Global creatives are heading down to Austin this week for SXSW. This year the Austin Convention Center is undergoing renovations, so the planners had to rethink their approach to the event.
“When you lose a central hub, you have to find new ways to help people find their people,” wrote Meghan Cassin, SVP of Content at SXSW. “We approached the 2026 design like building a tiny town from scratch, drawing inspiration from the Olympics, Disneyland, and iconic planned urban communities around the world.”
Expect to see three “town squares,” called Clubhouses, within walking distance of each other: The Innovative Clubhouse (Brazos Hall) for the tech companies, brands and startups; The Film & TV Clubhouse (800 Congress) and The Music Clubhouse (Downright Austin).
Jane Fonda and W. Kamau Bell will be featured in a keynote focused on the First Amendment and freedom of speech. Demi Moore, Bob Odenkirk and Serena Williams will also be featured in conversations on stage at the event. Musicians Alanis Morissette, Jack Johnson and Ty Dolla $ign will perform. Vox Media will be recording live podcasts on their stage at the Hilton including interviews with California Governor Gavin Newsom and Filmmaker Spike Jonze.
Brands will be activating around town. Everyone from JBL to Amazon will have interactive pop ups where you can experience their latest tech. JBL is hosting the JBL Music Academy – its global mentorship program which connects developing artists with established talent – as well as the JBL Livebrary, a listening space with headline performances from Steve Aoki and LP Giobbi as well as JBL Music Academy artists.
“SXSW is one of the few places where artists, industry leaders, and audiences are all in the same space at the same time,” said Chris Epple, vice president of marketing for HARMAN. “I think that will drive a lot of the conversation this year around how emerging artists build real momentum early, using platforms like SXSW to further their careers and passions. For JBL, that creates an opportunity to invest in emerging talent in a meaningful way and stay close to the conversations shaping the future of music and culture.”
Amazon will be hosting the Kindle House where consumers can check out the latest tech.
Brand Innovators’ Leadership in Brand Marketing Summit at Lambert’s and La Condesa will feature leaders from brands including: KFC, Poppi, Chili’s, Microsoft, Samsung, Diageo, McCormick, Cadillac, Molson Coors and more. Expect to see a thought provoking content tackling subjects from AI to culture.
“We’re fully in a consumer-in era. Brands no longer dictate culture – they participate in it,” Val Kubizniak, global chief marketing officer of KFC, who is speaking at Lambert’s on Sunday, told Brand Innovators. The smartest marketers are designing for co-creation, not control. Influence doesn’t come from volume anymore; it comes from relevance and resonance. The brands that win understand that attention isn’t owed – it’s earned, every single day.”
Kevin Shapiro, head of U.S. Neutrogena brand growth at Kenvue, who is speaking at Lambert’s on Friday, expects a lot of conversation around AI “and a lot of provocative discussion about the importance of human storytelling now more than ever. The ying and the yang.”
“AI is obviously an inescapable topic, but I think we’re finally at a place where marketers are getting real value from these tools, and we can share learnings and best practices on how we’re seeing them put to use,” said Liz Armistead, vice president of brand marketing and creative campaigns at Dropbox. “In terms of trends, consumers are craving the antithesis of AI: experiential is back in a big way, and brands are going to get a ton of value from creating IRL moments to engage with their audience, and giving them analog, tactile ways to interact that feel human.”
“This year the discussion is moving toward how companies actually use AI to make better decisions, and more importantly, how they measure the value of doing so differently,” added Heather Bollinger, chief revenue officer of Vurvey Labs.
Drew Ingram, U.S. media activation lead at PepsiCo said, “Similar to cookie depreciation, I believe misinformed AI will lead to less credible data and insights. So, while data is provided faster, it is not always accurate, reliable, and actionable. Deterministic data that is grounded in absolute consumer sentiment and actions will remain supreme.
Kathy Maurella, chief marketing officer of Waterloo Sparkling Water, will be activating the drinks brand around town and speaking on the Lambert’s stage on Friday. She expects conversations around “getting back to the basics of simplicity.” “There’s a lot of noise out there, especially in the beverage space and one of the things that we’ve talked about is really stay true to the brand,” she said.
Brand executives can register to attend here.
