This year’s standout merch campaigns show why branded products are having a moment, not as giveaways, but as attention engines. From pop culture sparks to sustainability and event-driven personalization, the examples demonstrate what makes merch work when digital noise is at its loudest.

This year’s festival highlighted a maturing creator economy, a reality check for AI, and bigger and bolder brand activations and marketing trends.

The creator economy asserts itself at SXSW: Panels with creator platforms underscored their crucial place in the marketing ecosystem

Brands and marketers have an increasingly prominent presence at the annual technology, arts, and culture festival in Austin, Texas, which this year took place from March 8 to 16. We break down the key topics that drew the most attention from attendees.

South By Southwest was last week, and AI and VR were all the buzz. Gen Alpha is growing up with these technologies, which means the next generation of consumers will not just be used to AI and VR—they’ll expect to see it. Here are three takeaways from our analyst regarding tech trends at the event.

The South by Southwest festival returned to Austin, Texas, in full force this year, with discussions on the future of technology, brands, and marketing. Here, we lay out the top trends and takeaways.

SXSW’s return reemphasized the importance of experiential marketing activations: Prime Video and others made big splashes, though pandemic-era virtual experiences remain.

Instagram’s role in the metaverse will involve NFTs and the creator economy: At SXSW, Zuckerberg hinted at long-term metaverse plans and upcoming NFT features.

In-person events are a cornerstone touchpoint for many B2B companies, but as the coronavirus outbreak progresses globally, major business events have been cancelled or postponed. This will come at great cost to marketing budgets and can have a lasting impact on revenue and sales.