Our 5 Favorite SXSW Stories

South By Southwest (SXSW) is always a whirlwind, and we can’t wait to go for a spin in the future. Here are a few of our favorite trends and stories that emerged from SXSW 2016:

1. Anheuser-Busch served up a dose of virtual reality, giving SXSW attendees a chance to “tour” the beer maker’s original St. Louis brewery in an immersive, multi-sensory experience. Check out the full story, plus a video from inside the Budweiser Beer Garage:

http://www.adweek.com/video/advertising-branding/how-budweiser-garage-brewed-immersive-experience-sxsw-attendees-video-170177

In addition to this cool report on Anheuser-Busch, Adweek also examined experiential marketing activations from American Greetings, Mashable, Suicide Squad, and Mr. Robot.

2. From humanizing brands with authentic storytelling, to the latest in ad blocking, virtual reality, and mobile, Social Media Today sums up a few of the trending topics in digital at SXSW:

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/top-digital-marketing-takeaways-sxsw

3. SXSW congregates trendsetters and regularly exposes the world to upcoming startups. Alyson Shontell with Business Insider reports that Anchor, an audio-based social network, might have stolen the show this year:

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-anchor-fm-and-how-to-use-the-app-2016-3

4. Adblock Plus announced on January 22 that its browser extension had been downloaded more than 500 million times over the last 10 years. This spurred predictable backlash from the advertising industry and led to Adblock Plus sharing a proposed solution at SXSW:

http://www.marketingdive.com/news/adblock-plus-announces-new-app-that-rewards-good-ad-content/415622/

5. Influencer marketing continues to grow in prominence, and Gnack, a tech startup announced at SXSW claims to have cracked (Gnacked?) the code for programmatic influencer content on Snapchat and Instagram. Marketing DIVE takes a look:

http://www.marketingdive.com/news/gnack-brings-programmatic-to-snapchat-and-instagram-influencer-content/415811/

Now that you’ve seen our favorites, what trends and stories from SXSW 2016 most excited you?