At South By Southwest, basically everything is an advertisement. This year, we kept track of who did it best. Check it out!
1. Esurance
Although Esurance doesn’t put on a showcase with musical guests, they prepare everyone for the storm of South By! In the morning and late evening you can stop by their tent off of Sixth and Trinity for free juice or sunglasses, and in the mid day they give out portable battery packs. Charging your phone is essential at South By, so an on-the-go battery pack is extremely useful! They also set up booths where you can scan a gold “all accsess” badge and have the chance to win awesome prizes like X Box 360s, iPads, Sonos Speakers, headphones, and more.
2. Spotify
Not only does Spotify always have a badass lineup with new upcoming artists, they have one of the coolest interactive venues. Inside you can take music trivia on touchscreen tables, or hop in the photo booth to take cool portraits. They even have free drinks, food and swag!
3. Hype Hotel presented by Feed the Beat
Free live music, free drinks, and free tacos!? Whoever conducted the idea of bringing free tacos to SXSW is a genius. For some reason there is an ungodly obsession with tacos at South By. At Hype Hotel you can munch on a crunchy taco or burrito while watching some of the best upcoming artists on the scene. What’s not to love? This year, Hype Hotel was in a much larger space, so more people could enjoy the wondrous features at this showcase.
4. Samsung
For nearly two weeks, Samsung had a lounge set up where you could snack on nachos, make gifs, take photos, listen to music, and sip on juice. Part of their major attraction was their Design Station where they were letting people design their own hats, tank tops, t-shirts, bandannas, and totes. All you had to do was design a pattern, upload a picture, or insert a text on the Samsung Note. From there they would work their magic and within five minutes you had your own personal creation.