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SXSW 2015 - Technology and Great BBQ
By Angela Jones on 03/23/2015
Last week a few of us had the pleasure of attending SXSW. Before the breakfast tacos and Shiner Bock cravings completely subside, we wanted to share with you the major themes we saw coming out of this years conference.
1. The Human Touch: It was refreshing to see so many speakers and exhibitors reinforce the thought that to connect, to have meaning and have impact you have to strike at real human emotions. As this is such an interesting topic we explored it further, writing a blog post on this subject.
Maxus SXSW Round Up
By Maxus on 03/20/2015
Maxus sent a team of our top digital minds to SXSW to report back on key themes and trends across the festival. Here's a round-up of their observations.
SXSW: In Search of a Higher Purpose
By Nick Vale on 03/19/2015.jpg?1426785887)
Nick Vale, global head of planning at Maxus, reflects on the joys of getting uncomfortable at the annual SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, Texas.
To attempt to pull a singular topic or even a range of topics from the maelstrom of ideas that is SXSW is futile; capturing the current of ideas, their spirit and essence and packaging them up to bring home is invaluable.
My personal hope was that the festival would this year go beyond tech (and the repetitive repurposing of tech) in all its GoPro-enabled, drone-delivered 3D-printed glory, and deliver a call to arms to an industry that is all too often self-serving to stop showing off: to start thinking.
And I’ve been pleasantly fulfilled. While fully expecting a continued focused on the Internet of Things, everything this year has spoken to tunes of humanisation, higher purposes and ways to make humanity better as a whole.
A growing presence of artists and designers signifies an embracing of alternate and entwined perspectives. It’s a refreshing invitation for us to look at problems from a different angle – to pivot our thinking to find ‘the spaces in between’.
SXSW is about breaking in, not breaking out
By Angela Jones on 03/16/2015
(Angela Jones, Head of Communications Planning for West Coast, Maxus USA)
Every year I get asked for the big news and innovations coming out of SXSW. And every year, I respond with a big, fat contemptuous (and likely disappointing) ‘No!’ I really shouldn't be such a judgmental jerk.
Unless you’ve experienced SXSW, you could easily believe it is just another large trade show, littered with fancy product/brand launches and glossy innovation announcements. And unfortunately, this myth is perpetrated by a large portion of attendees who attempt to distil the essence of SXSW in sexy headlines, 30-second sound bites and instantly trending tweets.
In fact, this is the polar opposite of what SXSW is about. SXSW is not about what's breaking out - it is about ways of thinking, movements and point of views that are gaining traction, and breaking in. And for this reason it is exciting, inspiring and highly tangible.
This year there is one overwhelming thought that keeps bubbling up across many different categories, industries and in different contexts: the growing and genuine desire to appeal, connect, and harness humanity and human emotions.
The Finance Industry Needs Tech to Win Over Millennials
By Ellen Bernacki on 03/05/2015
How does something that many Millennials perceive as boring—the finance industry—entice new consumers? Seamless integration into one’s personal lives and a focus on technology are two emerging trends we see, as evidenced by TurboTax and the Future Banking Competition.
Turbo Tax’s new campaign has a more humanistic tone than your average financial advertising, as they show how tax questions apply to a real person’s life, featuring scenes from an eventful Mardi Gras trip. Turbo Tax is even sponsoring stories on Snapchat reminding users that the tax service is free and easy to use—a valuable message in an engaging social platform that draws in Millennials. This is the perfect place for Turbo Tax to connect with consumers who will likely develop brand allegiance for a particular means of filing their taxes at this point in their lives. For TurboTax, it seems as if the blend between advertising that tells a story and ads that are digitally targeted to this age group will draw Millennials in.
Client Execution: Spice Islands
By Sarah Janousek on 03/03/2015
The holiday season is for delicious, home-cooked meals with friends and family, and our client, Spice Islands, was proud to share its artisanal expertise for the 2014 holidays. To help showcase the craftsmanship of the brand, Spice Islands partnered with Tasting Table to create a custom digital program. Together, Spice Islands and Tasting Table unveiled “A World of Difference” hub, which included six themed menus for all different types of holiday parties.
Snapchat Succeeding with Brands
By Britt Waddell on 02/24/2015
No longer just a social media platform with a risqué reputation, Snapchat has emerged as a rapidly growing advertising platform. According to comScore data cited in Digiday, Snapchat’s audience grew by 9 million users from 2013 to 2014. While this number hardly compares to Facebook or Twitter, the growth it enough for brands to pay attention.
Our client, Universal Pictures, was the first advertiser to utilize Snapchat with trailers for Ouija and Dumber and Dumber To. These ads appeared alongside My Story updates from users’ friends, but were labeled “sponsored.” Universal’s success with this early venture reveals two things: 1) that Snapchat is an effective means of advertising to young audiences and 2) even when this audience has the option to opt out of viewing an ad on the platform, a significant number (“millions,” according Universal execs) will choose to engage. McDonald’s recently entered the Snapchat advertising scene with the same type of campaign.
[photo credit: Wired]
5 Trends for the Future of Automotive
By Metalworks on 02/12/2015
The recent Consumer Electronic Show (CES) at Las Vegas, Nevada saw several automakers reimagine the future of personal transportation. From driverless cars to gesturebased interfaces to new business models that would not have been possible a decade ago.
The expectations of consumers are evolving.
The report by Metalworks, the global R&D division and creative technology unit of Maxus, a media agency, is the culmination of research and learnings from CES 2015 and constant trend monitoring.
Blurred Brands
By Jennifer Server on 02/11/2015
No, it’s not Robin Thicke’s follow-up to ‘Blurred Lines’.
A wild contraption was recently revealed that blocks brand logos from one’s vision through a unique pair of glasses. Affectionately named “Brand Killer”, this invention from University of Pennsylvania students uses image processing technology to recognize and blur out brand logos from a person’s line of sight.
2014 Gaming Year in Review
By Bryan Mills & Dennis Yu on 02/05/2015
2014, across the board, was a year of large strides for the gaming industry. Mobile and casual gaming became more than just “Angry Birds”; “The Console Wars” picked up steam; Gaming tech hit the main stream; and gaming events achieved record breaking attendance numbers. The Maxus Gaming Mavens have pulled together highlights of the year and how gaming trends can help connect your brands with their target market.
Click to download the PDF with more details.
