Name: SXSW Has Become a Marketing Tool
Uploaded: 2016-03-15
Duration: 2 min 37 s
Description: Not finding the next startup

We're at south buy interactive the big question we've got is this really about marketing or is it still about tech and finding the next start up, Chris? I think it's absolutely a marketing event at this point and you don't have to really go too far outside the marketing center to see this 's not a hundred feet there's a giant away tai fighter. About 500 feet that way, there is a 100 foot Ferris wheel. So it's big stunts get big audiences there. And those are the things that are getting written about a lot online, because they're just quirky enough to capture people's attention. That's true. Now, these are the big companies, though. Disney, USA Today. So, A lot of the smaller companies are still coming here with actual tech, hoping to break through to the other side, just like Twitter, or any of these start ups. So I've met with a couple start ups who are doing some really deep and cool tech in machine learning and artificial intelligence, and I actually plan on writing about them. See here's the thing though. Did you meet up with those companies as you were walking down the street. And they handed you something. Handed you a flyer, handed you a pin, handed you a bag of popcorn. It's a great way to guerilla marketing is becoming more and more the trend in self buy. Because it's a way for companies that can't afford this show. To actually get attention. despite the marketing, there's still so much tech like the [ UNKNOWN ] there's a bunch of scientists here and they're talking about everything from vital reality to implanting chips in people's brains. It's pretty [ UNKNOWN ] stuff and I would say that despite being [ UNKNOWN ] by a Free beer and tacos, which actually just makes it a more fun environment. Right. And that keeps the media coming, so they will actually spread this tech around. Maybe so, but what you mentioned about the free tacos and beer I think strikes a cord. There is no quicker way to gather people to your booth than to give away food and alcohol, especially here in Texas And I think you're seeing more companies do that then you used to because the show goers maybe aren't quite as interested as they used to be in the technology .>> Maybe they come for the beer but I do think the tech still gets out there. I mean, you go, you stop, you get the beer, you're like man how does this work or there's actually a home brewing. Company over there that actually has cool technology its a connective brewing machine that uses actual AI, it's got GPU in there. These guys are doing a bang up business, they could be the next twitter, it's totally possible. Well we may have to agree to disagree on this one, but at the worst, we got a beer. There we go.