This year’s SXSW saw different digital tribes converging

There are few places richer in sources of inspiration than SXSW.

But, equally, the experience can be so discombobulating that it takes time to reset your mental compass. Now the dust has settled from my time in Texas, here’s my take on why the world of digital marketing, technology and media felt like it was at a crossroads at SXSW 2024.

This ain’t Texas (woo), ain’t no hold ‘em (hey)

After Beyoncé’s new Cowboy Carter album launched last weekend, it feels apt to consider where SXSW’s attendees were placing their bets this year. In short, everyone in Austin was clearly betting on two trends to deliver the jackpot: augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI).

It’s been less than 18 months since ChatGPT’s launch, yet there’s no doubt that AI is where the most brilliant minds in tech are placing their chips. I saw some jaw-dropping examples of how generative AI can transform how marketers create and transact ads; how quickly sales decks can be conjured (literally, in seconds).

But while there’s no doubt AI can disrupt traditional advertising processes, it could also have unforeseen consequences, like the camera’s invention in 1837 and its impact on the world of traditional art. Photography’s ability to represent reality freed painting from the need to be realistic. Just look at Picasso, who went from finishing his father’s classically-posed pictures (which the camera had rendered passé) to becoming part of the vanguard of one of the great avant-garde movements. The whole point was being utterly different to what had gone before.

I left Austin comforted by the idea that AI can free people in the creative industries from the tyranny of doing what is expected. Agencies will have to prove they can come up with something more original than the ChatGPT prompt ‘make a new ad campaign for [insert brand name]’.

The production goalposts are shifting, but so is the creative canvas.

Time for digital tribes to converge?

AR and virtual reality (VR) have had their false dawns, and it’s easy to characterize this tech as belonging to an always-out-of-reach future. But having experienced Meta and Apple’s spatial computing first-hand, I was left wondering what the hinge factor will be - that moment where we escape the trough of disillusionment and rush head-first into mass adoption. Austin showed me that we’re closer to this point than you might think.

SXSW may be about innovation and experiencing ‘the next big thing’, but the other thing that astounds you when you go there is the breadth of conversations and connections possible. If you ‘stay in your lane’ by attending the same sector conferences, it’s easy to become jaded. But this mindset is quickly dispelled by your first encounter with the charismatic founder of a psychedelic drone company or some other far-out business. You almost feel like an anthropologist, witnessing the different digital tribes trading knowledge. They are bound together by a common language, all relying on commerce’s great silk roads to spot converging trends.

Convergence between these worlds is a joy to witness first-hand. And anyone who says they know where all of this is going is lying.

In a year where elections are showing ever-deepening divisions, it’s easy to think about which direction the US is headed. But it’s equally easy to consider my native Britain’s place in the world. I was proud to represent Propeller as a new member of the UK Advertising Export Group (UKAEG), run by the unstoppable Aisling Conlon and Quianna Maw – and David Moody and Rupert Daniels at The Department for Business and Trade.

Brits don’t do patriotism in the same way as our American cousins, but the UK remains world-class at producing creative industry companies and the camaraderie and shared sense of purpose the trip created is something that will really stay with me.

As I prepared to head home with a new Stetson on my head, I realized that one of SXSW’s most impressive aspects is the way that time in Texas focuses on the new frontier. Looking out the window at the dark desert highways once more, I couldn’t help but think with a renewed sense of curiosity about where all of this is headed.