SxSW, the annual music, film and interactive conference took place in Austin, Texas, US, from 13 to 17, March 2015. Here are ten trends for brands and consumers that we spotted. For further information please contact me or head to the Ketchum SxSW hub ketchum.com/sxsw.

1. 1 | 20.03.2015
Ketchum SxSW 2015 Trend Report
March 2015
Ketchum
SxSW 2015
Report
10 trends for
brands

2. 2 | 20.03.2015
SxSW, the annual music, film
and interactive conference
took place in Austin, Texas, US,
from 13 to 17, March 2015.
Here are ten trends for brands
and consumers that we
spotted.
For further information please
contact me or head to the
Ketchum SxSW hub
ketchum.com/sxsw.
Trends from SxSW
Here’s what we spotted

3. 3 | 20.03.2015
Content can’t and shouldn’t
ever be perfect. Instead, brands
should view it as a work in
progress, ever-evolving, and
iterative. It should evolve as the
audience interacts and
comments. It should be human
and authentic.
Christine Dobbin, digital
strategist
#1 Beta
Work in progress

4. 4 | 20.03.2015
If you bombard your publics
with sales messages and ads,
they’ll turn away. It’s an obvious
point but one that is frequently
forgotten. Successful
campaigns connect with their
audience through content that
appeals to us emotionally. It’s
effectively art.
Abby Guthkelch, head of
digital, London
#2 Creativity
Blanded content

5. 5 | 20.03.2015
Live video streaming, a
relatively new genre of social
media, is hot. At the moment it’s
the apps such as Meerkat that
are getting the attention but
that will be short lived as people
find creative ways to put
them to use for demos, first
person video and live events.
Stephen Waddington, chief
engagement officer
#3 Hot apps
Streaming is sizzling

6. 6 | 20.03.2015
Publishers are equipping staff
to be their own producers,
story writers and video
editors. Your iPhone is your
mobile newsroom enabling
content to be created and
iterated quickly, responding
to conversation on the social
web.
Andrew Jennings, associate
director
#4 Newsroom workflow
Apps for the job

7. 7 | 20.03.2015
Publishers and platforms are
using dwell time as
measurement tool. Buzzfeed
and Super.Me both cited it as
an engagement metric.
Facebook and YouTube’s
algorithms both reward
content that people watch.
Brands take note.
Abby Guthkelch, head of
digital, London
#5 Metrics
Time as a content metric

8. 8 | 20.03.2015
Hiring and keeping the brightest
people is a challenge that
trickles down from top
employers. The solution lies in
continuous learning, but yet
only four per cent of
professional people are skilling-
up for digital. Training is a huge
opportunity. There’s almost
certainly a skills shortage ahead.
Brad Simon, online
communications
#6 Learning
Train talent to tackle digital

9. 9 | 20.03.2015
As technology becomes
ubiquitous original human
voices and content cut through.
Automation has application in
modern marketing and public
relations workflow but it is the
enemy of social engagement.
Brands are competing in social
feeds, not with each other, but
friends and family.
Brad Simon, online
communications
#7 Human
Robots move over

10. 10 | 20.03.2015
Much of digital is transitory.
Publishers that make their
content available openly
help ensure its longevity. A
community and third-party
market helps develop and
preserves the original
intellectual property.
Ben Foster, digital strategist
#8 Digital archives
Open drives conservation

11. 11 | 20.03.2015
Brands need to stay on top of
algorithm changes if they
want to keep ahead of social
news feeds. Overhaul your
content strategy as
algorithms change. Schedule
reviews to evaluate your
community, and content
management.
Ally Mann, digital strategist
#9 Algorithms
Change is the only constant

12. 12 | 20.03.2015
Brands inflate the importance
of personality over content
and context. Organisational
change is hard; really hard.
Action needs to be
straightforward. Think hard
about messaging and your
call to action.
Jayshri Patel, account
executive
#10 Organisational change
Easy does it

13. 13 | 20.03.2015
Words &
pictures
by
With thanks to the Ketchum crew
Abby Guthkelch, Christine Dobbin, Ben Foster,
Andrew Jennings, Brad Simon, Ally Mann,
Jayshri Patel, Stephen Waddington, and Tim
Weinberger
For further information about any of these
trends please contact me or head to
ketchum.com/sxsw.

14. 14 | 20.03.2015
Stephen Waddington
Chief Engagement Officer
Ketchum
Mobile-No. +44 (0) 7771 851407
stephen.waddington@ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
@wadds
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