With just 10 days to be seen amid the crowded landscape of activations, promotions, and events, marketers and sponsors of this year's South by Southwest festival employed a number of tactics to get attendees tweeting, Instagramming, and interacting with their brands. In addition to gadgets and immersive tech-driven experiences, companies opted for unique activities, artist collaborations, social media tie-ins, and, of course, freebies.
From IFC's human sticky wall and Mashable's replica of the liger prop from Katy Perry's Super Bowl halftime show to Spotify's fitness classes and GE's hands-on barbecue sauce workshop, here's a look at how brands stood out during the 2015 run of SXSW.
The Pursuit of Equinox classes at the Fast Company Grill at the Cedar Door highlighted the newest cycling class centered on data tracking during SXSWi. In the class, bikes pedaled by participants sent out data that was visualized on a screen in front of the room. BMF Media produced the Fast Company Grill.
The theme of the Mashable House was #BreakTheInternet. The venue featured a photo op where guests could climb into a giant replica of singer Katy Perry’s “liger” from this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
New to the IFC Fairgrounds this year was the giant human sticky wall. Participants donned velcro suits and tossed themselves against the tall sticky wall. The channel's activation was produced by LeadDog Marketing and ran during SXSW's music portion.
Hype Hotel switched venues to a bigger space at the Fair Market for its music showcase, which allowed sponsor Taco Bell to create a storage container restaurant in the outdoor space, complete with a taco storefront and patio.
At National Geographic’s interactive scavenger hunt game, participating teams entered a shed-like space and had to solve puzzles in order to escape the cold during SXSW Interactive.
Taking over the Gatsby, Pandora created a meeting-friendly connected home during SXSW Interactive. Produced by Stoelt Productions, the activation included five rooms featuring different devices, including iPad Air, Google Chromecast, and TiVo.
To teach attendees about the storied history of the vodka distillery, Ketel One designed a long history wall at its two-day event at the Fair Market during SXSW Interactive. Elements included fruits depicting the origin countries of the liquor’s three flavor profiles, interactive four points of quality testing, and a cocktail personality quiz. There was also a living green wall comprised of herbs typically used as cocktail garnishes.
Tumblr teamed up with artists to create projected installations for the musical showcases at the Tumblr IRL residency during the music portion of SXSW at Ironwood Hall. Different bands were paired with different artists, such as Twin Shadow with photographer Milan Zrnic.
To celebrate the launch of TV network Palladia's Instagram account at its music party at the Cedar Door, guests were able to use the event’s official hashtag to share photos through Crowd Reactive as well as print mailable postcards with the images. The event was produced by BMF Media.
Fader Fort hosted local Austin artists to create unique custom designs for guests wearing Converse shows during the music portion of the festival. The Fort also handed out 100 pairs of sneakers to random attendees.
During SXSW music, Neiman Marcus transformed a bungalow into an inspiration house where each room had an inspired-by theme. The music room featured hanging headphones playing music from presenting artists. Guests were invited to help fill out a pointillism mural in the art room.
Friskies took over Cafe Medici on Congress Avenue to create the Haus of Bacon for two days during SXSWi. The cat food brand teamed up with artist Jason Mecier to create portraits of famous Internet cats using bacon, cat kibbles, and Friskies’ packaging.
For more low-key fun, Brooklyn Brewery hosted Tiny Tails to You, a local traveling petting zoo, for a day at the Grackle. This included a petting zoo and tortoise races.
BuzzFeed's BFF Cluhouse featured an emoji fortune-teller for the day. By looking at guests’ most recently-used emoji on their smartphones, the fortune-teller picked the person’s fortune, including an emoticon to use more.
During SXSWi, 3M LifeLab was created using the company’s products, including Dichroic glass films, aluminum tubing, 3-D printed joints, and Scotchlite reflective fabric panels.
First-time sponsor McDonald’s created a comforting lounge with free food, Wi-Fi, and plenty of seating for attendees. The space was open throughout the musical portion of SXSW.
Fox created a food truck version of the convenience store from the cartoon The Simpsons, coordinated by Jordanah Events, and handed out free slushie drinks, or “Squishees,” to guests for two days during SXSWi.
During mornings, the music-focused Spotify House held cycling classes by SoulCycle with a live DJ and simultaneous dance classes.
As part of the exploration on what makes barbecue delicious during SXSWi, Serious Eats hosted barbecue sauce workshops where participants were able to create their own flavors using a base sauce and additional condiments, which could be taken home in vials.
The Ipsos Girls’ Lounge made the trek out to SXSW, offering a female-friendly space for networking, panel discussions, exercise sessions, and more, during SXSWi.
Ponchos were dispensed to passersby and attendees of Comedy Central’s one-day Kegs and Eggs at Pelons & Bar during the music segment of SXSW, just in time for the rain.
As part of Dr. Martens’s Stand for Something campaign during SXSW music, the shoe brand let attendees complete the phrase “I Stand For” on free T-shirts.
Flood magazine, formerly known as Filter magazine, scaled back its music showcases at SXSW this year. The simple event featured big bands and artists like Spoon and Run the Jewels performing at the open-air space at Cedar Street Courtyard.
Animal Planet’s Next Cat Star Party featured hanging balls of yarn and giant cut-out cat cardboard figures for decor and photo booth props. The network also passed out promotional cat ear headbands to guests.
Patrón’s branded train parked at the Austin Amtrak station hosted several dinners and happy hours helmed by local chefs and bartenders throughout the festival. On March 18, Rolling Stone partnered with the tequila brand to screen a documentary about Austin-based musician Gary Clark Jr. Vases and planters from halved bottles of the tequila were scattered on tables. There was also the taste wall, where guests could try different types of tequila.
For the span of SXSWi, CoverGirl ran the makeup bar at Cosmopolitan’s lounge at the JW Marriott, giving free makeovers to guests.
