Conversations – that's what it was about at previous SXSW shows, but this year's event moved the topic on to something much more meaningful: the information that can be derived from those conversations. In marketing-speak, that information is called Big Data.
The real value of this information lies in the fact that it allows marketers to create environments that humanise conversations with digital audiences.
A good example of successful audience engagement is Lego, and its SXSW talk "Online Lego fans and the people who love them" offered the following insights which could be applied across many industry sectors.
Sparking positive brand associations through conversation should be a key part of any digital manifesto. The rise of automated, real-time reactive technology can lead the right-brained side of some businesses to get very excited. There's a risk of becoming overly-focused on ultimate ROI, accountable delivery, every impression accounted for. But in a digital world, the art of conversation needs to be maintained, and requires a dialogue which will ultimately require us to listen attentively and not just react to external stimuli.
Being talked about is not something Lego lacks – within 48 hours of Ellen DeGeneres' star-studded Oscars selfie doing the viral rounds, Lego had quickly re-created its own version to be fired around the world, with some proclaiming it "better than the real thing".
Instead Lego suffers with a problem that most brands would dream about – how do you manage too much conversation about your brand, fuelled by an engaged audience that is not at the heart of your business model? For Lego this is an issue of engaging, facilitating, but also controlling the conversation adult fans are having about their love of Lego. Managing a successful fan community is something akin to parenting. Lego approaches this with the recognition that the business is theirs, but the brand is a baby that needs to grow within its own set of boundaries.
The first action brands can take to regain control is to create a forum where fans can feel legitimately heard. For Lego, this is closed fan site ReBrick. It is here that fans can propose ideas for Lego with regards to, for example, sets they would like Lego to make.
The proviso of this site is that if you get 10,000 likes to your idea, then your idea is elevated up to Lego headquarters to be considered for production.
Creating a public stage for fans to share their experiences cleverly hands fans a legitimate opportunity to express themselves and to have some co-ownership of the brand, whilst also housing this in an enclosed environment. This is particularly pertinent for Lego: as one employee told us, "dealing with Lego you have to understand something known as the TTP – Time to Penis. For Lego "the time taken before someone creates a penis can be seconds" – alluding to another point covered in the session, the potential of fans to be both "the biggest asset and greatest liability for any brand".
Careful management of the fan-base is delicately done via the Lego team, with the very tacit observation that they tread a fine line. "If you don't hire them, you can't fire them" one panellist told us, but equally fans can often think "they know better than anyone else" and sometimes you need to step in.
To return to the parenting analogy, just like any good mum or dad, the company needs to create clear boundaries and understand that – despite any protestations – you will usually know best.
Jen Smith is head of planning at Maxus UK.
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