The three days were full of learnings not only from panels and keynote speakers, but from films and tons of conversations. It was so great to discuss our brands and company in the context of digital innovation and evolution with employees and agency teams from all over the country. The music portion also changed the way I think about artists, the music industry and the way our brands can play in this space. I definitely plan on bringing the knowledge and lessons back to my day-to-day in media and entire career in PCNA marketing.

A huge thank you to PepsiCo and Conn3ct for the opportunity to attend sxsw this year and hoping to return in 2011!

When I landed in Austin I was reading through new tweets on my phone and saw that Ashton Kutcher had checked in at the Austin airport 6 minutes before. This was the first time I was ever coincidentally checked in to the same place as ANYONE that I follow, much less a celebrity, so I may have paused at the gate departing to LA for a minute or two, but no luck.

I thought that would be the beginning and end of my celebrity almost run-ins fueled by social media, but I guess you never know what Twitter can spark when you’re at sxsw. On Wednesday night a few PepsiCo employees were enjoying one of the first concerts of the music festival. We were in the back of this low-key concert in a hotel bar and again I was flipping through tweets on my phone when I saw that Perez Hilton, celebrity blogger and now a celebrity himself, had just tweeted that he was at the same hotel and concert. I mentioned it to my coworkers and we debated the degree of stalkers that would make us, but decided to walk around just in case. Ten steps later we saw Perez sitting with two friends enjoying the show. We shamelessly asked for a photo and it was nice to meet him, but more so I thought it was so interesting the way social media can even bring celebrities and fans together via their shared check-ins.

Reddy argued that future lies in “user generated advertising” which she is pushing through a word of mouth networking site called MyLikes.com (think Digg for brands). While I’m not sold that this is the ultimate solution for our brands, I think Reddy made some strong points which inspired me to think about the brands I work on and how we activate online.

Above all, I strongly believe online ads need to move to be PART of the regular content. While FTC and other editorial guidelines force the ad to be called out, I still believe a “sponsored” piece can be significantly more effective than banner ads which consumers are more and more conditioned to ignore. As a brand, I don’t even mind signaling that it’s an ad; in fact I believe it adds to our value of transparency. But I do think the consumer is much more inclined to read, click through, interact—whatever the call the action is.

An example of the ad fitting the “regular” content is paid search. The “ads” are completely untraditional (in that they are search results versus banners), but usually end up successful because that is what the consumer is looking for in that moment. Another example is DailyCandy, a female focused newsletter. The below screenshot shows how a movie was promoted alongside regular content in a “Weekend Guide” edition. Not only is the ad in the same format as content, but it is entirely relevant (going to see a movie as part of weekend plans) and then enhanced with a banner ad. I think every single website should challenge themselves to find ways to better integrate brands into their content. I see these opportunities as the future of online advertising—where brands and content are paired together as the norm, instead of as unique, expensive, custom programs. The experience is better for the consumer and more effective for the brand.

Jingle Punks: a premium music licensing company for traditional and innovative properties

RockDex: an analytics company that tracks, analyzes and presents musical artists’ online buzz

Indaba Music: an online community for artists to connect and create content

Big Live: an upcoming social networking site that will connect users to experience live streaming concerts together

Hype Machine:a music aggregator that allows users to discover new music through social networking

It’s great to see a global company like ours continuing to support not only music but also emerging online companies who will shape the future of the industry. Looking forward to the future of this sponsorship, which may one day entail partnering with the companies on brand initiatives.

While I read blogs daily, have talked about starting one for years, and have even inspired some (yes I’m going to take that liberty ML, thank you), this is my first blog post ever. I have loved reading both the PepsiCo and general sxswcoverage over the last few days and cannot wait to be there in 12 hours. My first day in Austin is the last day of Interactive and I plan on maximizing it as it is the subject most connected to my job. I’m excited to represent PepsiCoand Conn3ct as we both show and learn how strong brands thrive in the social media space. I’ve also never been to Austin so cannot wait to see the city and some of the incredible bands that will be performing. I would appreciate any film recommendations for Wednesday and Thursday!

Topics I’m interested in learning and talking about, both professionally and personally:

-marketing, branding, media

-new live music

-limitations/role of the category in online marketing

-veterans and social media

-what does “an influencer” even mean? Do we measure this in twitter followers, outfits or salary?

-social media for social good

-transparency: how much is too much?

-cyberbullying

-the role of brands in the music industry

Looking forward to seeing and meeting everyone! Please reach out with any questions or comments Maggie.connors@pepsi.com. I’m happy to write about what you want to read about.