As part of IAB New Zealand's commitment to sharing global insights and fostering diverse industry perspectives we invited Emily Isle, a senior member of the IAB New Zealand Data, Privacy & Measurement Council to share her reflections from SXSW 2025. The views expressed in this opinion piece are Emily's own and do not necessarily reflect those of IAB New Zealand.
Author: Emily Isle, Chief Digital Officer, MBM New Zealand.
This year I had the opportunity to fly over to Austin Texas for the South-by-Southwest (SXSW) festival. I’ve attended the conference before, wearing many hats - from activating brand experiences on-site to attending the talks themselves. In any scenario, I’ve walked away with an understanding of cultural trends, marketing tips and technology know-how. This delicious brainfood, along with a dose of BBQ and tex-mex bliss, bring me back to those Austin Conference Centre halls whenever I can swing it.
SXSW explores the convergence of art & design, culture, commerce, and technology and comes to life across Interactive, Film, and Music streams. I attended the interactive stream, which emphasized technological innovation and sustaining human health through societal change. An overarching theme came through - the idea that we control our future. Science and technology has advanced so much that we no longer predict trends, we make them happen. With this power comes great responsibility and we are left wondering where the world is going and how we participate in it all. The conference helped address this swirling anxiety by providing a deeper understanding of our world, our community, and ourselves - and within each of these I sought out useful considerations for those of us in the marketing and advertising industry.
Our world - stand out technology updates
It’s so clear that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is evolving, impacting search, marketing, and business operations. But what is interesting is that it is undergoing a dual evolution, with Large Language Models (LLMs) facing challenges like bias and environmental impact, leading to a rise in Small Language Models (SLMs) and AI Agents. These smaller models are more efficient, require less data, and focus on specific tasks. This makes them better for the environment and also better at useful application like AI-powered customer experiences, enhanced security, and the big one we encounter daily - assistive search. AI transforming search with Google’s AI Overviews and even Microsoft’s Copilot development is a key change for marketing. It’s also impacting shopping through image search and more personalised product experiences. The big take away on this front was that organisations need to rethink their content strategies to cater to both human and machine.
Next up was Quantum computing and living intelligence, both stewarding advancements in enterprise problem solving and production. Quantum computing, utilizing qubits, allows for complex problem-solving by mimicking atomic behavior. The hardware now exists and using it is becoming more accessible through programming tools like D-Wave’s python toolkit and IBM’s Qiskit. Over the next four years, it is expected to progress and have a great impact on business, especially sectors dealing with simple molecules, such as operations, fertilizers, food, and pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile living intelligence, the fusion of AI, sensors, and biotech, has created intelligent systems capable of perceiving, learning, and evolving. This leads to Large Action Models (LAMs) that learn from behavioral data to predict actions. Whereas robots to date have been clumsy and restricted to simple tasks, like giving your cat a ride while vacuuming, they can now adapt to their environments. Adaptive robotics can operate autonomously in diverse environments. This holds the potential to transform industries like healthcare, agriculture, and construction - and it makes way for home robot butlers!
Naturally, with all of this progress it’s important to address responsibility within organisations using this new technology. Essentially, the proliferation of AI necessitates a strong focus on ethics and governance. Responsible AI requires organisations to set guardrails and new standards of employee conduct. Organizations are advised to manage AI Agents as if they were employees, governed under similar expectations and terms. Training on the sustainability impact of AI was also discussed, encouraging mindful usage due to energy and water consumption.
Our community - countering the loneliness epidemic with human connection
"Social health" opened the conference as the first keynote topic. Social health is gaining awareness as the third pillar of human wellness – alongside physical and mental – recognising the importance of relationships and community. Studies shown demonstrated that human connection significantly impacts immunity, heart health, and longevity, but it is currently undervalued by society. Social health innovation is poised to disrupt a variety of sectors. Doctors will start to screen for loneliness and prescribe connection. Technology will be reimagined to enhance, not replace, human interaction. Companies prioritising social health are expected to outperform competitors by fostering socially-fit teams. Practical tips that were shared for improving social health included creating "to love" lists, prioritizing direct communication over passive social media consumption, and embracing micro-connections - like talking to the person next to you in line or on the bus.
Community extended to the marketing conference stream through consumer relationships with brand community and fandom. Consumers are increasingly seeking community-driven brand experiences over transactional ones; they are aching to connect. Marketers can align brand experiences with shared passions and create diverse entry points to the brand for their fans, such as through the love of music or digital content touchpoints, including collaborations with content creators. Leveraging "new-stalgia" was also a big trend, taking an older brand and re-inventing it for younger audiences. This is done successfully by many brands today, from Nintendo with Super Mario Brothers to Disney with Star Wars and Paramount with their Mean Girls reboot. Focusing on authentic human stories was also referenced as a tool to deepen fan engagement.
The next interesting area was how we are impacted at work and in our office spaces. It’s more than just a new generation of workers with Gen Z attitudes. With AI shifting skill set priorities, work and the workforce is evolving, prioritising new social and leadership behaviours. The nature of work is being redefined by factors like the gig economy and a desire for greater control and purpose among workers, particularly those under 30. This leads to diverse organizational structures where relationships and creativity skills become more important than task-based capabilities. The traditional 9-to-5 workday is becoming less relevant as innovation and agility take precedence and more of the workforce operates cross-borders and time zones. Leadership is shifting from a management focus to one centered on growth, adaptability, and learning.
Ourselves - maintaining personal agency and hope in the face of rapid change
Personal agency and digital sovereignty is key to a "hope mindset". I know what you’re thinking, a 40-something year old white woman preaching about manifesting is no surprise - but this really was a prevalent topic! To shape the future effectively, individuals and businesses should adopt a "hope mindset" characterized by radical optimism, unreserved openness, compulsive curiosity, perpetual experimentation, and expansive empathy.
Personal agency was positioned as crucial in an era of digital overload and algorithmic influence, prompting a move towards digital sovereignty where creators own their work and livelihoods, facilitated by decentralized social media platforms. Users are seeking more control over algorithms and content, driving the growth of platforms like BlueSky which allow their users to customize their own social media experience.
From a marketing perspective this highlighted the opportunity for brands to embrace uniquely human experiences, pairing machine with humans to build trust. It also spotlighted an opportunity for emotional brand storytelling. People need a feel good story or a good cry more than ever - and emotion triggers memory.
In summary…
I flew away from those American shores feeling both invigorated and terrified. It was validating to know the pressures of today’s rapid change was a shared condition, something we are navigating as a society. But as it stands, our technology is not facilitating the connection we need as humans to navigate this together. Social media scrolling is full of empty calories amongst the broligarchy of a loneliness epidemic. AI and bots may be useful, but they are never accountable. Humans are uniquely empathetic and can support each other through change.
Increasingly we as a society will use AI to automate everyday tasks, quantum computing to solve complex & material problems, and robotics to supplement physical labour. This means that we (and in turn brands) will benefit from fostering community and a hope mindset to bring humanity and accountability into all we do.
So here we are, needing to be very conscious of our mindset, our own agency - needing to re-think everything. In fact, we need to Think Beyond, as I’d like to say proudly with my MBM hat on. Applying these insights can lead to incredible brand experiences and storytelling opportunities if we lean in and embrace the change.
Now is my chance for a micro connection - if you would like to have a yarn about some of these trends, feel free to reach out. I love a coffee, love a chat, and am learning to prioritise human connection in all I do as a matter of social health. Come join me!
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