Are Telenovelas missing out on using hashtags to create conversation?

By Sergio Leiva

At one of the most interesting talks I had the pleasure to attend last week at SXSW, How Twitter has changed the way we watch TV, most of what was being used as examples came from the american TV market. However, one of things that resonated the most with me and that left me thinking about how we are approaching our digital strategies in Latin America is the fact that, according to the speaker, sports, reality TV, dramas and large one-time events are the biggest drivers of social interaction on Twitter.
If you stop to think about these four genres for a moment, you might realize that telenovelas are a mix of almost all of them (leaving only sports out), and being especially heavy on the drama and the one-time nature of its serial content.

At the talk, we were shown examples like The Walking dead or the much talked about House of Cards. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Telenovelas might just be missing out on something huge by not including hashtags or other ways to create conversation around their content.
Those of us who’ve had the pleasure of growing up with telenovelas, know that every episode (just as it happens with Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead) is a mix of drama and “can’t-wait-to-see-what-happens-next” kind of content.

What would happen if we were not only creating hashtags for our telenovelas, but also letting our audiences decide what will happen to the villain at the end of the story? (In any case, we all know the evil step-mother will either end up dead, reformed or in the loony-bin).
What if we were to create twitter handles for each of the main characters and have them give us clues as to what will happen to them or simply to enable conversation with the audience?
Telenovelas seem to me like the perfect conversation sparker that no one wants to admit to watching but that could be a goldmine in terms of interaction over different social platforms like Twitter.

Sx6s

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Ouya Keynote - Kind of disruptive

Julie Uhrman, founder and CEO of Ouya sat down with The Verge Editor-in-Chief Joshua Topolsky to discuss the company’s enormously successful Kickstarter campaign (raising $8.5M) and their vision to disrupt the video game industry, with crazy affordable prices and an Android-based OS that lowers the barriers for development. 

Ouya promises to make gaming in the living room as accessible as smartphones have made it everywhere else. Ouya isn’t just a console, it’s a platform that is based on the Android OS, which means it’s much easier for independent developers to make games for than Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo consoles. Less barriers for development mean more titles for casual to hardcore gamers, at cheaper price points. 

By expanding types of games beyond hardcore blockbuster titles like Modern Warfare 3 at a $60 a pop, Ouya hopes to bring casual gaming back to the living room for gamers of all skill levels.  This was a point that Uhrman stressed most throughout the discussion. Casual, light hearted games, like Angry Birds, should not be relegated to tiny screens. We should bring it back to the days where we all played Tetris in the living room together. 

Ouya isn’t trying to dethrone the 3 major consoles, yet. They position themselves as an additive device with games that major consoles won’t have, but you’ll still need the majors for the blockbuster titles that require more powerful hardware. 

The device will be distributed to Kickstarter backers in May and be in big box stores this summer for $99. 

That said, with that kind of vision and accessibility, one would think that the talk would have been a smash hit with the crowd of developers, gamers, and futurists. But reviews were definitely mixed as Uhrman didn’t go much beyond their vision in the Kickstarter campaign and some updates on product development. 

Still regardless of how the talk went, you’d be hard pressed to find any person who played a pre-PS2 console, who isn’t excited for Ouya. 

The gaming industry has matured, and like the film and music business, it’s time to lower the barriers for distribution and discovery of great content. 

The Evolution of SXSW (Infographic)

Tech geeks, film fanatics, and music lovers UNITE! It’s that time of year again when we all descend en masse to Austin, TX for ten days of panels, screenings, and parties. That’s right. We’re talking about the one and only, SXSW. What started out as an alternative music festival in 1987 has transformed into a breeding ground for new technologies and creative ideas.

Here are some interesting facts we discovered:

• Since 2010, SXSW Interactive has boasted more attendees than SXSW Music.
• Most of the attendees of SXSWi are between the ages of 21-40.
• More than 50% of the attendees work in creative or management.
• People at SXSWi have deep pockets! A quarter of the attendees have a combined household income of $100,000 – $200,000.

The Evolution of SXSW infographic by jrayvision.

via NewsCred http://bit.ly/WQAYQ7

We salute you, Nick Cave

If we’re talking about Art & Inspiration (the track that I am covering), I couldn’t possibly miss ‘A Conversation with Nick Cave’.

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The Making of a Meme

In October of 2011, White House photographer Diana Walker went on assignment to capture photographs of Hillary Clinton. One of these photos was of Clinton in sunglasses, gazing down at her Blackberry. The photograph ended up in a spread in Time Magazine, but didn’t generate much immediate response.

….Until April 2012. After a few drinks at a local gay bar, DC-dwellers and good friends, Adam Smith and Stacy Lambe came across the now-infamous photo of Clinton and decided to start a Tumblr, Texts from Hillary (http://textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com/). Within a few days, the Tumblr became a world-wide sensation. Smith and Lambe shared their surprising - but somewhat deliberate - journey through creating a popular meme.

Keep it simple. Smith and Lambe wanted to make the meme easy for them to create and for viewers to consume, so they kept each post to two simple images and concise copy.

Have a distribution strategy and create channels for discovery. Both Smith and Lambe have their own personal Tumblr followers, so they distributed Texts with Hillary to those people first. Then, they used their background in marketing to reach out to people in the media to cover their new tumblr.

Publicly acknowledge your fans. Rachel Maddow proclaimed that Texts with Hillary was the best thing she’d seen all week, so they created this:

To get Jon Stewart’s attention, they also created this:

Make a graceful exit. After only 30 posts and being invited to create their own Text from Hillary photo by Clinton herself, they realized they had reached the end of their meme journey and said goodbye to their readers. In doing so, Smith and Lambe allowed readers to think fondly of their Tumblr, rather than grow weary through over-saturation.

Original photo by Diana Walker for Time and Kevin Lamarque for Reuters.

Teen Bullying in the Digital Age

From Tyler Clementi to Erin Gallagher, it’s difficult to ignore recent media coverage of cyber-bullying and its perceived link to teen suicide. After learning about the challenges parents face when raising toddlers in the digital age, I had to attend “Growing Up in the Age of Facebook” to understand how social media has affected teens, and gain insights on how marketers can use this information to empathetically reach teens. Speakers for this panel included Emily Bazelon (Senior Editor at Slate and author of Sticks and Stones), Danah Boyd (Microsoft Research and NYU), Ben Keller (op-ed columnist for the New York Times) and Jason Rzepka (SVP of Public Affairs at MTV).

How has the internet changed this generation of teens’ lives, in relation to online bullying and drama?

• Boyd didn’t believe that the internet was to blame for the so-called bullying epidemic, and that the media plays an important role in creating alarmist stories. According to Boyd, research has shown that bullying rates have not increased with the inception of social media. She emphasized that it’s important to define bullying, which she classifies as ongoing, systematic psychological warfare and physical aggression towards another person. Bullying is often referenced in media as isolated incidents of meanness and cruelty, but it’s important to make the distinction between what is actual bullying, and what is not.
• According to Boyd, when both adults and teens agree on the definition of bullying, research shows that there hasn’t been a rise of bullying because of the internet, though its coverage in media exacerbates this so-called epidemic of bullying. Regardless, bullying still exists, although its severity is questioned by Boyd
• Keller disagreed. While he admitted to having less of a scholarly approach than Boyd, he believes that there is a general increase in meanness, aggression and polarization  - though doesn’t believe the internet is the sole villain in this. He believes that the crowded nature of this space gives people the incentive to shout controversial things to get attention, and that social media rewards partisanship

How has MTV used their authority among teens to address bullying?

• Since 2009, Rzepka’s team has been doing research and launching campaigns targeting teens, focusing on sexting and cyber bullying specifically. They saw an opportunity to launch a different type of campaign, as they felt that the existing messages were shallow, panic-driven, and probably wouldn’t resonate with teens today. The came up with A Thin Line, an organization that showcases scenarios of cyber and offline bullying, with opportunities for teens to step in to help their peers

Does the media amplify assumptions of increased cyber-bullying?

• Boyd agrees that yes, the media puts the ownership of bullying on the internet, and that they’ve propelled a narrative of victims and villains. This has caused new legislation that has pushed educators to prosecute and punish perceived villains of bullying, as opposed to trying to understand and fix the problem, which Boyd believes is an ethical responsibility for people in power
• Keller believes that in some aspect, there is a tendency in media to oversimplify stories. Journalists search for narratives and trends to leverage in stories, and right now, that trend is bullying. There are formulas for earning more traffic online, which further incentives media to dramatize stories

How can the media and marketers who reach teens address these problems?

• Boyd believes that there are nuances and complexities to these bullying stories that need to be addressed. She believes that current efforts for and coverage of these stories over-value the victims and demonize the perceived villains. She wants readers to challenge “lazy journalists” and ask for more complicated, nuanced stories that properly define bullying and are more careful in linking instances of meanness to teen suicide
• Rzepka believes that we should empower young people to support one another, and create programs where bullied teens can reach out to peers. MTV has dedicated years to creating campaigns that positions peer-to-peer bullying aid as the cool and right thing to do. He doesn’t believe that we’ll ever eradicate cyber bullying, but wants to make access to help easier

Hype vs. Reality: Takeaways from SXSWi 2013

Digitas has a new data visualization tool called SODA that they used to take us through the history of SXSW from Johnny Cash to Elon Musk as we celebrate SXSWi’s 20th year anniversary. Let’s take a deeper look at the current trends & hype as analyzed through social data.

2013 Top Trends:

The People:

• In 2004, there were 3,200 SXSWi attendees. In 2012, the interactive festival had over 24,569 people. This year, 27 thousand are estimated to have been in attendance. 
• Of the people that visited, Texas, NYC, and California were the top 3 states most people came from.
• The average SXSWi attendee is on average are young, affluential decision-makers. Their average at 1,226 Twitter followers & 632 FB friends

Top Breakout Personalities 

1st: Elon Musk got 10K mentions on Twitter

2nd: Grumpy Cat most mentioned

Top Trending Topics:  

1.) Data

• Why? Big data is all the rage except this year it’s focused around the “Quantified self.” It’s all about tracking your own behaviors to actually make changes to your real life. 

2.) Entrepreneurs

• Why? This year was all about bringing the startup culture and mentality to big companies or other organizations that may not be what most consider a “startup.” It was about instilling the startup culture in us all. 

3.) Digital/Physical 

• Why? It’s also called the “Digital Backlash.” In previous years big social apps have been the heroes (Twitter, Foursquare, highlight).
• This year it was much more about “hardware” or items that can marry the digital and physical worlds.
• Think 3D printers, Leap Motion, a fantastic motion interface for your computer that puts connect to shame and it’s only $79 dollars, & OUYA, the $99 free-to-play game console built on Android releasing in March. 

4.) Space 

• Why? Space exploration is much more accessible now & people are encouraged to think big. Just like Elon Musk does 

The Cool Brand Stuff: 

The theme was “Go Big or Go Home” for sure but let’s take a look at what most people talked about when it came to brands. 

Task Rabit van (fur bus that gave away free stuff)

GE Brilliant brew - a coffee truck that printed and made cool patterns in your coffee! 

LYFT - carpooling app that lets people share cars but they couldnt get cars to Austin, so what do they do? Wear giant pink mustaches and give people piggy back rides of course!  

NASA - literally brought a telescope that is set to release in 2018

My personal favorite brand experience from this year’s event? 

Game of Thrones of Course

Finally want to see want to see where people are going the most? 

Check out the live data via Foursquare here: 
Weareherenow.org/austinlive