By Nat Wittstruck and Jon Gaffney
At GPJ, we see every cultural shift as an opportunity in disguise. SXSW 2025 offered brands a powerful glimpse into a transforming festival — and with it, the evolving expectations of global audiences. While some declared this year’s event to be entering a “late-stage” era, we see it differently: SXSW is becoming more global, more exclusive, and more nuanced — and with that, the stakes (and opportunities) for brand engagement are only getting higher.
Multiple GPJ teams from across the globe were on the ground this year, not only attending and supporting client work but also leading the conversation. We hosted an official SXSW panel and partnered with SXSW and Eventbase for the Event Tech Meetup — continuing our position as both contributors to and curators of the future of experiential.
Five Strategic Takeaways for Brands
Strategy Over Scale SXSW has never been about simply showing up — it’s about showing up smart. With footprint sizes shrinking and budgets tightening, the most resonant brands were those who designed purposefully around their core audience. IBM, for example, delivered a laser-focused activation with the IBM AI Sports Club that maximized its presence by targeting a high-value subset of attendees and offering programming over a longer run. The takeaway? Sacrifice breadth for depth — and meet your audience on their schedule, not yours (while earning a spot in Event Marketer’s Top SXSW Activations).
Create With Culture, Not Just Content The experiential successes of 2025 weren’t just visually stunning — they were culturally attuned. Texas’ beloved fast food chain Whataburger created a crowd-sourced WMOA (Whataburger Museum of Art) that perfectly fused local sensibility with brand voice, creating a destination that resonated with locals, badge holders, and event pros alike. Whether you’re activating in Austin, London, or Sydney, authentic weirdness wins when you tap into what your audience already loves.
Exclusivity Is Inevitable — But Access Matters While SXSW has always had a layer of VIP access, 2025 marked a new peak in exclusivity. Platinum badges no longer guaranteed entry — and brand events were increasingly gated by personal referrals and insider lists. The challenge for marketers is to embrace premium experiences while designing inclusive pathways for super fans, customers, and broader communities. Brands like Rivian got it right by activating across audience strata — from public-facing engagements to premium touch points.
The Mini-Stage Moment Forget the convention center keynote — some of the most talked-about moments this year happened at branded mini-stages, where talent rivaled the official lineup. Whether it was actress Carey Mulligan speaking at the Fast Company Grill, top tech CMOs speaking at the FQ Lounge, or brand-led discussions tailored to niche communities like the Brand Innovators Leadership in Brand Marketing Summit, brands reclaimed their storytelling power by programming their own stages. This signals a long-term shift: value now comes from autonomy, specificity, and smart content curation.
Design for the Future City With the Austin Convention Center under redevelopment until 2029, the city’s physical infrastructure is changing fast. Activations will need to be increasingly distributed, discoverable, and intentional. Cities like London — already highly urbanized — offer models for how SXSW can thrive outside of a centralized venue footprint. For brands, this means rethinking how to generate presence and participation across decentralized environments.
Looking Ahead
SXSW is still a magnet for innovation — but the rules of engagement are evolving. For brands, the question is no longer “should we show up?” It’s “how do we show up right?” At GPJ, we’re helping our clients answer that with strategies rooted in cultural fluency, purposeful design, and experiences that create value well beyond the moment.
If SXSW London , SXSW Sydney, or Austin 2026 is on your radar, let’s talk. The most meaningful brand experiences begin with insight — and we’re already thinking about what’s next.
