1.
PSFK
GUIDE TO
SXSW 2017
What lessons can you take from SXSW 2017 to
refresh the products and experiences you ideate and
produce? PSFK identified four key themes that have
a growing influence on how consumers evaluate their
product, brand and retail experiences.
FOUR EMERGING
THEMES IN AUSTIN
NEW IDEAS IN RETAIL,
ADVERTISING & DESIGN
PSFK’s Guide to SXSW Interactive helps brands,
retailers, technologists and creatives navigate
Austin’s myriad panels, parties and lounges
to discover the most exciting and informative
events—inspiring your retail, advertising and
design work in 2017 and beyond.
ABOUT
PSFK PSFK is the leading provider of innovation
insights for creative professionals to help them
build better products, services and experiences.
PSFK members receive access to an innovation
portal, daily newsletters, in-depth reports
and consulting services, plus the ability to
utilize our capabilities as a resource to bolster
their analysis, insights and strategy to guide
innovation. Learn more about membership
here: psfk.com/membership
The curation of this guide was informed by
PSFK’s trends-led research, which feeds the
creation of 12+ robust reports annually on retail,
advertising and design. Stay tuned in 2017 for
upcoming reports on the Future of Retail, the
Future of Advertising and industries such as
entertainment, travel and automotive. Access
all our PSFK reports here: psfk.com/reports
Download this guide at: psfk.com/sxsw-guide-2017
Experience Denotes Status:
As scaling technologies democratize access to once-rare products
and services, consumers are turning to experiences to indicate
status. Exclusive events that challenge the everyday—which people
can show off to their friends—are the most valuable social currency.
Personalization Becomes Intuitive:
Personalization is no longer simply about tailoring offerings to
tastes and lifestyles. Brands are learning to respond in real time to
emotions, moods and experiences for engagements that feel right
in the moment.
Luxury Eliminates Choice:
In response to the chaotic and content-filled world, technologies,
services and experiences are being designed to offer the luxury
of reducing choice, freeing up time or offering all the options at
once—lessening the pressures of modern society.
Purpose Drives Value:
With less available time, people are deriving more personal and
societal status from the ways they choose to spend their time. The
greatest return on time involves experiences and messages that
allow one to feel connected to something bigger than themselves.
Food + Tech Startup Spotlight.
One of three industry Startup Spotlights, the reception-style
event features rising food tech companies on a mission to make a
more healthy, tasty and sustainable world. Stop by for sampling,
demonstrations and pitches.
Date & Time: Saturday, March 11 - 6pm-9pm
Location: TechSpace Austin
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive, FIlm, Music
Interactive Innovation Awards Finalist Showcase.
In its 20th year, the contest showcases projects in 13 imaginative
categories, such as Innovation in Connecting People, SciFi No
Longer and Smart Cities. Stop by the Finalist Showcase for
hands-on demos with all 65 finalists.
Date & Time: Sunday, March 12 - 11am-5pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown - 4th Floor
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive, Film, Music
Accelerator Demo Day.
Meet 50 web product finalists, selected from more than 500
submissions, competing in 10 different technology categories
including AR and VR, Entertainment and Content, and Payment
and FinTech.
Date & Time: Monday, March 13 - 11am-1pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown - Salon C
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive
WHERE TO MEET CUTTING
EDGE STARTUPS IN AUSTIN
Entertainmant
Travel Automotive
FoodFashion
Home
Banking
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Wellness

2.
RETAIL AT SXSW
Retail Innovation Lounge.
Shopgate’s Retail Innovation Lounge offers workspace and programming
for guests to learn about the convergence of retail and tech. Meet speakers
from Walmart and Under Armour, participate in a “startup crawl” or catch
the official Retail Innovation Party on Friday.
Date & Time: Friday, March 10 - Monday, March 13 (Hours vary)
Location: Shopgate HQ - Suite 200
No badge required. Register here: retailinnovationlounge.com
Adidas Future/Fit: Inspired by Sport, Powered by You.
Adidas assembles a team of athletes, experts and influencers to discuss
how behavioral and data science will evolve fitness retail moving forward.
Sweat and yoga sessions demonstrate the future of wellbeing firsthand.
Date & Time: Saturday, March 11 - Sunday, March 12 (Hours vary)
Location: Wanderlust Yoga
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive, Film, Music
Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Roads (Maybe).
Interested in the ownership versus membership debate? Executives
from car2go and Mercedes-Benz discuss how competing missions of
car sharing and care sales actually support one another in the changing
auto retail market.
Date & Time: Sunday, March 12 - 5pm-6pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown - Austin Chamber of Commerce Office
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive
The Decoded Fashion House.
A SXSW mainstay and the go-to venue for perspectives on fashion
tech, the Decoded Fashion House focuses its panels and events this
year to unpack what influencers, insta-commerce and AI really mean
for the retail industry.
Date & Time: Sunday, March 12 - 9:30am-8pm
Location: Hangar Lounge
No badge required. Register for events here: decodedfashion.com/sxsw
ADVERTISING AT SXSW
The Future of Luxury.
Join a panel of thought leaders, including PSFK founder Piers Fawkes and
filmmaker and TV producer Morgan Spurlock, to discuss how luxury can
adapt to a world where experience is prioritized over possession.
Date & Time: Sunday, March 12 - 11am-12pm
Location: Hyatt Regency - Zilker Ballroom 2
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive
feedfeed Influencer Marketing Meetup.
Join the founders of feedfeed, a crowdsourced digital cookbook, and
their influencers to discuss influencer marketing and content creation.
While geared toward the food and lifestyle areas, this event can help any
brand revamp its social and content marketing strategy.
Date & Time: Friday, March 10 - 4pm-6pm
Location: The Driskill - Jim Hogg Parlor
No badge required. Register here: bit.ly/feedfeedinfluencer
Mashable House.
This year’s Mashable House celebrates SXSW’s superfans. While exact
details of the theme are under wraps, the venue will provide a setting for
experiential marketing activations representing Mashable and their most
passionate partners.
Date & Time: Friday, March 10 - Sunday, March 12 (Hours vary)
Location: The Main
No badge required. Register here: bit.ly/MashableHouse
e.l.f Beauty Break.
Take a break and refresh your look by experimenting with e.l.f cosmetics
and test the YouCam, a mobile virtual makeup try-on app.
Date & Time: Saturday, March 11 - Monday, March 13 (Hours vary)
Location: JW Marriott - Room 401
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive
DESIGN AT SXSW
Panasonic House.
The interactive exhibition offers a chance for all audiences to
explore design innovations by electronic manufacturer Panasonic’s
intrapreneurs. Innovations in home, food, clothing, entertainment
and more will be showcased.
Date & Time: Saturday, March 11 - Tuesday, March 14 (Hours vary)
Location: Parkside - 1st Floor
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive, Film, Music
Design as Service: Coaching at Capital One.
Designers and money coaches from Capital One discuss how the finance
company has harnessed design to create services and tools that improve
customer relationships with money, and how design thinking can be
implemented in other organizations.
Date & Time: Sunday, March 12 - 11am-12pm
Location: Capital One House at Antone’s
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive, Film, Music
Smart Cities Day.
Attend a series of lightning talks where mayors, city technology
officers and entrepreneurs will showcase their projects and learnings
about smart cities, touching on topics from 5G, big data, connected
buildings and smart grids.
Date & Time: Sunday, March 12 - 11am-4pm
Location: Choose San Antonio House at Half Step Bar
No badge required. RSVP here: bit.ly/SmartCitiesDay
Future of Airport Design Starts in Austin.
Dive into the reinvention of the air-travel experience, where design and
tech have made airports a destination in themselves. A panel of experts
will discuss the trend using the $20 million renovation of the Austin
Airport as a case study.
Date & Time: Monday, March 13 - 11am-12pm
Location: JW Marriott - Room 303-304
Badge Access: Platinum, Interactive
A r e Yo u A
C o n t e n t P u b l i s h e r ?
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Entertainmant
Travel Automotive
FoodFashion
Home
Banking
Beauty
Wellness