March 12, 2015
What is SXSW? South by Southwest (SXSW) is one of the largest festivals in the world. It started in 1987, as the SXSW Music & Media Conference being more limited in the industries it covered. Over the years, it adapted, evolved and grew into a three part, Film, Music, and Interactive expo of everything new and creative. All eyes center on Austin from March 13-22 and social media explodes with #SXSW in every tweet, post, and picture.
Where is your brand in the middle of it all? One in the clutter!
Let's fast forward. Checking in at the airport to depart Austin, the bag is overweight because there is too much swag inside. Say goodbye t-shirt, pen, stress ball, and calculator; the brand you rep is getting tossed. Too bad because the sweet sticker on the laptop going through security shines out like a prime ad spot during the Super Bowl. Shine on, awesome sticker!
Stickers are friendly, conversation starters, portable billboards, and patient.
Friendly - Stickers are fun, creative, and animated. They paint a portrait of brands in a non aggressive way. The control of the sticker is left up to the recipient to choose where to place it and people place them everywhere.
Conversation Starter - Stickers really build a sense of community. People generally associate themselves with local brands and things they identify with. Seeing these extensions of a person through stickers on a laptop offer a great way to break the ice.
Portable Billboards - Stickers handed out begin a journey no one can imagine. One sticker left print press, got shipped to Florida, found its way onto a NASA shuttle, and broke the earth's atmosphere to float in space. The backs of cars, fire hydrants, laptops, name it and a sticker is on it somewhere.
Patient - There is no real conversion tracking on stickers. Sorry, ROI dependent business people. A sticker can take months to turn around into business. However, the value of someone taking your logo into their hands and that getting embedded in their mind is priceless.
Every sticker tells a story. Tell your story to the world.