Curiosity Stop: The Social Innovation Roundup

SXSW 2016 Special

March 2016

Curiosity Stop >SXSW

The annual circus of South by Southwest Interactive may be regarded by some as a vacuus and over- commercialised festival of all things tech, more about the endless sponsored parties and barbeques than the talks themselves.

But, despite drinking my quota of free beer, I’ve come back from SXSW energised and inspired. From hearing how WhatsApp is being used as a CRM tool by brands in Brazil, learning about the mechanics of the different algorithmic approaches to AI, to seeing a Japanese professor on stage next to a life-size, semi-autonomous android version of himself, SXSW delivered yet again, and in a big way.

Read on for our take on some of the innovations we came across, that you probably want to know about.

Robin GrantGlobal Managing Director

Artificial Intelligence >Viv

What’s it all about?

Viv is the brainchild of Siri’s founder, who says that the voice navigation service he sold to Apple was merely ‘chapter one’ of a bigger narrative. His vision is to create a cloud-based AI service that can plug into everything so that your objects, projects and problems can be solved by machine learning remotely that gets smarter by the minute.

The bigger picture

There was a lot of talk about AI at SXSW 2016 but not many opportunities for marketers to actually do anything just yet. But when it hits, it will change everything.

Communication >How To Stop Speaking In Bullshit

What’s it all about?

One of the most refreshing talks at SXSW was on bullshit, and why we need to stop using terms like synergy and thought-leadership. When you use this over-produced and manipulative language, you create a wall between yourself (or your brand) and your audience.

People use bullshit to pretend like they know what they’re talking about, but we should ask ourselves: Am I saying something that the average person would understand? As panellist Jon Favreau said, “If you wouldn’t say it to a friend in a bar, don’t say it.”

The bigger picture

Is your brand full of bullshit? Before you tweet, think about what you are trying to tell your audience. Then say it clearly - or if necessary, don’t say it at all.

360 >Help

What’s it all about?

Help is an only-for-mobile 360 film which is the most high budget piece of 360 we’ve seen. It’s a five minute piece where you observe the arrival of an alien creature that chases you through the subway before an emotional climax.

The bigger picture

It’s not enough for brands just to ‘do’ 360 or VR anymore and be expected to be recognised as being innovators. The content has to be strong in its own right.

Virtual Reality >Virtual Reality in Fashion

What’s it all about?

Kevin Cornish, a VR filmmaker who has worked with the likes of Taylor Swift, had advice for brands wanting to dive into the virtual world. Rather than slapping an Oculus Rift onto any campaign, ask yourself if the experience would be 10 times better by using VR. If not, don't do it.

If you are using VR, think about what you want your piece to look like. If you are a luxe brand, you might consider doing a one-off, high-end piece. If you are a fast-moving brand, you could film Snapchat-style videos on VR. Whatever you produce, make sure it’s suited to your brand.

The bigger picture

This year, your VR campaign’s only chance of success is through PR. Next year, the headset market will be more evolved, and you might actually directly reach some consumers.

Broadcast >Lisnr

What’s it all about?

Lisnr is on a one startup mission to kill the fledgling beacon industry and maybe bluetooth while they are at it. The problem with beacons is that they need to be present - physically. Lisnr solves this problem by triggering content on smart devices through an inaudible sound wave. This is compatible with any speaker and any microphone. This means you can embed content into any sound be it a song, a video or a live performance.

The bigger picture

For marketers, getting relevant content onto their customers’ mobiles at point of purchase is gold dust and Lisnr may have cracked how to do it.

Artificial Intelligence >Lark

What’s it all about?

Lark is a personal health coach, which uses your phone sensors to make recommendations. As it’s a bot, Lark is available 24/7 - something that wouldn’t be possible if it was staffed by humans.

The founder of Lark, Julia Hu, gave a talk on the rise of messaging apps. She argued that people are willing to express more about their preferences to a brand like Lark, which has a human-like quality, than an app like MyFitnessPal.

The bigger picture

Thinking about creating an artificially intelligent messaging app for your brand? Hu’s advice was to maintain a controlled environment. If you set up a completely open bot, you're more open to ridicule when it can’t answer a simple question.

Snapchat Robo-advisor

Art >Laurie Lipton

What’s it all about?

The SXSW film festival runs concurrently with the interactive schedule and the Curiosity Stop took some time out to get a different perspective. #Lovebite was a documentary which looked at the artist Laurie Lipton who has spent the last 40 years drawing with pencil on paper. Her exacting and almost photo-real technique sucks in the viewer and delivers an anti-technology message that warns us that we’re becoming slaves to the machines.

The bigger picture

In the midst of the SXSW technobabble it was refreshing to be moved by lines drawn of pencil on paper. It was a reminder that innovation doesn’t have to come from new technology, just a new way of thinking.

Customer Care >Social Service

What’s it all about?

As we learnt from a panel called Is Twitter the New Customer Call Centre?, it costs $1 to solve an issue on social, compared to $6 in a call centre. What’s more, the cost of not doing social service is a lot higher than cost of doing it. As Michael Nagel argued, silence is painfully loud when dealing with customers.

One third of consumers say they’d rather clean a toilet than speak with customer service. Great social service shows you care about your customer, like Southwest Airlines, who have an average Twitter response time of six minutes.

The bigger picture

Be where your customers are, and understand the importance of listening. Then talk to them like real people.

Artificial Intelligence >Kik Bartender Bot

What’s it all about?

KIK is a chat app that uses bots as a tool for brands to connect with its 240 million users. KIK invited us to their private pool party to demo some real world uses of their platform including a drinks ordering system through the app. Instead of going to the bar you could just chat to a bot that asked you what you wanted to drink and then a real person came and gave it to you.

The bigger picture

We will see an explosion of chat interfaces this year as brands realise that text is quick, cheap and something that all their customers already use and understand.

Communication >Millennials

What’s it all about?

Philippe von Borries, founder of Refinery29, asked everyone to drop the term millennials. He thinks we've been having the wrong conversation all along. They're not a lazy generation, or an ambitious generation, or any of the other stereotypes. Millennial is a mindset, and anyone from 19 to 90 can have it.

Millennials want to feel connected to people all over the world, they want to belong, and they want to feel a sense of purpose. What connect these three things? Niches. Niches break down barriers and connect people. Whatever you’re into, there’s a tribe out there for you (take Bronies, for example).

The bigger picture

Are you trying to talk a group of clones, or are you tapping into individual niches?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Viv

Kik Bartender Bot

Lark

360 / VR

Virtual Reality in Fashion

Help

ART

Laurie Lipton

BROADCAST

Lisnr

COMMUNICATION

Millennials

How To Stop Speaking In

Bullshit

CUSTOMER CARE

Social Service

WE ARE SOCIALWe Are Social is a global agency with offices in five continents

(Antarctica is a little too chilly for our liking).

We deliver world-class creative ideas with forward-thinking brands, and have fun doing it. Our clients include adidas, Google and Netflix.

As an international team of 550+, our passion is people. Our mission is to put social thinking at the centre of marketing.

Trendspotting might get us unnaturally excited, but what really counts is action. If you'd like to speak to We Are Social about how to make innovation work for your brand, email us at

talktous@wearesocial.net