The Braze for Impact Podcast #7: A Head-Spinning Weekend in Austin

Sarah and DK were fresh off an eventful visit to South by Southwest (SXSW) and stopped by the Braze for Impact studios to give PJ the scoop of what they saw, did, and learned during their eventful visit. Aside from their traumatic experiences riding scooters through Downtown Austin traffic, here are a few things that Sarah and DK will always remember about their SXSW 2019 experience:

Female-fronted panels

DK recaps her brief but meaningful brush with fame after speaking on a panel alongside TV personality Maria Menounos and a few other very impressive women. The panel touched on important topics like the personalization equation, women in the workplace, and strategies for promoting diversity in general in organizations. It was an engaging discussion and a proud moment for Braze to be represented on such a vital panel.

Interactive marketing

Pop-up shops, bar takeovers, free ice cream, and puppies. Those are just a few ways brands pulled out all the stops at SXSW, going the extra mile to give visitors memorable experiences. The gang discusses the effectiveness of this interactive approach to marketing. Do these stunts really build positive associations between customers and brands? What kind of ROI do you get on this sort of strategy? Does experiential marketing get people to download your app? How can brands innovate on this strategy so that it remains fresh?

AI overload

DK and Sarah recalled roughly one million events and/or talks exploring the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing. What are brands doing to incorporate AI? And how can businesses bring a “human element” to this technology? Admittedly, after all of this AI talk, DK and Sarah were left wondering: What more is there to say about AI? And how can we start having new groundbreaking discussions about a topic that’s quickly reaching over-saturation?

Hear DK and Sarah tell all about their head-spinning weekend in Austin—featuring cameos from a Stranger Things star, way too many CBD enthusiasts, and, we cannot emphasize this enough, puppies.