Well actually it ended a few days ago, but Austin's annual music industry SXSW (or South by Southwest) took place March 15-19 and it sounds like it was bigger than ever this year. Now in its 19th year, SXSW has been known for rockin' showcases that put bands on the map and create a buzz, and of course rockin' parties. As someone who interned at a major music distributor and once dreamed of being a record label exec (before I realized the only way to get hired was to be an unpaid intern for 3 years), this would be a dream environment to me. This year the conference expanded to include interactive and film components, most likely only exponentially increasing the fun.
I do have to say that last weekend was quite a blast. I spent two days consuming large amounts of basketball and beer in the company of some friends. I've come to the conclusion of no matter how much basketball you watched the first two days of the NCAA tourney, you still want more. Those upset moments are just addicting.
And of course march madness brings the ubiquity of NCAA pools. While they're usually referred to as "office pools," that term holds no significance to me because when you work at a 22-person industrial design firm there's none taking place. Luckily, I managed to enter three different pools with groups of friends. After sitting in the middle of the pack at the end of round one I've moved to the top three in each thanks to some nice sweet 16 picks. Gotta love having extra incentive to watch the rest of this thing play out.
I wasn't planning on talking about anything marketing-related in this post, but I just read about one of the coolest online marketing initiatives I've ever seen. Nike and Google have quietly launched the first invitation-only Web site for soccer-mad fans around the world. The site, Joga.com, went live late last week and will be running in 140 countries and 14 languages. It looks like the site will be incorporating profile pages, forums, video and rich media conent, and more. It sounds very similar to MySpace, but the bigger thing here is this is the first example I've seen of a brand getting the social marketing thing right. If the content is as good one would expect from these brands, this thing could really catch on with soccer hooligans worldwide and provide an authentic, interactive brand experience for Nike (not to mention further cement Google's reputation for amazing content). If it does catch on, we're also going to see A LOT of shitty, contrived attempts at the same sort of thing. Gotta love clueless marketers.
Alright, I'm out. Go UConn! (Daddy needs a new pair of shoes)
CURRENT LISTENING: White Stripes - Walking With The Ghost cover
LAST MOVIE SEEN: Good Night, and Good Luck
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