SXSW: A shift from ‘break the system’ to fix it
Following a week in Austin Texas for SXSW 2023, Emily Taylor, chief strategy officer of M&C Saatchi AUNZ, reflects on what the key themes she and colleagues Cam Blackley and Andy Thomas observed - and how while the tone is different this year, the message is still the same.
Landing in Austin, Texas for SXSW 2023, we were all excited for a week of inspiration, innovation and culture. Not to mention an opportunity to sample a few tacos, margaritas and cowboy hats. Going off the themes that emerged in 2022, we were expecting sessions to be focused on NFTs, DAOs, crypto and the dark web. But the reality was much different.
Last year, off the back of a global pandemic and years of damage caused by regressive governments and didactic leaders, SXSW gave off a strong sense of ‘break the system’. Defined by technologies and ideologies designed to totally decentralise and overhaul the frameworks that regulate our lives. Those topics were all noticeably missing from this year’s line up. Instead we were treated to a more pragmatic and optimistic approach – evidence of experts, businesses and brands co-operating in unexpected ways, to fix our systems. Less anarchy and more reality. Perhaps less revolutionary at first glance, but just as exhilarating on closer inspection.
Patagonia CEO, Ryan Gellert, spoke passionately about the company’s new business model and commitment to redirecting all future profits to fighting climate change. His progressive views on the need for business to take full accountability for “fixing the mess we created” was enlightening as was his view that we must consider ourselves ‘owners’ rather than consumers, since around 85% of all textiles in America end up in landfill. The company takes a 360 degree view of the total impact of everything they do, from materials to manufacturing, and pays special consideration to the ‘end-of-life’ of a product with repairs, recycling and upcycling designed into the system. “We’ve lost the right to be pessimistic about the future,” he says. “We must take action now.”
Patagonia CEO, Ryan Gellert, on stage
Andy Thomas, ECD of Re, said of the session: “It was incredibly inspiring to see a business leader take responsibility for the climate catastrophe and make a genuine and accountable commitment to changing the future. By putting people and the planet over profits Patagonia is leading the way and throwing down a gauntlet to other businesses to follow.”
Meanwhile, I was inspired by Kenneth Kobe, Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of Texas with his research using Ideonella Sakaiensis, a naturally occurring bacterium capable of breaking down and consuming plastic. “The enzyme created could help put millions of tonnes of plastic created per year through a process that enables infinite reusability. A viable alternative to completely giving up plastic, which is not really an option in the world we live in.”
I equally enjoyed listening to the sharp and hilarious Kara Swisher [journalist, editor-at-large of New York Magazine, host of On with Kara Swisher and producer and co-host of the Pivot podcast] interview with Instagram founder Kevin Systrom on his new platform Artifact. Their conversation showed how an ‘anti-tech-bro’ could use his considerable clout to launch a new social media platform designed to fix our fake news problem (and with it take down Twitter?).
At Australia House Cam Blackley, CCO of M&C Saatchi AUNZ, spoke on ‘Enticing Travel Through Song, Art and The Written Word’ alongside Tourism Australia CMO Susan Coghill and Sounds Australia’s Mille Millgate. Amongst other topics, it covered the power and responsibility Australian brands hold to get our local artists on centre stage through our choices of talent, collaborations and musical artists when designing marketing. Critical to helping our arts recover post covid and create space for emerging and minority artists.
A highlight for Cam, beyond waxing lyrical on stage at Australia House was John Maeda, vice president of design and artificial intelligence at Microsoft. “He put AI and evolution into perspective. Where others worry about the rise of AI, impending doom, autonomous machines that will turn on humanity, he delivered a keynote that resonated with all because it made this space feel a natural part of the human story. He talked directly to how AI will improve not destroy our lives, a fix if you will. That AI is there to take care of “the boring stuff”. And in doing so open up time for humans to connect more. Imagine more. Balance our lives better. I think it was the first time that the relationship between technology and design has ever been this clear. So, it’s more ChatGPT for me, not less.”
We also heard fixes like: sustainable fuels for carbon neutral flying; electric vertical take-off ridesharing; how Formula 1 are going global whilst still hitting sustainability targets; virtual brands using excess kitchen capacity; new approaches to source and label fake news and identify deep fakes; more authentic applications of the metaverse; and the future of Space Tourism as a way of giving everyone a greater sense of global perspective.
With SXSW coming to Sydney in October, we hope the ‘fix the system’ vibes continue. There is so much we can offer our Asia Pacific perspective on. We look forward to conversations with our regions’ leaders, experts and brands on how they’re taking the lead on the issues that impact us everyday.
Emily Taylor is the chief strategy officer of M&C Saatchi AUNZ.
