© Serviceplan Group 2024
Artificial intelligence, metaverse, IOT or blockchain - if you want to find out about current and future trends in the digital and marketing business, you will inevitably end up at South by Southwest (SXSW): The festival in Austin/USA, which has its origins in rock and country music in 1987, is now also one of the largest and most important media and tech conferences in the world. Year after year, topics are set and discussed here that will directly and sustainably change the lives of consumers - and thus also determine the opportunities and challenges for marketing and media in the future.
SXSW is the world's most important conference for trends and innovations in marketing, technology and future topics. Every year, decision-makers and thought leaders come together in Austin, Texas to be inspired by the unique combination of industry expertise, future visions of the most important companies and the latest trends. At SXSW, the topics that will permanently change the lives of consumers in the coming years and thus determine the opportunities and challenges for marketing and media of the future will be set and discussed. Visitors can expect a colourful programme of hundreds of lectures, conferences, discussion panels and trade exhibitions.
In the world of SXSW 2024, poetry collides with planetary exploration, AI intersects with the crisis of journalism, and non-obvious thinking reshapes brand strategy. In Austin, the next crisis, breakthrough trends and opportunities are just around the corner – where innovation meets inspiration at the intersection of art and science.
At SXSW this year, a prevailing theme across marketing sessions was the pronounced focus on culture media, managing hype cycles, and devising original content ideas. With a shift from demographic targeting to cultural, community and niche interest, along with creator content taking a leading role in campaigns, SXSW is undeniably at the cutting edge of delivering insightful perspectives.
Despite the ever-expanding range of topics and content, SXSW Interactive is still a tech conference at heart. The biggest buzz in tech at this year’s conference is (obviously) AI, but spatial computing and its potential use cases, from mixed reality productivity to VR experiences, are a close second.
One of the most fun things about SXSW is that even if you come for a specific type of insight – in our case, anything related to marketing, technology and (digital) culture – the sheer length of the conference allows you to see a lot of different things. Today, NASA hosted an entertaining opening session featuring an all-female panel of NASA scientists and two astronauts with a live video feed from the ISS – there are certainly less inspiring ways to start the day.
In April, we invite you to our recap webinar. We will summarise the most exciting trends, topics, learnings, insights and impressions for you and prepare them for a general overview. We will also analyse what impact the content of the trade fair has on our daily business and how we can make concrete use of it. The exact date will follow in good time!
After the event, you will receive our SXSW Trend Report with the latest opportunities and challenges for your company.
You will receive the Mediaplus flyer for SXSW 2024 with all the information about the conference, insights into the tracks and the top speakers.
Take a look back with us at SXSW 2023, where our colleague Alex Turtschan was on site, providing exciting daily insights and a recap of last year's conference.
