5 #SxSWi Stories you might have missed
MT5 Edition: #29
Stories This Week: Homeless Hotspots, new technologies, soggy SxSW photos, no clear tech winners and a SxSW infographic.
1. Homeless Hotspots: Not a Terrible Idea
[Mashable] BBH turned homeless people into mobile hotspots. The optics of this tactic generated a fair bit of controversy.
My Take: I didn’t notice any of these homeless hotspots. Did I just not see them or do I tune out homeless people because I see them everyday in Boston? The controversy and debate are a healthy outcome. Here’s an American Public Media interview with BBH on the matter.
2. As Crowd Swells, New Technologies Emerge for Intimate Relationships
[WebStrategist] One of my favorite Marketing Technologist, Jeremiah Owyang, provided four observations from SXSW.
My Take: First of all, if you don’t follow Jeremiah, you should. The Altimeter group is spectacular. Second, I particularly agree with his point regarding proximity based apps. Their value is debatable. What’s not debatable is what they do to your smartphone battery. Today’s hardware technology just can’t support such intensive software.
3. Every Awesome Moment You Missed at SXSW [PICS]
SxSW
[MashableTech] Nice photo set from Mashable. Tough to take pictures due to the nasty weather.
My Take: So far I’ve published two sets of photos: people and signs.
4. “Winning” SXSW Has Yet To Produce A Winning Business
[TechCrunch] Tech Crunch points out that SxSW has failed to launch any big apps since Twitter and Foursquare.
My Take: Right on! I didn’t see anything big launch; I wondered if we were in a tech lull, but then I realized Pinterest had the biggest buzz. And Pinterest launched a few years ago and broke big recently.
5. 2012 SXSW Interactive by the Numbers
[ExploringConversationalMedia] Jeff Esposito (who I somehow failed to see in Austin) posted an interesting infographic regarding SxSW.
Hi John, SXSW was a new product launch platform for Doritos Jacked. Non food events are becoming more popular for food product launches and Doritos took advantage of the SXSW buzz for this new product. They created a 56′ tall vending machine/venue stage.
Innovators and Early Adopters abound here and all brands launch with these 2 consumer segments in mind.
Dom,
Thanks for the comment. A 56′ tall vending machine seems like quite an investment. Your comment was the first I heard of it, but now that you mention it, I did see some construction going up during SxSWi which could easily have been the stage/vending machine.
With so many people attending SxSW it makes sense you would see consumer brands going big. Do you know if Pepsi was satisfied on the social buzz the stunt created?
Hi John, I have not heard feedback as of yet however I was planning on blogging about their new product launch in the near future. Pepsi seems to be looking for non food venue… they tried to launch Diet Pepsi Skinny at NY Fashion Week… did not work mainly due to product issues.
Thanks!