Day Two SXSW: Weaponised Polarisation & Being Mind Kind
Dan Machen (pictured below) is Head of Strategy for Channelzero and he’s presently taking in all the technical delights and weirdness that SXSW has to offer. Here’s Dan’s reporting from day two…
Day two at SXSW – the world’s largest tech and innovation conference in Austin, Texas – and I’m already starting to reach overload. Mind blown. Bit tired. Need a nana nap.
They say experience comes from good judgement; good judgement comes from bad experience. Unfortunately, despite this being my seventh year here, my mental bandwidth doesn’t increase. So, the rule for today is ‘be kind to your mind’ and ‘less is more’.
Sharing a few things I learned today – the feeling here is there’s light on the other side of post digital dystopia. (Good news.) But also, there’s a sense – across lots of different industries – that we need to be a lot more conscious about how tech is being applied. This is especially relevant to marketing – if we are to authentically express brands’ values and sense of purpose, in a world suffering from “weaponised polarisation” in media.
In a great session to kick off the day Brand: The New Political Reality we were offered various views from brands such as Patagonia, AirBnB and Lyft about how their purpose and values – contribute to narratives that inform wider culture – be that about the future of cities, or sustainability.
Patagonia was one of the most eloquent brands on this panel – informed as they are by the serious sustainability agenda of the founders of the apparel brand. Patagonia’s Corley Kenna landed the killer point for me when she said in a world where there is increasing polarisation – driven by AI fuelled programmatic and bad actors – brands need to be increasingly sure about their values and purpose. There was also a simmering undercurrent of anger in the room as some people felt that AirBnB and Lyft, (as brands), were talking a good game, while allegedly driving up rental prices and using self-driving car tech to put taxi drivers out of business. This is subjective opinion of course, but it was interesting to read the room’s reaction to brands entering this debate. Authenticity remains something that needs to be in the heart of your brand, you can’t just pick it up, like an outfit on ASOS.
Authenticity versus disinformation and FAKE NEWS is something that has set alarm bells clanging in Austin this year. In an excellent session – A Global Tour of Disinformation On Social Media – the founder of Graphica, John Kelly, took us through exactly that. In terms of this guy’s creds he was who Facebook, Twitter and Google gave their hard-drives to when The US Senate asked to get oversight on the abuse of data on social media platforms.
Vitally, Kelly said “this is about much more than winning elections”. Russian troll farm teams from St. Petersburg are manipulating a proportion of social conversations in America by understanding pop culture. They use culture as their gateway to American society and conversations. He noted that Russian troll teams learn politics from House of Cards and pop culture from Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
In one case study, Kelly showed that the campaign reacting to Colin Kaepernik for NIKE ‘#BoycottNike’, was seriously amplified by fake, Russian owned social media accounts. Hooking people with the NIKE conversation first, these accounts subsequently switched to an overtly pro-Republican political agenda. The relevance here for brands is to understand the narrative levers to entering conversations in culture and social media and then being a good actor in that space.
Finally, on the subject of being ‘Mindkind,’ I saw a cracking session by HeyHuman, who talked about their ongoing work in neuroscience in Advertising Detox: How to Reduce Cognitive Load.
Building on the sense of creating signal amidst the noise, HeyHuman’s Neuroscience Consultant, Aoife McGuinness, showed a live EEG feed on stage with a person reacting to famous tech advertising. A great quote from Aoife was “we realised engagement is not the only thing.” Agencies in the post digital world need to try and be ‘Mindkind,’ by considering that people’s minds are already overloaded. The new opportunity is to make ads easy to process mentally, novel and therefore easier to recall in that specific category.
Across the board, the macro message from SXSW is that we need to create positive signal amidst the noise – especially faced with so many bad actors out there with dodgy agendas. Brands need to play a more positive, active role in conversations and culture. To be kind to mankind in a modern media context where tech has weaponised polarisation and messaging overload.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Latest News
The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card
The Mars Agency has developed a scorecard that assesses the capabilities of leading platforms across key criteria required to optimally plan, execute, and measure effective retail media programs. The scorecard aims To help brands efficiently evaluate their spending options across retail media networks in Australia (and New Zealand). With spending on retail media advertising in […]
‘It’s The Lesser Of Two Evils’ – NRL Eyes US Betting Market As Aussie Regulators Circle
US betting firms will be delighted by the circa 50,000 Americans who could soon watch the NRL on their favourite app.
A-League In Deep Discussions With New Partner To Keep Games On TV After Production Company Enters Administration
The A-League's insatiable appetite for scoring own goals continues.
TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick
A heated argument between two jungle members did the numbers for Ten last night, with I’m A Celeb obtaining a total national reach of 1,282,000. Fans were delighted as Candice Warner and influencer Skye Wheatley got into it over a stick of lipstick, leading Warner to dub the Instagram star “selfish.” Wheatley, best known for […]
Is The Australian Music Industry In Trouble? Inquiry Launched Following Splendour Cancellation
Earlier this week, an inquiry was launched into the challenges and opportunities currently facing the Australian live music industry in the wake of multiple festival cancellations. On 25 March 2024, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, asked the Committee on Communications and the Arts to inquire into and report on the […]
Liana Dubois, Leandro Perez, Aimee Buchanan & More Gather For Inaugural Compadres Leadership Event
Didn't get the invite? Perhaps you're not as important as you thought.
Cathay Captures The Unforgettable Thrill Of Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Via Publicis
Nobody does rugby like Hong Kong, apparently. Certainly nobody does it as badly as Australia.
Cocogun Nabs Christine Watts, Kirsty Reynolds & Shev Tan Bolstering Management & Creative Teams
Cocogun bolsters its team with new hires. Committed to purchasing a bigger sofa, too.
The Media Store’s Jacquie Alley & Sam Cousins Take The Plunge With Pro-Bono Work For Cure Cancer
B&T chats with The Media Store bosses about their great pro-bono work and sponsored swim.
Hawke’s Brewing Co. Taps Rocket Comms For PR Agency Following Competitive Pitch
We're expecting Rocket Comms productivity to crash in spectacular fashion following this win.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Patties Serves Up A Taste Of Home For Olympians & South Sydney Rabbitohs Recommit To Gambling Reform
While the Rabbitohs commits to gambling reform, B&T reckons the team should commit to a decent auto sponsor.
Google: “Inevitable” That Bad Actors Will Abuse Ads Platform As Advertiser Account Suspensions Double
Google maintains it's simply impossible for it to entirely stop bad people placing & paying for ads using its service.
Quantcast Expands APAC Sales Team With Appointment Of News Corp Account Manager
No pressure at all when you are appointed as a client success manager.
Publicis Sapient Tests Microsoft-Powered Gen AI Search Tool With Homes & Villas By Marriott Bonvoy
Given Gen AI's record for mangling stuff, B&T cannot see the problem with letting it decide your next holiday digs.
Volkswagen & DDB Group’s “Roo Badge” To Reduce Kangaroo Related Road Collisions
Watch out for RooBadge as Cannes Lions' most debated campaign this year.
Twilio Launches Unified Profiles & Agent Copilot Features To Boost Productivity & Engagement
Agent Copilot sounds like James Bond's less interesting cousin.
Reebok & Honda Among New Clients For onetwo agency
OneTwo finally lives up to its name with this double billing.
Ogilvy Report: Throw Out The Social Strategy Rule Book, The Rules Of The Past No Longer Apply
B&T was puzzled that all 'influencers' aren't, effectively, 'virtual', but here we are.
WhiteGREY & AKQA Merge In Australia, Lee Simpson Departs
Fortunately, the combined agencies aren't opting for a trite portmanteau for the new name.
Splendour In The Grass 2024 Music Festival Cancelled!
Music fans all over the country reportedly relieved they can pack away their rain coats and gumboots for another year.
TV Ratings (26/03/2024): “Fairy Bread, F***ing Disgusting”: Gordon Ramsay Slams Aussie Food In Food Stars Launch
Ramsay not one for mincing his words, even when it comes to minced meat pies.
Paramount+ International Boss Doubles Down On Aussie Content, Says Ad-Tier will Grow Audiences And Revenue
Good news as Paramount will not be binning I’m A Celebrity for re-runs of Frasier.
Brent Smart: Telstra Pushing For 50-50 Brand-Performance Split But Warns Numbers ‘Won’t Look Great’ Initially
The old brand vs performance debate continues. But here, Brent is firmly sitting on the fence.
Crowded House, Tones And I & Dom Dolla Win Big At The Shure Rolling Stone Music Awards
B&T staffer reports back with humdinger of a hangover & feeling seriously uncool after mixing with music types.
Opinion: Dyslexia “A Hidden Gem” For Brands & Agencies
Dyslexics offer underappreciated benefits in the corporate field, according to this op-ed.
David Jones Taps Criteo To Power Online Retail Media Arm
Want to see ads for things you probably can't afford? David Jones has got you covered with new retail media play.
oOh!media Sets Up Team To Target Business Audiences Across Airports & Offices
oOh! wants brands to harass you every minute of your next business trip.
QMS Launches Australian First DOOH & TV Partnership With Samba TV
Samba TV, of course, is not a channel dedicated to dancing. Much to our dismany.
Slew Of New Hires At Amplify
Four new faces join the Amplify offices. Team say desk scarcity becoming "acute".
Adobe Announces Content Authenticity Initiative Expansions To Counter Deep Fakes
Try as they might to enlighten them, we suspect Trump supporters will continue to watch and believe Fox News.
The PR Group Appoints TechCrunch Senior Reporter Catherine Shu As Director Of Content & Media
Catherine Shu makes the bold leap from journalism to PR. Says inevitable pay bump was "unrelated".
HERO Nabs Ebony Santin From AMPR
Rumours Santin cleared out the stationery cupboard before departing are as yet unconfirmed.
Karena Noble Checks Out Of EVT Hotels & Resorts To Launch Comms Consultancy
Noble still managed to squeezed in a continental breakfast before departing.
Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
Canva & Adobe face off continues. We're not picking sides but keenly aware that Canva's office is next door to ours.
“Lean On Our Team To Help You Find An Audience”: Why Understanding Audience Engagement Is Essential In Journalism
Engaging the audience is critical to journos, apparently. We'd thought self-loathing & alcoholism were key.
Adobe Summit: Major Gen AI Developments, Data Concessions & Partnerships
What happens in Vegas stays there. Unless it's the Adobe Summit and then you get to read about in B&T.