1. SXSW Highlights,
thoughts & connections
Dom Burch | Nick Bamber | Matt White

2. We had the privilege of attending the SXSW festival

3. What is SXSW?
SXSW Interactive alone includes
more than 800 total sessions as
well as countless competitions,
exhibits, and networking events.
Three
events
in one

4. – Adobe funded every single new product idea
from any employee, no questions asked*.
– Created ‘Kickbox’ a box containing everything
you need to implement and test your idea, inc.
– Starbucks card for caffeine to fuel your idea.
$1000 dollar debit card to test /prove it *.
– First 1000 boxes have delivered 23 ideas into
products.
– Inspired new career directions (e.g. Legal to
Product Management).
– Adobe have open sourced Kickbox for anyone
to use.
– Your people are your best Innovation asset.
– ‘Stop playing the HiPPO game - Highest Paid
Person’s Opinion wins’.

5. – Adobe funded every single new product idea
from any employee, no questions asked*.
– Created ‘Kickbox’ a box containing everything
you need to implement and test your idea, inc.
– Starbucks card for caffeine to fuel your idea.
$1000 dollar debit card to test /prove it *.
– First 1000 boxes have delivered 23 ideas into
products.
– Inspired new career directions (e.g. Legal to
Product Management).
– Adobe have open sourced Kickbox for anyone
to use.
– Your people are your best Innovation asset.
– ‘Stop playing the HiPPO game - Highest Paid
Person’s Opinion wins’.
– Meets a lot of ‘entrepreneurs’ who don’t have
an idea.
– Lead with humility, self-awareness is key,
be yourself, be authentic.
– Your people and how you treat them is the
most important thing.
– The generosity gene is what you want to look
for in a boss.
– Kick someone when they are swelling not growing.
Don’t kick them when they’re down.
Highlights for Matt
Mark Randall – VP Creativity Adobe

6. Three P’s to success of leadership:
Persistence
There are many barriers and obstacles, leaders
breakthrough and find a way.
Persuasion
You need to bring people with you, willingly.
Preparedness
Be prepared for the road ahead, anything can
happen so be ready.
Final thought:
– Understand your people and their needs,
managing a team you will need to let go.
– You can get where you want to on your own.
But it’s easier with a map. Books are those maps.
Highlights for Dom
Jack Welch – Former CEO of GE
– Meets a lot of ‘entrepreneurs’ who don’t have
an idea.
– Lead with humility, self-awareness is key,
be yourself, be authentic.
– Your people and how you treat them is the
most important thing.
– The generosity gene is what you want to look
for in a boss.
– Kick someone when they are swelling not growing.
Don’t kick them when they’re down.

7. Lowlights of the event
‘Charles Barley
of Basketball
Fame speak on
social media even
though he doesn’t
do social! Very
disappointing.’
Dom

8. Thoughts +
Connections
The meetings and
conversations around the
event are as important as the
sessions themselves.
Connecting with people
such as, founders of Brand
Cast, Instacart and Blynk
Style, and even meeting
Ronald Mcdonald.
Taking time to reflect,
calibrate your thinking
and be inspired by what is
happening here.

9. US Grocery store
encourages customers to
‘buy theirs, get ours free’.
People don’t care about
brands as much as you
think. 77% admit they
have no brand relationship.
Simply suggesting loyalty can
drive disloyalty.
Attract new customers
with disloyalty.
Craig Evans - Executive creative director Wunderman

10. ‘We became one of the
largest US dry cleaning
businesses over night’.
‘Find me a new fedex/UPS’
shipping is a major
barrier for growth.
VC funding is hard for women
with female targeted ideas.
Male dominated industry prefer
things they can relate too.
Jennifer Hyman - Founder and CEO RentTheRunway

11. Other Stuff
that struck a
chord with us

12. More presence from women on
panels & presenting keynotes.
Criticism of
Dove making
women feel like
they are ugly.
– Future of retail was all women, very
positive and felt different.
– New generation of role models who
are confident and powerful.

13. The GE Media manifesto
Do we need
one in Asda?

14. Martine Rothblatt
Highest Paid US female CEO
Founder and CEO of United Therapeutics
– Immortality through cyber. personality imminent.
– New jobs and economy boom.
– Cyber personality psychologists/lawyers.
– Saving lives via bio-genetics (lungs, pig organs).
BINA48 - Her wife being made into a robot.

15. Katrina Lake - Stitchfix
‘Your either the
smartest or dumbest
person in the room
when you’re doing
something for the
first time’.
HeyHuman Agency
How our brains
are coping with social
media. We’re task
swapping not
multitasking.
An interesting debate
on retail
The future of retail:
Sales per sq ft metric
will kill traditional
retailers.
Samsung VR
A headset allowing
a 2D screen to
become 3D for you to
enjoy the view in a
virtual reality.

16. Facts of US Ad spend
‘US as spend on non
programmatic to sink
to only 17% of ad
spend by 2017’.
Ben Lerer - Thrillest
Ben Lerer founder of
Thrillest with a
revenue of over $40
million a year was the
best speaker of day 2.
Publishers
Publishers want to be
nearer the point of
purchase.
Katrina Lake - Stitchfix
‘Your either the
smartest or dumbest
person in the room
when you’re doing
something for the
first time’.
HeyHuman Agency
How our brains
are coping with social
media. We’re task
swapping not
multitasking.
An interesting debate
on retail
The future of retail:
Sales per sq ft metric
will kill traditional
retailers.
Samsung VR
A headset allowing
a 2D screen to
become 3D for you to
enjoy the view in a
virtual reality.

17. Wearable camera captures a
photo every 6 seconds.
Categories by location
for ease of use.
Tells your day/life story
in pictures.

18. Jaclyn Ling
Co founder of Blynk style
– Blnyk is a personalised stylist app and retailer.
– Tinder style interface learns your fashion style
preferences by liking or disliking imagery.
– Every photo that is swiped ‘like’ gets saved to your
profile as an aid to help you get styled.
– ‘Style me’ button in their profile.
– This could be a great addition for George.com.

19. Brendan Wright
Walmart
Mobile is consumers’ most dominant screen
and apps are now the primary way they interact
with brands.
– We are in the era of unadvertising.
– A shift from interruption to invitation.
– Broadcast to precision.
– Reach & frequency to moments that matter.

20. – A search enhancing algorithm to help
online searches
– The worlds largest community of readers
and writers.

21. – Tinder based UI that enables brands to collect more
unstructured data on personalities of their users.
Idea for Asda to collect richer data on consumers
– Bot blocking: Blocks bots from siphoning away your
data and revenue.
– Dynamic visual content production tool
to produce animated presentations.

22. David Sloly
Author & former
BBC reporter/
journalist
Five steps to telling
business stories
The five W’s set the scene
Who, What, Why, When, Where.
The four P’s
Prince, Purses, Pets, Places.
Three acts; beginning, middle and end
Act one: Problem/Obsticle.
Act two: Conflict whilst overcoming problem.
Act three: The resolve; learn from the conflict.
Two different states
Can’t be two states at the same time.
One killer headline
what gets noticed first, the three types
of headline:
– News.
– Promise.
– Intrigue (Man bites dog).

23. Our time in Austin, Texas

24. Post event thoughts
– Sign up for Radio lab podcasts.
– Connect Blynk fashion app team to George.com.
– Read Martine Rothblatt book “Virtually human”.
– Read book and contact David Sloly on business stories
invite to Asda for keynote.
– Connect with University/schools to produce insights videos
on how Gen Z Consume Media.
– Play and trial Visme.co (Powerpoint presentation tool).
– Consider tableau for AMP finance and sales team.
– Connect with Wattpad.
– Follow up with Saatchi and Mediavest on brand activity.
– Link Tom Lloyd with Luminoso (integrate with Endecca).
– Link GEC with Distil Bot Blocking.
– Tratify – look at how we can use on apps.