Sessions at SXSW Interactive 2011 about Influence and Marketing

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Friday 11th March 2011

• My Kindergartner Markets Better Than You

  by Kriselle Laran and Dave Peck

  Marketing is a fine line between sales and PR. This panel aims to focus on the rudimentary principles of marketing often overlooked by both new and established businesses. Special attention will be paid to "playground tactics" and ways that kids can influence others with far more success than adults.

  Kids have a natural instinct for marketing - they learn early in life to bring enough for everyone, to become an expert at everything, and to share just enough to make the friends but not so much where they turn others away.

  By approaching marketing like a five year old, brands can develop and maintain a strong identity and establish a role as an influencer in the industry. Applying concepts like bringing enough for everyone (appealing to a wide range of audiences), or staying out of detention (being marked as spam), brands too can become an expert at everything (establish itself as an industry leader).

  A typical five-year-old can identify common commercial jingles and name the season's popular toys. Five minutes in a playgroup can result in families having to take a trip to the toy store because of the influence of other kids on their own children.

  Kindergartners have a lot of influence. Its time to start following their lead and start learning the right way to approach marketing.

  LEVEL: Intermediate

  • Children
  • Influence
  • Marketing

  At 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Friday 11th March

  In Ballroom E, Austin Convention Center

Sunday 13th March 2011

• Influencer Throwdown: Proving Influence Once and For All

  by David Binkowski, Kevin Dugan and Krista Neher

  Influence "experiments" like Fast Company's project do more harm then good when it comes to defining and measuring influence. It's more than how many people you can get to vote for you. Instead of counting the people who reach you need to reach the people who count. Four marketing veterans will weigh in with individual presentation on their real-world examples of influence and discuss the current state of influence. What's real, what's wrong and what's next.

  As part of the interactive discussion attendees will learn
  * different approaches to measuring influence
  * specific examples of influence including the impact it had for a brand
  * ways to identify and measure influence

  LEVEL: Advanced

  • Influence
  • Marketing

  At 11:00am to 12:00pm, Sunday 13th March

  In Salon D, Hilton Austin Downtown

  Coverage slide deck

• Influencers Will Inherit the Earth. Quick, Market Them!

  by Sloane Berrent, Joe Fernandez, Anthony Ha, DJ Patil and Mike Yavonditte

  With a growing number of marketing activities taking place online today, the search is on to find the best way to market to online consumers. In this panel, we’ll discuss how influencer marketing may just be the ticket everyone has been waiting for and how best to use it.

  Influences are at the top of the knowledge dissemination pyramid. Look at “RT @guykawasaki” and you immediately get a sense of the power influencers have to spread information. They have a unique ability to surface interesting information and package it in a way that makes people want to click-through and act, whether through purchasing or retweeting.

  The idea behind influencer marketing is that it centers around identifying influencers, marketing to them and then marketing through them to reach the consumers whose attention they hold captive. With this tactic comes issues, like how do you identify top influencers in things like traveling, fashion or even cupcakes? It’s no easy task.

  Computational algorithms and semantic analysis however have progressed to the point where technology can now allow us to locate influencers in any topic in the world. In this panel, you’ll hear from the experts dissecting online influence and the marketers employing such maneuvers to intelligently reach their audience on their own turf.

  LEVEL: Intermediate

  • Influence
  • Marketing

  At 12:30pm to 1:30pm, Sunday 13th March

  In Ballroom F, Austin Convention Center

  Coverage video

Monday 14th March 2011

• Everyone’s Wrong about Influence. Except your Customers

  by Valeria Maltoni

  What is influence? For a decade, Malcom Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" has served as a touchstone for those who believe that influence resides in the hands of a select few. Not so, says a new generation of marketers. They believe that thanks to the democratizing power of the Internet, anyone can be an Influential.

  Both camps are wrong. True influence flows from drawing together people with shared interests. This session focuses on the process of identifying areas of relevancy among your customers and prospects, building community, and allowing others to amplify your influence as you meet their needs.

  LEVEL: Advanced

  • Influence
  • Marketing

  At 12:30pm to 1:30pm, Monday 14th March

  In Ballroom F, Austin Convention Center