Music, creatives and techies all collide for SXSW. Fashion and brands are part of the experience, too. That's a ton of rich content in one tiny space. From a brand marketing perspective, user-generated content will grow and brands must be ready.

1. The Audience is the Author
A look at how social + digital media marketing is evolving
in the new era of consumer generated content (CGC)
SXSW 2013
Jennifer Tofanelli, Director of Digital + Social, Sears

2. Agenda & Implications
• Overview of event
• The 3 things that matter
– Hardware AND software
– Social cause marketing
– User-generated content (author is the audience)
• Specific trends in social + digital marketing
• Examples of what retail + fashion brands did

3. Overview
SXSW celebrated it’s 27th anniversary this past March as it welcomed
more than 60,000 registered conference attendees. The conference
takes place in downtown Austin, TX and is broken into three distinct
sections; film, interactive & music. In the past, SXSWi has been a
place for start-ups to launch the next new social product. Twitter and
FourSquare were both born at SXSW. This past year brought attention
to three main areas of inspiration:
• The convergence of hardware and software development
• Consumer generated content
• Social cause marketing

4. Fashion + Shopping Retailers at SXSW 2013

5. SXSWi
South by Southwest is presented in three separate sections; film, interactive and music. The
interactive segment is the most popular; growing from just over 9,000 paying attendees in
2008 to over 30,000 in 2013.
Content & keynotes : the author is the audience
Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, gave one of the more popular keynote speeches, on space exploration,
entrepreneurship and the evolving art of connecting with the consumer. Jane Pratt, Matthew Oatmeal,
Al Gore and Tim Burners-Lee also headlined with keynote speeches that covered topics like print-to-
digital + social evolution, using social to drive global change, pitching his new book and ramblings of a
digital genius, respectively. All keynotes managed to address the topic of user-generated content.
Traditionally reserved for start-ups, developers and indie designers, conference sessions focused more
on examining the underlying traits of the digital age as well as integrated brand approaches to
marketing in the digital arena. Brands played a big part in the promotion of content, talks and
interactive sessions. The interactive portion saw an increase in support from corporate sponsors that
included Chevy, 3M, Target, Samsung, Ford, Fast Company, 3M, American Airlines, Adobe Systems, and
AT&T.
Fashion + Tech converged with branded experiences and conference sessions that included digital
marketing from Target, Neiman Marcus, Modcloth, Pose, PoshMark, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Walmart,
Bergdorf Goodman, Free People, Poshmark, Lyst, Kaboodle, Gap, Refinery 29, Kate Spade, Whole Foods
and StyleCaster and more.

6. SXSWi : Trends 2013 : Focus on the User
It’s no longer what brand want consumers to digest. It’s now how users prefer to consume
and what type of content they consume. The focus for growth is on the mobile user, with
user-generated content as the catalyst for moving brands forward and developing
technologies that support that growth.
Focus on the user was most evident in 6 specific areas:
• Mobile payment apps
• Group chat apps
• Video & music apps & software
• Recharging stations & hardware
• Loyalty programs
• Cloud computing
Converging hardware and software development to support consumer-generated content
means making sure people are armed with the right brand story to tell. It also means they
are armed with the right software and hardware to tell that story in the most dynamic,
relevant, innovative way. Otherwise, it’s a risk to the brand and it’s a risk to the author.

7. SXSWi : Trends 2013 : Focus on the User
Mobile payment apps :: From Square to Paypal to Level Up to Google Wallet,
mobile payment apps were the talk of the town. Seth Priebatsch launched
SCVNGR back in 2010 and returned to the keynote stage at SXSWi to talk
about his latest venture, Level Up, a mobile payment game-changer.
Group chat apps :: The other side to making mobile more trustable is
making mobile more enjoyable. Group app chats allow for both as
consumers use private groups to control their communications and at the
same time, start building a more immediate, more trustful relationship with
the behavior AND the device. Group.me was a clear winner at SXSWi.
Video & music apps :: amping up what Instagram & Pinterest have
perfected, image filtering and video manipulation apps were a plenty. Add
in the ability to instantly edit with apps like Camera Plus and Clinch, and it
is easy to think that this trend will continue as technology to support UX
needs develops at the same time.
Recharging stations & hardware :: Mophie partnered with American
Apparel to sponsor the Brooklyn Vegans free music. Other branded mobile
charging vendors were everywhere, like the AT&T station to the right.

8. SXSWi : Trends 2013
Awards programs :: loyalty-based big data repository business models are everywhere.
Because loyalty programs can be social intention-based (tweeting or sharing in Facebook)
or consumer data driven (tied to credit card info & online behavior) loyalty programs are
getting more localized, actionable and social in nature. Example companies like PeerIndex,
glocal, Lyst social shopping and speeker.com invite users to discover, share and shop within
an awards-based digital experience.
Social engagement dashboards & cloud computing :: in comparing a system of crowd-
sourcing data to a single social media dashboard, retailers are shifting resources away from
PR outreach teams and into social media/moderation teams, so they can use social
conversations to engage in authentic ways. Crowdsourcing data and social dialogue allows
brands to determine what content is most meaningful to increase conversion and exceed
online customer service expectations. Winners in this category included Amazon Web
Services, Mass Relevance, Meltwater, Resource, Bloomfire and a few more.

9. The Future of Retail is Mobile
Walmart, ShopKick, the Branding Brand and Urban Airship took to the stage for a panel
discussion on how the future of retail is mobile. The two areas of challenge for all retailers
is 1. evolving the in-store experience to support the capabilities of mobile and 2. getting
stakeholders to support the time and resources needed to make it a smooth & enjoyable
shopping experience.
Using mobile to drive consumer into the store is the wrong tactic, experts agree, because
mobile programming is happening at a time when consumers are already forming their
mobile shopping preferences.
Steve Yankovich, Innovator from eBay told a similar story in a session titled, “Why
shopping will never be the same.” Dan Shust of ResourceLAB discussed his work
developing innovative purchasing paths from store to online to social and beyond for
Victoria’s Secret and Kohl’s while Barry Bourbon of Gensler Group did the same for Gap.

10. An Deadly Interview with Nina Garcia & Randi Zuckerberg
Nina Garcia, creative director for Marie Claire magazine, star of Project Runway, style
ambassador for JCPenney and leading fashion expert joined Randi Zuckerberg of Zuckerberg
Media and formerly of Facebook, in a conference session titled, “Style Goes Viral: the Future
of Fashion” at SXSWi. #viralstyle
Three things the panelist agreed on:
1.) social mobile is critical to purchasing decisions more than ever before
2.) consumers and brands alike need to own their content but also keep it real
3.) images are everything. Nina said, “If you are in fashion and you are not on Pinterest, you are dead.”
Fast fashion (like Zara & H+M) are places where
Nina sees a lot of future growth, as well as brands
who use social to have honest and helpful
conversations instead of celebrity-heavy paid
endorsements. Nina said that editors need to lead the
fashion discussion while Randi argued that bloggers
had the capabilities to create more influential user-
generated content from an integrated marketing
perspective. PR media impressions were dead, said
Randi. UGC is king, she said.

11. ModCloth Plays Modest Role in Shaping UGC for
the Online Fashion Industry
ModCloth.com, an online boutique specializing in vintage-inspired apparel and decor,
was introduced in 2002 and continues to grow into a unique social shopping
experience, built around community engagement and no brick and mortar storefront.
ModCloth has two strong digital merchandising campaigns that capitalize on user-
generated content; the Be the Buyer program and the Make the Cut Contest. Their social
media team manages these regular programs to encourage engagement, content curation
and social sharing vetted by crowdsourcing.
CMO/COO Kerry Cooper hosted a session on the challenges and opportunities for
brands ready to take on “community collaboration,” in their marketing and
merchandising. Modcloth also presented their strategy for infusing crowdsourcing as a
way to reach the best influencers and keep the most engaged customers. Don’t try to be
all things to all people, you will fail, she seemed to imply.

12. Leading Fashion Sites’ Discuss Social Strategy
DKNY, Bergdorf Goodman and Lucky Magazine hosted an intimate panel discussion on
listening and leveraging your best social media strategies to create authentic
relationships in Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Vine, Pinterest, Instagram and
Tumblr. #sxswi #llFashion
Top take-aways:
• Commit to a brand voice & tone to build a social persona
• Limit traditional marketing & overly promotional messages if brand wants to create
a social persona
• Do not use same messages across channels; recognize that each channel has
opportunity to engage with a new audience
• Listen to your audience to continually reinvent content strategy
• Focus less on conversion in social, more on reputation mgmt & customer acquisition
• End goal should be to add value; delight if you can
Aliza
Licht
Cannon
Hodge
John
Jannuzzi

13. A Panelist with Leading Fashion Sites Discussed the
Role of Female Influencers in Content Curation
Fashion editors from popular trend sites HelloGiggles, HuffPo Fashion, XOJane
and Jezabel gathered together for an interactive panel on leading content
strategies for online fashion sites.
Top take-aways:
• User-generated content helps shape editorial content
• Best content is real stories from real fans
• Best content invites engagement across channels
• Users are more engaged on Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Vine than
Facebook, eCommerce site and print magazines

14. Gap & American Apparel were the official apparel
sponsors of SXSW 2013
• SXSW branded American Apparel t-shirts
and other Gap gear was available for sale at
multiple locations
• SXSW attendees also received exclusive
30% off coupons from both brands
• Gap also partnered with TUMBLR to host
the TUMBLR house.
• Gap created a Fashion Style Pinterest board
to help people pack for the trip, gaining
more than 20k fans before the festival
• Gap launched their TUMBLR site, “BE
BRIGHT” in time for SXSW 2013.

15. Target, Starbucks, Evite @ the Fast Company Grill won
best-in-show for branded experience & UGC-curation
• The Fast Company grill was a sanctuary in the
middle of all the conference chaos.
http://youtu.be/AtMG3S-qFP0
• Strategically located, this invite-only restaurant
take-over of a favorite local bar & grill was open
for media, artists, VIPs, tastemakers.
• Breakfast, lunch, snacks, drinks, arcade games and
daily prizes were offered every day of SXSWi.
• #powerthemorning was Starbucks hashtag, plus
both Target & Evite gave away daily prizes for
Tweet and real-time social engagement.
• Fast Company Grill presented by Lincoln 3M’s
“innovation conversation” invited users to take a
photo and post it to a virtual augmented reality
wall. #fastcompanygrill
• Hashtags were printed on coasters, freebies,
contests and hourly giveaways to encourage
collection of UGC.

16. Neiman Marcus CUSP hosted a beauty bar, blogger
apparel shop, VIP party & 2 panel sessions
• Neiman Marcus CUSP partnered with StyleCaster to
present two different branded experiences; a pop-up
shop spa afternoon and a closing night engagement
featuring “Austin’s 25 Most Stylish.”
• Spa included mini-mani’s, blow-outs and a charging
station.
• CUSP pop-up shop featured fashion blogger Man
Repeller apparel pieces for sale.
• Media, marketers and bloggers were invited to Austin’s
25 Most Stylish event; encouraging original UGC.
• Neiman Marcus also hosted two panel sessions: Style to
the People and Photo Image Sharing for Fashion Brands.

17. American Airlines used Vine to cater to the need of
technology & wants of UX; optimizing UGC
• @AmericanAir launched
#newAmerican at SXSW with a Vine
contest.
• TwitPic was also incorporated into
the contest as a way to encourage
UGC & social sharing.
• Consumers were encouraged to
create 6-second videos for a chance
to win a free flight on the newest
Boeing 777.
• AA also hosted a recharge lounge;
with massage chairs, health juice,
refreshments & iPhone charging
stations.

18. How Macy’s Made a Presence at SXSW
• Macy’s partnered with Vans Warped
Tour to host a free concert in a local
Macy’s store.
• Twitter, Instagram were used to gather
UGC.
• Weeks before the event, consumers were
invited to visit Macy’s online in order to
enter for a chance to win free tix &
travel to SXSW 2013. Macy’s promoted
the contest and the concert across social
& on music sites.

19. Examples of how brands covered the festival in their own
blog sites (Gap, StyleCaster, Starbucks’s, Target, Free People,
Nordstrom, Macy’s)

20. Other interesting articles on SXSW
CNN Tech (http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/13/tech/innovation/5-things-sxsw) did a quick write-
up on their 5 things they saw at SXSW:
1. Hardware, not software
2. 3D printing
3. Space
4. Big data
5. More celebrities
Forbes published a Young Entrepreneurs Council article on the top 5 lessons for marketers at SXSW:
(http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2013/03/21/5-lessons-for-marketers-from-sxsw-2013/) o
1. Beneficial consumer engagement
2. Bringing digital CRM into the real world
3. Be authentic to your environment
4. Play your brand position
5. Refresh old brand platforms
A CMO network article by Kristine Segrist outlines a four highlights from a freshman:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2013/03/13/at-sxsw-technology-meets-humanity/)
1. Work/Life balance
2. Intuition vs. Algorithm
3. The Sharing Economy
4. Technology for humanity

21. Thank you!
Questions? Contact me!
Jennifer Tofanelli
jennifer.tofanelli@searshc.com
@jenntof