Hi, it's Tom here.
SXSW this year was different.
No scrambling from ballroom, to patio, to panel, to event and back to ballroom with a buzzword addled brain.
No, this year we did something altogether more rewarding. One location, three days and the world’s best marketers in the room. Brand Innovators @ Lamberts.
Maybe it was the Bloody Marys for breakfast, but the tone and tenor of the conversations I watched felt different too: less clout chasing, shiny-new thing praising and more focus on the power of the fundamentals of brand building. Recognising that there are no short cuts to becoming an iconic brand, but it takes more bravery, risk and creative practices to get there and stay there in the modern marketplace.
Here are some moments of timeless wisdom alongside some timely advice that I heard along the way.
You build the mythology, they tell the stories
“Nothing that you do will work as hard for you as the advocacy of a third party”
One emergent theme was that calling brand marketers the storytellers isn’t really accurate in the modern age. We are now world builders, the definers of the spirit and soul of the brand, but it is the people who love us that hold the power of telling our story through their lens.
That means we have to cede some control of the narrative and be more flexible with where and how we believe our brands can show up in the world.
To me, this suggests that we need new frameworks that break the rigidity of the brand key / brand onion…’ and instead create a strategy that operates more as a compass - a directional, ever-evolving reference point which defines our universe, but doesn’t micro-manage the journey.
Partnership is the new leadership
“No brand is an island anymore”
That partnerships are an absolutely critical piece of the marketing puzzle has never been more obvious. When everyone has seen everything, unexpected creative connections are one of our only remaining ways to jolt consumers out of their ‘seen it’ slumber.
El Pollo Loco at HypeBeast golf - sure, why not?
But getting these right isn’t just a matter of picking up the phone. The real challenge is to identify the strategy to build the right partnership to open up new audiences and tell new stories, and the creativity to execute them in ways that surprise and shine.
Boredom is the enemy, personal is the answer
We are all in the business of interrupting people”
Whether it’s B2B or bleeding edge nutrition, there is simply no room to be boring anymore. Playing it safe is in fact the biggest risk you take. As one marketer put it, “you have to take more swings and try more things”. You have to trust your emotional gut to create more emotional connections. I particularly loved how more than a few brands were building more meaningful emotional connections by showing up in local communities, meeting consumers where they’re at, and providing value versus selling it.
Again, this is a space that needs strategy. How are you constantly creating and delivering new and interesting, of the moment messages in context and being a part of the right cultural conversations?
Much food for thought. Thanks Brand Innovators, and to all of the fantastic speakers.
And if you are interested in hearing about our ‘Culture Compass’ product, which is built to deliver on the challenges above, please get in touch! enquiry@beentheredonethat.co
Tom Donohue,
Strategy Director at BeenThereDoneThat
