SXSW Sydney: Iconic Brands talk Customer Loyalty While Industry Legends Fight for Good

The inaugural SXSW Sydney saw thousands of people flood the halls of the ICC, party in the park, and explore the Powerhouse Museum.

For most in attendance, the buzz in the air was one of curiosity for what was to come. For those lucky enough to have attended the Austin event in the past, there was a feeling of anticipation, an excitement in seeing the event through the eyes of their first time peers.

Around every corner there was something new to discover. A pop up event housing live music from up and coming artists, installations showcasing the newest technologies, and a consistent supply of talks from industry giants. 

Whilst it would be impossible to list off every event and recount every highlight, there are at least a few which spring to mind. 

When a predominantly western brand goes global, finding a clear brand focus that will resonate is difficult. The pair focused on LUX, a brand founded in the UK in 1899 but today, finds itself most successful in Asia. 

The talk centred around combining ‘culture with purpose’, with Serverine stating that “a highly saturated market needs a strong strategy,”  

It is no secret that each country has its own culture that is unique to them and brands that use a culture's values to their advantage when promoting a product are the ones that will be successful. 

The key takeaway came from Serverine when she spoke on the ability to change a brands core message and values, ever so slightly, to fit in with the culture that they are targeting - even if that meant going against one's own core value. 

MECCA has an insanely loyal customer base that all boils down to personalisation. Personalisation is fascinating, and as James stated, “the work is never truly done.” 

The advice given to the brands in the audience was, when designing a personalisation plan for a business, once one thing is achieved, moved onto the next, once that is achieved revisit the first, and so on and so forth. People's habits are constantly changing and data collected by the likes of Salesforce and Bowerhouse show that. 

The panel also touched on the future of personalisation and when it goes too far. Lauren stated that there is a fine line between what a customer thinks that they want versus what they actually want. Walking that line between an online shopping experience being far too personalised to the products that one is constantly restocking and finding a way to promote new products to a customer without it feeling overbearing is currently MECCA’s mountain to climb. 

For many years, there has been a debate surrounding the environmental and the emotional impact of the advertising industry. Chris, Nik and Anna stood as examples on how brands can use their platform ‘for good’. All three panellists encouraged those in the audience to rethink what ‘good for business’ means in the long run. If it means taking a loss for a quarter or two, it will pay off in the long run if one has the courage to try. 

Nik, for example, told the audience the story of one of his first ever business meetings for the Good Citizens Eyewear Foundation. In this story, he was told that the product was ‘just too good’ and that there was no way of making money. Taking the advice on board, he ignored it and persevered with his organisation. Believing that the good will come and today, his organisation is not only making money that can be used to continue to raise awareness surrounding single use plastics, but has saved thousands of plastic bottles from ending up in landfill or our oceans. 

Some of Australia’s most iconic brands such as Telstra, Canva and the Commonwealth Bank, saw massive crowds settling in to hear what it takes to make a brand iconic. Building and maintaining an iconic brand takes time and the ability to have a genuine interest in each customer that comes their way. 

Each brand representative spoke in building and maintaining trust with customers. Trust that the product will always perform the way it should and if it doesn’t, owning up to those mistakes rather than hiding away from them, providing customers with a sense of security that it will indeed be fixed. Brent Smart, CMO of Telsta touched on the data breach that plagued Telstra for sometime, providing it as a cautionary tale for brands and agencies sitting the audience on what to do when faced with something ultimately out of their control and how to regain that confidence and control once more. 

Finally, the advertising royalty that is David Droga talked on forming a connection between humanity and technology. AI has taken over as the industry buzzword du jour, with many still on the fence as to how to apply it to the work. He spoke on the inevitability of some jobs being taken over by the fast paced surge of AI technologies as it continues to learn. 

He encouraged the audience not to be scared of these advancements but rather further advance themselves, to accept technology for what it is and to value humans for their hearts. That, ultimately, is what he believes makes this industry special. 

“Understand technology, how you can bend it, the implications of it, what good it does, what scares you about it. Whether you want to ignore it or not, that's up to you. But don’t ignore it because you don’t understand it. Find the thing you love and care about, but don’t do it in opposition to where the world is going. Work out where the world is going and how you can make it better and more impactful,” he said.

“We need each other”, were the simple words spoken by David on the subject and they are ones that can be applied not only to the ever advancing technology but other to the industry as a whole. 

On which note, there was an overwhelming sense of community at SXSW Sydney. No one took their experience, or talked about their challenges and winnings as an opportunity to showcase how great they are individually at their job. 

Each person spoke about their teams, about their technology, their creative workshops with others and the need to connect, support and encourage each other to do good. Leaving SXSW Sydney with a sense that despite the turbulent times ahead, the good can be the thing to prevail.