Via Yvonne Tocquigny, SXSW MAY BE OVER, BUT THE TAKEAWAYS ARE STILL RED HOT, Excerpt

Brian Solis, the author of “X: The Experience When Business Meets Design,” resonated with marketers on the topic of experience architecture and his belief that experiences are fundamental to branding. It may sound a little old hat on the surface, (i.e. Jim Gilmore covered this a decade ago in his great book, The Experience Economy), but it takes on new meaning in today’s context. He quoted Maya Angelou, “They can forget what you said, they can forget what you did, but they can never forget how you made them feel.”

Solis told how experiences can be little things with enormous impact: the memorable moments we create for customers every day. This overlaps with Micro Moments, a concept that Google is advocating: be present and helpful when customers need you. The five Micro Moments are defined as when you need to 1) learn, 2) buy, 3) know, 4) go or 5) do. Studying the friction points that customers experience in these moments can lead to innovation. Brian believes good experience design comes from developing experiences based on customer’s expectations, not our own.

Not everyone can make it to SXSW, and, in truth, it’s not for every marketer. What was once a nice Austin-based event, has exploded into a global “it” thing to do. The sheer size of the event makes it difficult to pinpoint what to experience to benefit your career and business. At a private party with a room full of tech CEO superstars, up-and-comers and venture capitalists, one attendee was overheard saying he didn’t go to any SXSW sessions. Instead, he went to meetings and parties, and that he’d watch some sessions on YouTube. Follow his lead, and use some of these takeaways to become a better marketer.