Brand Experiences Standout at SXSW Interactive

SMU graduate students Lesley Warren & Allison Farris explored brand activations at SXSW Interactive.

– A brand activation is a campaign, event, or experience to engage with consumers. They are generally interactive and at SXSW are almost uniformly over the top.

  • Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One places you in the world of the the OASIS
  • Google provides phone booths to promote Google Assistant
  • Prove It introduces new trivia app
  • Social Imprint is branded swag company with a pop-up shop on the trade floor
  • YouTube took over a building with “The Greatest Stories Retold,” in 6, 15, or 30 seconds

Ready Player One
Warner Bros is really going all in for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One this year. In addition to a sort of creepy flash mob that’s been walking around downtown telling us they’re looking for Wade Watts (code name Parzival), they have a large activation on 4th Street that never seems to have fewer than 50 people waiting to go in.
I waited in line for about an hour. The activation featured gamer/sci-fi memorabilia from the 80s and 90s, including a ceiling-height bust of The Iron Giant and a DeLorean for photo ops. The main attraction was a seemingly very cool VR experience that puts you in the virtual reality world of the film, the OASIS, but I did not do this because, yikes, lines. The tech they’re using to capture data is particularly impressive for a pop-up experience, including lightweight wristbands containing your avatar name that you scan for each experience you participate in. To be honest, I don’t know anything about this film, and it isn’t my typical genre, but I do feel like I have to see this movie now. I’m too involved!

Google Assistant
Google’s pop up activation in the Fairmont had four different “phone booths” immersive set up to demonstrate the Google Phone’s virtual assistant. SXSW participants were guided through scenarios like “Make Google Book It” which demonstrated how you can book a trip completely through voice commands and “Make Google Order It” which demonstrated how you could order mittens for your grandma. The AI was shockingly sophisticated and responsive in real time, and there is great potential for brands to utilize voice search in their digital marketing strategies through paid search for #HeyGoogle. Most people were delighted by their interaction with the AI, but I did see one man who was frustrated by the experience. Not everyone is ready for a world run by smart computers.

HQ Competitor Prove It showed up in full force with multiple touchpoints in the downtown Austin area. Tampa-based PROVEIT is a new trivia app in direct competition with HQ. Founder Prem was handing out “Trivia Cash Cards” redeemable for $1-$1,000 cash in PROVEIT and offering smart phone users a place to charge their phones. This week they will be giving $25,000 to one player in Austin only to promote the 3-month old app. Also seen around town, a branded armor truck promoting the $25,000 prize. Users are encouraged to create and share a public selfie with the truck with the #ThisIsMoney and the funniest post of the week will receive $500 account credit.

Social Imprint, a branded swag company that hires adults who need a second chance in San Francisco, set up a pop-up shop on the trade show floor complete with an onsite screen printing press to demonstrate their process. The company was raising money for a local non-profit called The Front Porch by requesting a suggested a $5 donation for a free SXSW T-shirt. Trade show attendees could also see the full range of branded products that marketers could use for swag.

YouTube
Another interesting activation was from YouTube. The company recreated fairy tales for the modern age with help from top creative agencies and celebrities like Silicon Valley’s Thomas Middleditch. With “The Greatest Stories Retold,” YouTube proves impactful stories can be told by a 6, 15, or 30 second clip. This pop-up was another impressive display of tech, with different video scenarios that are activated by motion and touch. My particular favorite was a shoe display that was activated when a person placed their foot in the large plastic heel. While not quite as grandiose as Ready Player One, “The Greatest Stories Retold” was entertaining and impressive.

Beyond People in Power, Tech, and Politics: SXSW Sessions Cover Broad Topics

Temerlin Advertising students Hannah Tymochko and Lauren Cole explored sessions beyond marketing and technology at SXSW.

CNN’s Jake Trapper paired up with Bernie Sanders to cover an assortment of topics, many of which Sanders felt are not adequately covered on CNN. Some of his notable and long-time favorites include gun control, DACA, and the 1 percent. All seemed to leave with a more patriotic taste in their mouth.

Whether Democrat or a Republican, Sanders had a message for all of us. Americans should love and respect each other. In strength we are united, but divided we are weak. Every question resulted in strong messages of unity and love.

Both democrats and republicans made their presence known verbally at one point or another, but there seemed to be no disagreement on Sanders’ message of unity and collaboration.

This talk was drastically different from what I had expected to see at a technology conference, and could not have been a better start to my experience.

The Richards Group’s Chris Ferrel’s “I’ve Got No Screens: Internet’s Screenless Future” was a stark difference in content and tone. Marketing to a #screenlessfuture was educational and entertaining. Current advertising practices are built around the importance of screens in consumers’ lives, but Ferrel warns that the future will contain less and less interaction with screens and will instead rely on voice interactions (i.e. Alexa, Google Home, and Siri).

Unlike the Sanders’ session, Ferrel was filled with humor. The insertions of funny content were welcome. “OK Goo-Goo” showed a video of an 85 year old woman with a thick Italian accent interacting with her Google digital voice assistant. Important to advertisers, Ferrel predicts the rise of the screenless future.

Ferrel’s session was more of what I expected to see at SXSW. It related directly to things we have learned in the Temerlin Advertising Institute, but presented a new aspect to new-age advertising that I had not thought of before.

The different sessions speak to the diverse topics SXSW covers, and the amazing opportunity we have to make the SXSW experience our own. The ability to customize our adventure at SXSW has been incredible. The variety in sessions offered makes the SXSW experience one that attendees can personalize. While we all have the underlying commonality of being Temerlin students, we can cater our experience to our specific specialization and interests. People from all over the world who are in such different professions all come together to attend SXSW, and we are so lucky to be able to be a part of it.

SXSW Interactive 2018: Day 1 Surprises

Maloree Malone and Dalya Romaner were teamed up to describe the first day of SXSW Interactive.

I have been to South by Southwest before, but never with an Interactive badge and my first day was really fun and interesting!” said Maloree Malone, TAI Graduate Student.

I am very interested in fashion and the business side of it, but I was always disappointed, because I never seemed to find any fashion sessions. It was great seeing all the different topics this year. Yesterday, I went to 3 sessions, and I got something out of them all.

Dalya Romaner, TAI Accelerated MA program student expressed, “SXSW perfectly encapsulates a conference experience. I started the first day with a schedule for every session I would attend, plus a few social and networking events. Everything was laid out perfectly in the SXSW app and I was ready to go.”

However, that plan went out the window and instead we followed Sandi Edgar, TAI Marketing Coordinator, into a session about Techfugees, a company dedicated to changing the refugee narrative using technology. Bernie Sanders was the next speaker and we wanted to get good seats, but we were hooked by the end of the talk.

A Rotten Tomatoes Film Debate was a hilarious, totally silly show with film critics debating film fans. So over the course of one hour, I went from discussing DACA and political engagement to hearing things like, “La La Land was more basic than a Pumpkin Spice Latte.”

While I wish I had gone to some of my sessions like “Anatomy of a Trend” and “Sustaining Brands” for the future,” these sessions were both educational and offered a nice glimpse into how every brand works to keep themselves current and innovative to a broad audience.

The days are long at SXSW and more opportunities revealed themselves. Dayla found a a panel discussing the future of women in tech, went on part of a bar crawl, and had Shabbat dinner (traditional Jewish Sabbath dinner held every Friday night) with fellow Jews attending SXSW.

None of this was laid out in an original schedule. Dalya didn’t attend a single pre-planned session, yet it was an amazing day. Maloree agrees, “I had a few sessions planned and thought I would strictly follow it, but I’ve learned that you have to sometimes play it by ear, because I hadn’t planned on going to the Rotten Tomatoes  session, yet it was the most fun.” Dalya concurs, “That’s the beauty of SXSW – you can go with the flow and find yourself learning more and meeting cooler people than you ever would have if you had your head in your phone, walking along the set path all day.”

Silver Robots, Pink Gorillas, and German Engineering at SXSW Interactive

Nina Kesava and Gabriele Petrylaite

Courtesy of our fearless leader, Dr. Edwards, we started our day off at the historic Austin landmark, Jo’s coffee shop, home of the famous  “I love you so much” mural. Naturally,

Dr. Edwards was unaware that he took us to a social media hotspot, but no worries he still looked fantastic posing in-front of it (in Jess’ glasses).

Following this, we grabbed our orange interactive passes (no line, thank goodness) and headed straight downtown. We wandered the city unable to decipher what was a an official part of the SXSW and what was a part of the city. We navigated to streets attempting to reach a panel on “Data Driven Fan Engagement” at the JW Marriott dodging an army of individuals dressed in silver robot apparel screaming about technology. On our way to the second panel, we stumbled into a digital make-up haven, where we virtually applied various looks and hairstyles in real-time. While using the YouCamMakeup app, one of us learned that applying the top Maybelline look did in fact transform her into her mother (see evidence below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While waiting for a panel on “Sustainability in Branding,” we took a quick Kendra Scott Coffee Break and Picture Frame photoshoot. After the panel exemplifying how sustainable business is smart business, we headed to the Mercedes feature at Palm Park and met a pink gorilla getting handcuffed. The gorilla gave us some some koozies and a free lift ride, so we guess that makes it okay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we entered Palm Park, we were engulfed into a german, futuristic world, featuring a cutting-edge Mercedes at every corner. We don’t know where this new SXSW world may take us, you’ll just have to see for yourself.

 

TAI Hosts Annual Graduate Student Cookout for Graduate Program Members

Saturday August 27, TAI hosted a barbeque welcoming new students to the graduate program. Graduate Program Coordinator and Professor Peter Noble opened up his home to host invited faculty, staff, and students.

TAI graduate students and professors sharing a meal.

“TAI’s Annual Graduate Student Cookout was an opportunity to get our grad students and faculty/staff together for social, non-academic purposes,” Professor Noble said. “Getting to know more about each other outside of the classroom was an important goal. Great food, bright conversations, and shared discoveries of interests allowed everyone to feel a part of the TAI family.”

The event provided students with a wonderful chance to meet and bond with each other, as well as their professors and the head of their program. Graduate student Coral Pisek really valued the opportunity to get better acquainted with the program and its members.

“My experience at this year’s TAI Grad Student BBQ was very enjoyable and informative,” Pisek said. “Everywhere I go, I try to gain and learn as much as I can. Once I spotted the familiar faces from the first week of classes, I immediately began talking with them about how the past week went, how I thought I’d be the youngest one, and how the classes so far sounded interesting. I got to meet and discuss the future of advertising with Professor Edwards and meet Dalya, a really cool undergraduate student that’s combining her BA and MA in advertising. I had the opportunity to sit down and eat my juicy hamburger with Professors Kim and Edwards [and discuss] what got them interested in advertising in the first place. We also debated the ways advertising is not dead. I later discussed my future advertising aspirations with Professors La Ferle and Noble. It was very important to me to see how they can guide me to work on my passion in the future. The BBQ was an interesting opportunity to talk personally with many intellectuals in one house. I am very glad I went. I left the BBQ full, eager and hopeful for the future.”

Graduate students, faculty, and staff enjoying the Cookout.

TAI is always looking for opportunities to enhance our students’ experiences, and we can’t wait to host more events like this!

TAI 2016-2017 Student Awards

It’s been a wonderful year here at Temerlin Advertising Institute. With so many creative, industry, and SMU awards earned by our students, we could not be prouder. Along with external awards, we’ve recognized some of our students who go above and beyond what is required of them. Below are all the awards, external and internal, earned by our students during the 2016-2017 academic year.

INDUSTRY:

TAI Assistant Director Amy Dahmann and TAI Team Player Award Winner Matthew Smyth

4A’s Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP) – Idara Akpan

AAF’s Most Promising Multicultural Student – Marisol Moran-Sendra & Sofia Rosell

AAF American Advertising Awards (ADDYs) – Helen Rieger, Jackson Foley, Liz Martinelli, Morgan Hoff, Samantha Butz, Tiffan Giraudon

AAF Stickell Internship – Alex Gurasich

Advertising Education Foundation of Houston Scholarship – Matthew Smyth, Gyeryeong Kim

Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) Dallas Irene Runnels-Paula McStay Scholarship – Rita De Obarrio

DFW Interactive Marketing Association Scholarship – Rita De Obarrio

DSVC National Show Best Print Advertising Campaign & Best Copy – Morgan Hoff & Tanner Thompson

SMU:

TAI Professor Muralidharan, Assistant Director Amy Dahmann, and TAI Donald Carty Leadership Award Recipient Jessica Giraudon

SMU Mortar Board Top 10 Sophomore – Jolie Guz

Engaged Learning Project – Samantha Butz

Hunt Scholar – Jessica Giraudon

TAI Student Marshal at Graduation – Paige Brown

TAI Undergraduate Reader at Graduation – Tanner Thompson

TAI:

TAI Anchor Award – Julia Christen, Kelsi Jiang

TAI Donald John Carty Leadership Award – Jessica Giraudon

Face of TAI Award – Marisol Moran-Sendra, Tanner Thompson

TAI Optimizer Award – Helen Rieger

TAI Professor Mark Allen and TAI Resilience Award Recipient Laura Walsh

TAI Outstanding Academic Achievement in Creative – Helen Rieger

TAI Outstand Academic Achievement in Digital – Paige Brown

TAI Outstanding Academic Achievement in Strategic Brand Management – Marison Moran-Sendra

TAI Outstanding Graduate Student – Lauren Lombardo

TAI Resilience Award – Laura Walsh

TAI Responsibility Award – Idara Akpan, Rachel Kainer

TAI Service Award – Ryan Blitzer

TAI Team Player Award – Matthew Smyth

HONOR SOCIETIES:

Alpha Delta Sigma – Amy Cooley, Bari Kesner, Gifford Mellick, Greyeong Kim, Helen Rieger, Jessica Giraudon, Joanna Fennessey, Julia Christen, Laura Walsh, London Mercer, Marisol Moran-Sendra, Matthew Smyth, Nicholas McCall, Paige Brown, Rachel Kainer, Tiffany Giraudon

TAI Alpha Delta Sigma Honor Society Members

Kappa Tau Alpha – Arden Leone, Marisonl Moran-Sendra, Mustafiz Rahman, Paige Brown, Samantha Butz

TAI Students Attend South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference

This Spring Break, TAI students and faculty went to South by Southwest (SXSW) to attend the SXSW Conference, which included sessions on Brands & Marketing, Design, Development & Code, Experiential Storytelling, VR/AR and the Intelligent Future.

TAI students and faculty during SXSW.

Students attending enrolled in a course, got a student discount and will be receiving 3 hours of pass/fail credit for the experience. The speakers and sessions at the SXSW Conference explore the newest trends and what’s next in entertainment, culture, and technology.

“The most relevant thing I learned was to create interesting content,” TAI graduate student Peyton Meersman said. “I think every session mentioned that content has to be original, creative, and interesting in order for it to be successful.”

While SXSW offers a wide variety of session topics, students attending found the sessions diverse and fascinating. A big topic discussed in many sessions was virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

“AI was a big theme at SXSW,” SMU student Katherine Scarpulla said. “I felt the most reasonable and crucial point I was presented was the healthy equation of AI. Chris White of Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit argued during his Lighting Up The Dark Web session that in order to solve our human created social problems, we must incorporate a healthy mix of data, AI and human interaction. He also stressed the importance of data literacy and the beneficence of data narrative to better illustrate social problems.”

TAI Professor Amber Benson and Director Dr. Steve Edwards

Along with the SXSW experience, TAI students got to shadow members of Agency Entourage, a Dallas-based creative digital agency, during sessions and attend a Boat Party hosted by the agency.

“The Agency Entourage boat party was a lovely experience,” Scarpulla said. “This experience enabled SMU Temerlin students to network with members of Agency Entourage as well as other professionals attending SXSW. I personally had to opportunity to talk with Austin, an AE member, who I had attended a session with earlier that day. I appreciated the occasion to discuss my experiences and thoughts about SXSW Interactive with advertising professionals and hear their thoughts and comments. It enabled me to view the information I gained during sessions from multiple viewpoints and understand its application to fields/industries other than mine.”

This was the first year that students could attend SXSW through TAI while receiving course credit. Many students were excited about the opportunity and greatly enjoyed their time spent in Austin.

“My SXSW Interactive experience was absolutely amazing,” Scarpulla said. “I cannot imagine not having attended this event because of the knowledge and relationships I gained as a result. I would encourage other Temerlin Students to apply for the course as it is an opportunity to apply your academics to real-time experiences.”

TAI Graduate Student Lauren Lombardo Interning with Dallas Zoo

All students want to have a unique internship experience that they can brag about and proudly place on their resumes. An internship that sets you apart and is out of the ordinary. This semester, TAI graduate student Lauren Lombardo is doing just that while completing her Executive Internship at the Dallas Zoo.

Lombardo inside the Dallas Zoo.

Lombardo is working one of few indoor jobs at the zoo as the Communications and Marketing Intern. Her job responsibilities include writing editorial content, writing features for the blog, and participating in social media efforts.

“I’ve learned a lot about taking on different voices and writing for different audiences,” Lombardo said. “I create content for a variety of outlets at the Zoo, and each one needs to be tailored specifically for that outlet. I’ve also learned to be a better interviewer. A lot of the content I write is dependent on what I can get out of people, and my supervisors have shown me how to ask more robust questions in order to dig a little deeper.”

While this internship shares similar responsibilities to that of many other marketing internships, Lombardo’s position at the Dallas Zoo offers her unique experience working for a very different type of brand than typically taught in advertising courses.

“A typical day at the Zoo is probably a little different than most of other internships,” Lombardo said. “Usually, I come in to the administration office and check e-mail, respond to inquiries, and catch up with my supervisors as they’ll often assign me special projects to work on. I might write a blog post, which involves calling and interviewing a keeper or possibly going to an event. I usually try to draft an engaging social media post to go along with a blog. Every Zoo employee has a radio, so we’ll often receive radio calls about important events, like an elephant introduction, and head over to watch it during the workday. Other times, there might be a behind the scenes tour for interns that I’ll go to. I like to eat my lunch by the Sumatran Tigers or on Cat Green by the native Texas cats and walk around the Zoo. I usually finish up my day by working on the member newsletter, which means I have to contact the different Zoo departments to get the latest scoop on what they’re doing. Overall, a typical day is full of lots of writing and animals!”

Sumatran Tiger in the Dallas Zoo.

Lombardo’s love for animals and conservation has made her experiences at the Zoo incredibly special for her. Since she gets to spend a lot of time around the Zoo, she has seen several special events and exciting moments.

“My favorite moment from the internship has been attending the Zoo’s Cheetah Encounter,” Lombardo said. “As an intern, I was allowed to watch the Encounter from a VIP viewing area, so I was up close and personal for the whole experience. Winspear, the Zoo’s cheetah, took off running from one end of the exhibit to the other, and it was so amazing to see this athletic animal in action. I could even hear him purr at one point! Winspear also has a canine friend named Amani, who helps keep him calm [because] cheetahs are naturally nervous animals. The keepers took the time to talk with me about cheetah conservation and tell me more about the relationship between Winspear and Amani. Conservation is extremely important to me, especially when it comes to big cats (big cats are my favorite animals), so this was an extremely insightful and fun event. I often attend events like this and write blogs or social media posts about the experience.”

Lombardo got her undergraduate degrees in English and Geography from the University of Texas, and is now getting her Masters in Advertising from SMU. Her internship with Dallas Zoo provides her a perfect opportunity to combine her interests.

“The internship speaks to my two very specific areas of interest – writing and conservation,” Lombardo said. “My [undergraduate] Geography coursework specifically focused on sustainability. I never thought I would find an internship that incorporated these interests so well, but it’s made my time at the Zoo even more special and invaluable in terms of experience.”

In the future Lombardo hopes to work in the field of advertising and marketing as a professional copywriter.

“I would like to work for a either a non-profit or an agency that specializes in non-profit advertising and marketing,” Lombardo said. “My internship at the Zoo has provided me with direct experience in crafting copy for a non-profit and appealing to the members/donors that support the 501(c) community. I would also specifically like to work on campaigns that revolve around conservation and social responsibility, which is a major area of focus in the content I produce for the Zoo.”

TAI Students Attend Dallas Networking Events

Last week, both undergraduate and graduate students from TAI participated in multiple networking events making connections with companies across DFW.

Tuesday evening, TAI graduate students went to Ad2Dallas’ Speed Career Connections event. The event had professionals from numerous agencies, including The Company of Others, Inspire Agency, The Richards Group, ReedMitchell, SocialCentiv, TM Advertising and Resolution Media. The Creative Circle also helped attendants by reviewing resumes and providing career guidance.

Attendants at the Ad2Dallas Networking Event Photo credit: Ad2Dallas
Attendants at the Ad2Dallas Networking Event
Photo credit: Ad2Dallas

“I really enjoyed the Ad2Dallas event because it was a fun and casual way to meet working industry professionals,” TAI graduate student Lauren Lombardo said. “They offered some very insightful advice about entering the advertising job market, and it was interesting to hear different perspectives within the industry. It also helped me work on my social skills, and I feel confident now walking up to people and starting a conversation. The Creative Circle even had a resume reviewing station where they offered critiques, which was quite helpful. Overall, it was a great opportunity to network with potential mentors or employers, and I had a wonderful time.”

Thursday afternoon, TAI undergraduate and graduate students attended a Communications Networking Event, jointly hosted by the SMU Hegi Family Career Development Center, TAI, the SMU Chapters of PRSSA and AAF (Ad Club). The event included employers such as Brunswick Group, D Magazine, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Southwest Airlines, The Infinite Agency, TracyLocke Advertising Agency, Weber Shandwick, and more. This event offered students the opportunity to meet industry professionals and make valuable connections for the future.

“The SMU Communications Networking Event was a great experience for me and my fellow peers,” TAI undergraduate student Monica Gonzalez Glenn said. “We got the opportunity to meet some amazing employers from a variety of fields and industries here in Dallas. The employers were very excited to meet us and enthusiastically responded to every question we had. Based on my post-event experience, recruiters have been extremely open to shadowing requests, internship interviews, and willingness to network more.”

A similar career and networking event will take place in the spring on Wednesday, March 1 from 3-5pm in the Hughes-Trigg ballroom. The Temerlin Advertising Institute loves to partner with local Dallas and SMU organizations to provide opportunities for our students to make connections and further their advertising careers.

TAI First-Year MA in Advertising Students Present Campaign Proposals to REACH

MiNK Group
MiNK Group

As a final project for the Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship (ADV 6372) class, two teams of Temerlin Advertising Institute graduate students—KCB Group and MiNK, under the supervision of Assistant Professor Sidharth Muralidharan—created advertising campaign proposals for the non-profit organization, REACH, whose sole mission is to “provide services for people with disabilities so that they are able to lead self-directed lives and to educate the general public about disability-related topics in order to promote a barrier free community.” By targeting a primarily young demographic in the DFW metroplex, the major emphasis of the campaign was to create awareness of the various services offered by REACH.

KCB Group
KCB Group

On behalf of the client, the presentations were graced by several distinguished TAI faculty and staff, namely, Peter Noble, Anna Kim, John Hall, Alan Lidji, Amy Dahmann, and Cheryl Mendenhall. They provided invaluable advice to the students, ranging from presentation style to strategic ideas. Dr. Sid commented on the presentations, noting, “I am really proud of both teams as this was a challenging task considering the limited resources and budget, however, the students worked hard on the research and were able to extract some great ideas from the findings. I have no doubt that they can be implemented by REACH in the future.”

Social responsibility is a cornerstone of the Temerlin Advertising Institute’s Masters in Advertising program. ADV 6372: Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship is just one of several courses with a focus on social responsibility that students in the Institute’s MA in Advertising program are able to take. These courses, and the experiences gained through working with real clients, equip graduates to become leaders in the advertising industry by helping them recognize their responsibility to their brands, their consumers, their industry and their society.