As SXSW Continues to Grow, Is it Still Worthwhile for Brands to Activate There?

Experts weigh in

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South by Southwest is known for being the place brands go when they have a great piece of experiential marketing to show off—whether that’s Hulu’s Handmaids Tale being creepy and sending hoards of women dressed in red cloaks around the city of Austin, or HBO building an immersive activation at this year’s festival to promote the upcoming season of Westworld.

And yet, as the festival continues to grow in size (421,900 people directly participated in the event last year, with nearly 71,000 people attending the conference) there’s increasing speculation around whether SXSW is still relevant and whether or not it’s really worthwhile to shell out money on major activations, when they’re competing with so many other brands for attention.

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