Dispatches from Austin – Day 2 & 3

Our SXSW stretched through the weekend as Day 2 and 3 covered off a number of fascinating topics ranging from loyalty programs to the new sharing economy and how audiences are shaping events through social media.

Saturday’s first panel was Beyond Likes (featuring Jordan Roth CEO of Culturalist), talking about the implications social media audiences have on cultural and current events. How are Twitter audiences shaping live television? As more and more people tune it together for shared experiences watching shows like Scandal and The Oscars, are they actually responsible for bringing back the idea of appointment television?

Then came the rain – but this didn’t dissuade us from seeing some amazing sessions from astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson and entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Both drew massive crowds and delivered amazing, informative talks.

Sunday brought better weather and even more great sessions. First up was Loyalty is Dead – a conversation about the current state of loyalty marketing programs (buy 10 coffees, get the 11th free) and posed the question are these programs truly building loyalty? The general consensus being that true loyalty is based around an emotional connections and consumers motivations aren’t about chasing that free coffee. They’re loyalty is shaped through how they’re treated and the desire by the brand to engage with them.

After a weighty presentation by Stephen Wolfram (Wolfram Alpha) around computation, we checked out a panel on The Economy of Sharing – looking at a new emerging economy where platforms like Etsy, HomeAway and ThredUP are facilitating platforms to help connect people and empower them to become sellers.

We capped the day with some great BBQ and Monday’s weather is clear and warm. Only two days left in Austin but still lots of great stuff to come. Stay tuned and follow the conference @madearuckus.

Posted by
Gary Edgar
on 10/03/2014