SxSW 2015: Key Insights

Digitas Health LifeBrands took a trip to The

Lone Star state and immersed ourselves in

all things South by Southwest (SxSW).

The days went by fast as we were pulled into

speed sessions, meet-ups, brainstorms,

demonstrations, hack-a-thons, pitches,

accelerators, and a myriad of other

Austin-style opportunities.

The next few slides are our attempt to bring

some of our learnings home with an

emphasis on the relevance to healthcare

marketers. Enjoy!

What it is:

Our bodies communicate subtle messages. For

instance:

• When a person puts their hands behind their head, it

means they want the speaker to stop and give them

the stage.

• When you look down while talking, you’re accessing

your memory, when you look up, you’re accessing

your imagination (or lying).

• Real smiles affect your entire face, fake smiles only

affect the mouth.

Why it matters:

We need to take body language into account when:

• Observing how people are reacting to digital

platforms

• Presenting digital concepts

See What I Mean:The Language of the Body

1

FOMO, Facebook, and Pot: Your Brain On The New Millennium

2

What it is:

Countless studies reveal that the Internet has resulted in

dramatic differences in the way our brains are wired.

Raashi Bhalla, Creative Strategist at Pinterest by trade,

and neuroscientist by training, explained that we

experience FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) after seeing

Instagram photos because of a parallel brain memory

combined with a cortisol spike. When someone likes our

post on Facebook, our nucleus accumbens pleasure

pathway is activated.

Why it matters:

Our brains are rewiring to process and map excess

information and transform that information into tasks and

behaviors outside the web.

The ability to process mass amounts of information

across disciplines can increase our ability to problem

solve. As a digital agency charged with changing

peoples’ behaviors – it was informative to see Pinterest

identifying the science behind how social works.

What it is:

J.M. Berger and Jonathon Morgan from the Brookings

Institute discussed their study of ISIS and how the group

has effectively gained attention by disrupting Twitter to

communicate their beliefs and spread terrorizing photos

and information.

Why it matters:

The graphic displays ISIS’ very dense network of

dedicated Twitter accounts that coordinate messages to

gain visibility. Although 50,000 accounts feels like a large

number, it’s only .02% of all Twitter users. However, it’s

their interconnectedness that gives them the ability to be

seen throughout the system.

Health communities have the same makeup: small

communities dedicated to a specific topic. While

traditional marketers may see these groups as small,

helping them form stronger bonds between each other

and to better coordinate communications using effective

content can provide huge visibility within networks like

Twitter.

The ISIS Twitter Census

3

Why it matters:

In meetings with companies like NewsCred and

Spredfast, you quickly realize that facilitating a brand's

content ecosystem is not simply an editorial bandwidth

problem, but a workflow problem as well. Getting great,

credible, and relevant content that fits meaningfully into

people's hectic time-starved day is tough for any brand

(or their agency) to do alone.

The way content and media is created and distributed continues to evolve

4

Why it matters:

With overlap comes opportunity (and risk). It’s crucial to

understand how these value-add media partner services

can be used, and when an agency or brand should be

owning the overarching strategy and design experience.

In healthcare, it’s important to find where overlaps are

disrupting customers’ day-to-day lives so marketers and

brands can help.

Marketing roles are seriously overlapping

5

The need for speed

What it is:

Velocity is speed with purpose and was a big theme this

year. Astro Teller, Head of the "Moonshot Factory,"

gave a keynote on the importance of failing fast because

it’s cheaper and you learn more quickly. When asked if

he was afraid of the pace of technological innovation, he

replied that it’s not the speed of technology he’s worried

about but our inability to react to the changes.

Why it matters:

For brands, marketing velocity can be tricky. Topical

relevance is transient and erodes quickly. Content

turnaround needs to be fast, but sometimes brands get

too caught up in trends and forget their true purpose.

Finding balance is key.

6

What it is:

There were 48 sessions on Health and Medtech at

SxSW. During the American College of Cardiology

Conference, which took place at the same time, there

was one talk on this topic.

Why it matters:

What will it take for patient-empowering Medtech

innovations to truly engage and excite healthcare

professionals, payers (both private insurers and the

government), hospital/healthcare systems, and the

pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry?

It will likely take proof that the onslaught of new data we

are generating can be meaningfully translated into better

outcomes—and perhaps more importantly—

less expensive healthcare.

Democratizing MedicineEric Topol MD

7

8

Is Big Data the Next Wonder Drug?

Eric Topol MD, Walter DeBrawer, John Nosta

It’s an exciting time to be a healthcare technophile.

The scale of initial enrollment in Apple’s ResearchKit is

a harbinger of efficient data gathering at a scale previous

unimaginable (and unaffordable).

What will we do with the terabytes of homeless data

being generated by a proliferating array of wearable

tracking systems? We’ll need analytic algorithms to

catch up with the burgeoning data, so that patients

and doctors know exactly what to do with the

increasingly quantified self.

Is it the next wonder drug? No. But it will help the next

wonder drug get to market faster—and will enable it to

be more effective for more people.

Thomas Morrow MD

A.I. MD: Virtual Health Assistants and the Future of Health Care

What it is:

The Cochrane Review on compliance concluded that

“most methods…are complex, expensive, and not very

effective.”

Could artificial intelligence (A.I.) solve this problem? Did

the movie “Her” foreshadow one possible future in which

our smartphones will solve this problem?...Maybe.

Why it matters:

Most of us need constant reminders, in a conversational

manner, that responds flexibly to our needs, in order to

change behavior. We don’t carry a doctor or nurse in our

pockets all day. But we do carry smartphones.

The 125,000,000 Americans with diabetes or

pre-diabetes need someone to keep them on track.

Perhaps that someone should live in their phones.

9

Technology and The Evolution of Storytelling

What it is:

Charles Melcher, Aaron Koblin, Ari Kuschnir shared

current trends in the evolution of storytelling through

the use of technology. Collective collaboration is a

new reality,

creating better and more relevant content for

participants.

Why it matters:

Storytelling, or as we like to say in marketing,

brand narrative, is evolving. We have long sought

to place the consumer at the center, but the

audience is now a highly active participant in the

narrative. Technology has created opportunities,

enabling more empathetic & powerful storytelling.

From the devices we know today to the emerging

proliferation of connected devices (IoT), the craft of

storytelling is at the dawn of a new and powerful

age.

0

IoT Decoded: Sensors, Small Data and Social Change

0

What it is:

We are at the beginning of a new era in our

evolution. Just as the printing press opened the

doors to enlightenment and the transition and utility of

information, sensors will rapidly change the world in

which we live. Driverless cars, smart homes, and

predictive and personalized health interventions will

not only change our lives, but are creating a data

ecosystem for continuous improvements in all

aspects of life.

Why it matters:

It is estimated that there are currently 1.5 sensors

for every person on earth. That number is slated to

grow to 50 billion by 2020. The genomic map

inside each of us is only 1.5GB of data (that'll fit on

two CDs). Biologically, we are finite, but

computability is limitless, connected, ever faster,

ever cheaper. That makes solving disease an

optimistic venture once we are more fully hacked.