in some nice graphics and make it look good, but we couldn’t overdo it. To achieve this, we designed a “landing tab” that provided our visitors with a one-stop shop. From here, they could easily access all of the page’s content, and even navigate to relevant, non-Facebook sites. We also created an easy-to-navigate “Resources” tab and avoided over “skinning” the page.
  • COMMUNITY - The next challenge the JS team had to conquer was building a true sense of community on the page. How could we get folks talking? After a few brainstorms, we sent the JS Creative team off to accomplish a feat we hadn’t seen any other Facebook page do – and boy, did they come through in spades. They were able to create an in-tab live chat experience where our community could ask product spokesmen and personal finance expert David Bach their financial questions in real-time! To date, each live chat averages several hundred participants, and we’re able to draw them all to the Debt Wise fan page for roughly an hour of their day – talk about captivating an audience! What’s more, this interaction has spilled over onto our wall, where folks are starting to ask Debt Wise for debt-busting tips, which opens the door for true engagement.
  • CONTENT and ENGAGEMENT – Now that we’d built the site and had deployed a few clever tactics to get folks to the page, how would we keep them coming back for more? One word – content. In the social media space, content is king. Our challenge was (and still is) to continually provide our audience with content that’s helpful and relevant. In the case of Debt Wise, it’s helping people on their journey out of debt. That could range from savings tips to research studies on spending habits. But we couldn’t stop there. It’s not enough to just post great content; you have to engage your audience and create a dialogue. That means responding to visitors’ posts in a timely manner and asking questions of your audience that elicit a response.

Even today, as I walk around the office, the folks who played a part in building this page are grinning from ear to ear – such notable recognition for their hard work means a lot, but we all know the truth. Our work on the Debt Wise fan page isn’t done – it will likely never be done. Each day we’ll continue to fine-tune the design, cultivate the community and publish great content that engages Debt Wise’s audience.

What about you?  What do you think makes a good Facebook fan page?

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Extra, Extra, Read All About It (Online)

Sep
22

Written by: Chad Sour

Earlier this month, the Associated Press released a set of guidelines for providing credit and attribution to sources that originate news. While this sounds benign and like it’s nothing new, there was some interesting language in the fine print. More precisely, under these guidelines, AP will begin crediting bloggers as sources.

While this is a huge step for online journalism, it ushers in conversations on issues like breaking news, ethics and credibility, to say nothing of delivering yet another blow to already battered newsrooms everywhere.

Extra Extra

Photo Credit: http://www.biojobblog.com/news.gif

It reminds me of a conversation (or shall I say “debate”) my family had about a year ago. We were at my Great Aunt’s 1950’s-era duplex in Shreveport, La. As you gaze around the room you’d be hard-pressed to find empty space – every inch is covered with books, magazines and newspapers. Chances are if you were to open any one of these books or newspapers, you would find the remnants of my Aunt’s red pen – calling out some glaring grammatical error made by the author. See, my Aunt has spent her career in academia and is now a retired professor of English and Literature.

At any rate, my family was sitting around her dining room table – always a venue for lively debate on politics and current events – and we stumbled upon the topic of bloggers. My Aunt was in utter disbelief that so many people were getting their “news” from bloggers. She argued that bloggers were a rogue bunch of amateurs with little to no credibility and that anyone could post anything, and we’d never know fact from fiction.

Being the lone Millennial at the table, I had to speak up. I argued the “anyone/anything” theory actually enhanced journalism because it delivers an Egalitarian approach to reporting the news. The barrier of entry is so low, we’re able to not only get niche reporting, but we’re also able to get it on a hyperlocal level.

Then, I shifted focus to her credibility argument, and rebutted with a question: “What makes a print or TV news outlet ‘credible’?” The consensus around the room was something along the lines of “a consistent track record of accurate reporting.”

I pleaded that we needed to give this concept of bloggers reporting the news some time. After all, who knew, for example, that the Wall Street Journal would be “credible” when it launched back in 1889? The advantage we have now, however, is that online communities are pretty darn good at regulating themselves. If there is a whiff of false or unethical news reporting – that “source” is discredited almost immediately and word of this travels online, virally. And while I’ll never be sure who won the debate that day, the conversation certainly raised some great questions.

What about you? Are you cool with bloggers reporting the news? What implications do you think it has on how we receive our news? Comments are open…

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