HP took South by Southwest 2011 by storm with its biggest activation to date, offering conference attendees and influencers an introduction to HP’s cutting edge mobile print solutions through a memorable and interactive experience. Porter Novelli worked with the HP team to conceptualize and execute creative initiatives that brought “SXSWers” closer to the HP brand to build advocacy among influencers and tastemakers and ultimately increase awareness of HP ePrint technology.
Leveraging what SXSW does best: Networking
Just a few blocks from the Austin Convention Center, HP opened the HP Mobile Park, a pop-up experience housing a community of creative influencers from around the world. The live-in community included artists, bloggers and trend setters from the fields of technology, music, film and pop culture who all documented their experiences with their own community and HP fans. The HP Mobile Park opened to all SXSW attendees to create, share and ePrint their experiences from SXSW, as well as network with new and familiar faces at the daily happy hour events.
Activating Brand Ambassadors
Thom Brown (@ThomAtHP), HP supplies technology specialist, attended the HP Mobile Park during the networking happy hours to chat and answer questions about the benefits of using original HP supplies.
Music, Art & Technology
HP Mobile Park hosted the “HP Graphic Sounds” party, a unique event at the Mobile Park that combined graphics, music and technology. Los Angeles-based indie rock band, Nightmare and the Cat, performed while painter and art jockey, Gary Baseman, created custom art inspired by the aesthetics and vibe of the music. This original art piece created in real time at the event was printed on an HP Officejet Pro 8500A and reproduced in the form of post cards for attendees to take as a souvenir from the concert. A limited run of original posters were also created and signed by the band and artist.
Embracing Mobility – HP ePrint Presented SXSW Go!
HP ePrint was the leading sponsor of SXSW GO, the official mobile app of the festival. The app allowed people to view/build their schedule, see a map of events and how to get there, navigate the tradeshow floor and stay connected to the social world.
Offering Solutions and Hands on Experience – HP ePrint On-the-Go
To enhance the mobile printing experience for all SXSW attendees, HP provided convenient access to print content on demand via HP ePrint hot spots in key locations. The HP Mobile Park was equipped with ePrint enabled printers, which allowed attendees to test out the ePrint technology, print schedules, photos and other materials from the festival. An interactive booth on the Austin Convention Center SXSW Tradeshow floor included HP’s full line up of new ePrint-enabled products and mobile print applications. HP representatives were on site to answer questions and demonstrate the technologies. Attendees staying or passing by the Hilton Austin hotel had two options for printing at the HP ePrint Center located in the hotel lobby; they could print from their BlackBerry device at the HP ePrint Mobile Print Location, powered by PrinterOn, or by emailing a print job to an ePrint-enabled printer.
Syndicating Original Content via Facebook – [email protected] dedicated tabs
Via the [email protected] Facebook dedicated tabs, exclusive real time and shareable content was published to keep Facebook fans up to date on SXSW news, trends and happenings. The tabs featured a Twitter feed of all SXSW related conversations, blog posts, videos, events’ news and much more!