Kristy Chase Tozer 0:00

welcome everyone to our fourth episode of Behind the Buzz. We're your hosts, Kristy.

Andrea Alava 0:04

And Andrea.

Kristy Chase Tozer 0:05

We've got something special planned today. It's a team episode. We're switching things up, and we're inspired by the Bad On Paper Three Things episode. The Rumble Buzz team is grabbing the mics today as we break down our three takeaways from South by Southwest, our top three things, if you will.

Andrea Alava 0:21

So right off the bat, what is South by Southwest? And if you want to fit in, it's South by. The conference is a convergence of diverse industries spotlighting the interactive film and music sectors. It originated in 1987 in Austin, Texas. This annual event has since blossomed into a global platform for creative and professional growth, attracting thousands of attendees, we saw all of them, from around the world. South by is celebrated for its conference panels where thought leaders and innovators share insights. The film festival showcases premieres and independent movies, and the music festival features performances by both established and emerging artists across various genres.

Kristy Chase Tozer 1:02

And beyond entertainment, South By has become a critical networking hub for professionals in tech, education, politics, and beyond. It offers a unique opportunity to exchange ideas, discover new trends, and explore the future of culture and technology. The festival's vibrant atmosphere, combined with its commitment to fostering creative and professional development, makes South By a pivotal event for those looking to stay ahead of the curve in their respective fields. let's

Andrea Alava 1:30

teams on the mics. Kristy's up first.

Kristy Chase Tozer 1:33

first.

Andrea Alava 1:34

have turned.

Kristy Chase Tozer 1:36

first. Yeah. Here we go, hot seat.

Andrea Alava 1:41

So as CEO, why is it important for the team to attend South By? Like, why make this big investment? Ooh,

Kristy Chase Tozer 1:48

And it is an investment, but we're fortunate to give our team this opportunity, and we're privileged to have partners that can help us make this happen. We're constantly chasing the cutting edge. We're seeking out the freshest ideas and connecting with the brightest minds out there. We believe strongly in the importance of continuous learning and professional development. By keeping our fingers on the pulse, we're arming ourselves with the latest skills and the knowledge that are needed to serve all of you even better. This means sharper insights, slicker solutions, and more. We see it as an investment in our team and their development and human capital.

Andrea Alava 2:23

I love Human Capital. So I saw you running around and connecting with all types of people.

Kristy Chase Tozer 2:29

Me?

Andrea Alava 2:31

What were your top three sessions and big takeaways? I know this is hard because we went to

Kristy Chase Tozer 2:37

There's so many, so many

Andrea Alava 2:39

So many sessions.

Kristy Chase Tozer 2:40

aside from just wear sneakers. So my biggest takeaway from the conference in its entirety was to focus on storytelling. We all know that telling stories is the best marketing tool to connect with our consumers and to hear that come up over and over and over again during the conference was just a really great reminder. And then as for my three favorite sessions, whoo, that's a tongue twister. I really loved first, building an impactful storytelling strategy with NatGeo, because NatGeo. No one can tell stories better than NatGeo. And during that session, they used an example of the Florida Wildlife Corridor, which is obviously near and dear to my heart after so many years with ZooTampa, and that was very impactful. From there, I learned how to create the perfect pitch with Paul Oosterhout. Oh, I might have butchered his name, I hope not. He's a former vice president of creative for Walt Disney Imagineering, and he was fabulous. It was also really cool to sit in a session where almost all of his examples were from theme parks, which was highly relevant and memorable for me in my career. And then, finally, I really enjoyed the final session that we went to I think we all went to this one, Making Curiosity Contagious. It was fascinating to me to look at all the different curiosity styles and to even learn more about the different curiosity styles that are on our own team. Like, looking amongst us and just seeing we all had a different approach was so exciting. Awesome and super interesting to me. And then I also got to see Mark Cuban, which was super exciting because he's from Shark Tank, like our family, like, go to show. He talked about his entrepreneurial journey with one of the founders of Facebook, and that was just incredible. So amazing So do you want to highlight

Andrea Alava 4:30

the learnings from these sessions, anything our clients can take away from?

Kristy Chase Tozer 4:36

Absolutely, and I will say first and foremost, going back to the key takeaway, being storytelling, the Nat Geo session that I went to was actually a workshop, and it started with, it started with the end in mind, if you will, which is always something that we try to tell, you know, folks that we work with to do. Before they ever talk about the creative structure of a film or a commercial or any other visual storytelling item that they're creating, feature that they're creating, it starts with what is the goal for this piece? Are you trying to sell something? Are you trying to get a vote? Are you trying to get a visit? What is the end result? Are you educating? And then it goes through a series of steps of telling you, or asking you, how you intend to get there. Who are you trying to get that from? That sale, that vote, that what have you. And to me, it was great because we talk a lot about the need for a marketing strategy and it usually gets people a little uncomfortable because they're like, but I just want to do this. Right? They've got a tactic in mind that they want to execute and they're not always starting with the end in mind and certainly not going at it from backing into that creative concept. And that to me was something that even though the specific session was about visual creative and video storytelling in a lot of ways, the concept of it, is evergreen. It, it works throughout every single possible marketing tactic you could look at. And to me that was fascinating and super important to be able to pull forward. So, that is something I will be using everywhere. Alright,

Andrea Alava 6:34

alright, so you are our event guru, along with Sarah and our team, and there were some pretty cool activations. Which one was your favorite?

Kristy Chase Tozer 6:44

There were so many, and I may have missed some of the best ones because there were just too many to get to. There were some notable mentions though. Probably the Tulsa House activation was one of the more interesting to me. Probably because I had never really thought about an economic development council taking that kind of approach. It was just very unique and different from my perspective. But they took over one of the bars on Rainey Street. And they, I mean when I say took over, like they plastered fun facts about the city all over the walls. They had fun. Free beer flowing. They had entertainment from local Tulsa artists that were on stage. They had what I presume to be city officials that were kind of milling around, talking to folks. They had giveaways, all the things you expect to see from an activation. And they were pushing guests, attendees, to consider relocating to Tulsa, whether that was part of a business or individually. And what was Totally fascinating to me, and I realize that this is done a lot of times with companies, I just hadn't really considered it with individuals. They were offering a 10, 000 bonus to folks to relocate to Tulsa.

Andrea Alava 8:00

up!

Kristy Chase Tozer 8:02

I mean, to me, that was so neat, and what was extra great about it, right? I mean, it's just, it's a cool offer. And they were putting it in a place, it's the right audience, it's a bunch of young adults, very hip, very innovative, South by Southwest attendees, exactly. It was the right time, right? They're in a place where they're thinking innovatively, they're being creative, they want to be challenged for the next thing, and they're in the right mindset. They're looking for new opportunities. I mean, they just kind of hit it across the board. And so for me, it Even though I know this happens all the time in a very, in a variety of ways, just that whole concept of an economic development council in a bar highlighting their city and all the cool things about it to me was super great. And then from there The Poo-Pourri, of course, they had a great activation, including some, oh, it was cool shit, indeed. And the fact that they had their own bathrooms, amazing. It was spot on. And then Sharpie, just really clever and cute. Again, they took over a bar and had all these creative ways for you to use their products. And it was just clever and well done. And

Andrea Alava 9:17

I think for me coming from a CBB background, I focused on enticing

Kristy Chase Tozer 9:24

Yes

Andrea Alava 9:24

So it was a different perspective to see enticing a way of life, a, an entire move to a new city. So so well done.

Kristy Chase Tozer 9:33

It's one thing to sell some poo pourri. It's another to sell the whole destination. I mean, it was good. they And they weren't the only destination that was there. But, but it was just super interesting to see them really pushing that relocation to Tulsa, right? Rio is there for a visit, but not to relocate necessarily.

Andrea Alava 9:54

Right. It was two totally different strategies. One was more leisure, way of life. And the other was an entire move. I loved loved it. And then were there any other big wow moments for you?

Kristy Chase Tozer 10:11

The entire conference was a wow. There were so many great educational sessions. It was fun to see so many celebrities. I think that was one of the things

Andrea Alava 10:22

celebrity was your

Kristy Chase Tozer 10:23

Oh my gosh. Well, there was ones that I wish I had seen, like Brene Brown couldn't get into that session. But it was really fun to see. I mean, Katie Couric, I grew up watching her on the Today Show. How neat. I mean, Meghan Markle. Ha! How cool? Like, what are the chances? And to know that Prince Harry was somewhere in the room with us, too, even though we never saw him was super fun. But again, how many conferences can you go to and have these really great intensive educational sessions and just pop out and bump into a celebrity? I mean, I got to watch Mark Cuban. I watch him on TV with my kids. All the time, like two or three times a week, and I got to see him, like, you know, 50 feet away from me. It was fascinating. But I think beyond that, there were so many great educational sessions. It was I mean, I love these kind of traditional and non traditional stuff. I took advantage of the opportunity to go to several workshops and we literally put pen to paper and worked through the outline of a story, of a pitch, even a business idea. And I had the opportunity to share what I put down on these papers with these experts One on one. I would never get that opportunity in, you know, in another environment. The access is incredible. So to me, that was the biggest wow. I mean, just the one on one session with Nat Geo alone was fascinating. And Mark Cuban. Shark! There were people who wanted to!

Andrea Alava 11:50

to you today to ask for a million dollars. Hello, sharks.

Kristy Chase Tozer 11:59

right.

Andrea Alava 12:01

Very cool. And this was your first

Kristy Chase Tozer 12:03

That was my first time at South By, and it was, it was a whirlwind. And it was a lot, and everybody warned me, and it was all true. But now! It's your turn. You get to get my hot seat.

Andrea Alava 12:19

Yeah, yeah.

Kristy Chase Tozer 12:21

So as a founder, why do you think it's important for the team to attend?

Andrea Alava 12:26

Yes, so this was my second South by, and I believe that conferences like these are vital for our team. It's a catalyst for their professional growth, their innovation, and it just enhances the team dynamic. These conferences offer a platform for us to get Insights into new trends, best practices, the new tech. I mean, there was a whole expo floor full of the latest tech. I was too scared to touch anything. And it empowers our team to bring fresh ideas and strategies back to our partners. So how can we enhance our social media skills or editing the way we tell stories? This is where you learn. And as a nerd, proud nerd, and a lifelong learner, this is my Super Bowl. I'm a strong believer in continuous education. I believe it's the key to personal and organizational success. And this commitment to ongoing learning not only boosts our team members, it also enhances the overall competitiveness and effectiveness of the team.

Kristy Chase Tozer 13:22

I saw you geeking out. So what were your top three sessions and your big takeaways?

Andrea Alava 13:29

So my notes app never works as hard as it does during South by my fingers were cramping my poor phone. I had two portable power banks ready to go. So I have a lot of notes again. This is like a love language. This is, this is a Mecca for me. I really enjoyed the future of food marketing innovation in the food industry, especially with our restaurant partners. I felt it was important. We do represent a variety of restaurants like the Proper House Group. So it was really interesting to sit there and listen to the CMO of Shake Shack and the most recent global CMO of Burger King and kind of their best practices. How they stay fresh, they stay relevant, and also what is that future? How are they keeping their guests? How do they keep them coming back? How do they keep them interested? So some of those key takeaways and it was just really cool to listen to the history. Now I see Shake Shack everywhere and I think so differently about Burger King. Shout out to my brother in law who works for Burger King.

Kristy Chase Tozer 14:31

on. I immediately

Andrea Alava 14:32

I immediately went back and I was like, did you know? And he was like, yes, I work there. I know all of this. So some key takeaways. Shake Shack elevates everything they do and they keep consistency across all locations and there are multiple continents and they ship this beef all over the world, which is just wild to me. But I mean, they place that much importance on consistency. And then they cycle LTOs for innovation. So limited time offerings. We work with Nebraska Mini Mart, and as soon as they said that, I thought about the specials.

Kristy Chase Tozer 15:04

Yes.

Andrea Alava 15:05

And they give a classic spin and create buzz through their products. So they're not reinventing the wheel every single time, which was super interesting. Also, Shake Shack leads with data. So Shake Shack places emphasis on those guests insights and analytics. Kristy, you love the numbers again. It's important

Kristy Chase Tozer 15:27

my love language. So

Andrea Alava 15:28

you go. It's important to be instinct led and data supported to highlight those opportunities. We love the analytics and research teams. And to just balance that data with the craft. It's kind of what we always talk about.

Kristy Chase Tozer 15:41

love that That's fantastic.

Andrea Alava 15:43

And then with Burger King, just learning about how they're an analytics machine and they know their sales numbers at any given time.

Kristy Chase Tozer 15:50

Takes me back.

Andrea Alava 15:52

They're constantly testing they simulate marketing tests and they just think the more you invest, the more research. You should have.

Kristy Chase Tozer 16:00

Right on all day, every day.

Andrea Alava 16:04

And then that hyper process really is not the future. And I didn't know this bad Sister-in-Law, but Burger King is set on removing artificial ingredients. I had no idea. Like No idea. Yeah. Like, wow, and then with Shake Shack. It's the best ingredients in a fast, casual setting, and it's just something you don't think about when it comes to, you know, these fast, casual restaurants.

Kristy Chase Tozer 16:29

restaurants.

Andrea Alava 16:31

Exactly, exactly. And then they just highlighted the importance of working with your chief marketing officer, always being in tune, you know. operations has to be go hand in hand with your marketing team. That's

Kristy Chase Tozer 16:46

true. In a

Andrea Alava 16:46

the best way to look at it.

Kristy Chase Tozer 16:48

or pretty much anywhere

Andrea Alava 16:49

Yes. And your CMO is always going to have, you know, the numbers. They're looking at the day to day and the future. That person is So they were kind of confirming everything we've said, but it was so interesting to hear where, you know, these businesses are headed. That was the first one, you guys. What's next? The next one. So the other session that was absolutely fascinating. Oh, this is such a great one. As the Looney Tunes kid, this was amazing. So it's called Looney Tunes, The Blueprint for Bringing Legacy Brands to TikTok. And it was with Jason Mitchell of Movement Strategy and Ashley Woodall, the VP of Franchising and Animation for Warner Brothers. And I think about this session daily. It was so insightful, so many takeaways, learnings. So basically they were saying you can't rely on nostalgia alone. You have to ensure a lasting legacy by evolving and focusing on new markets. And the importance of being part of that cultural, I can never say this word, zeitgeist.

Kristy Chase Tozer 17:58

either. I know, I can't say it either. I'm like, I

Andrea Alava 18:01

English is my second language. In this case, it's Gen Z. You gotta get Gen Z to like you.

Kristy Chase Tozer 18:07

percent.

Andrea Alava 18:07

So there's an intern who spoke in a young voice, and he was a watcher, and they gave him one job. Like one job description and that was to break the internet. No big deal. He's got this. So they focused on thoughtful collabs as well. So they collaborated with Kith and Mark Jacobs and things that resonated with the younger audience and that was also very elevated. And they did not buy

Kristy Chase Tozer 18:35

Ooh,

Andrea Alava 18:35

Not a

Kristy Chase Tozer 18:36

a single cent. Oh

Andrea Alava 18:37

But they had to invest that money in creating art and in creating pieces and creating very thoughtful content. So it was very interesting to think about, you know, I was like, what? Gen Z's never heard of Looney Tunes? It's Looney Tunes! Animaniacs!

Kristy Chase Tozer 18:52

Tunes!

Andrea Alava 18:54

So they leaned into a hundred years of content while also being fresh and exciting. And they actually gave us their entire launch strategy. They gave

Kristy Chase Tozer 19:03

what?

Andrea Alava 19:04

marketing plan and they did it by creating little video vignettes with your favorite Looney Tunes characters. So it was Bugs Bunny going through a marketing strategy. Like what a dream.

Kristy Chase Tozer 19:17

amazing. dream.

Andrea Alava 19:19

So there are four things where they posted a lot. They leaned into the edgy, they poked fun at themselves, and they mixed clips with modern trends. When, you know, when it was right for them. They always wanted to stay true to the brand, but most of the time it made sense.

Kristy Chase Tozer 19:36

How fun.

Andrea Alava 19:37

they also reacted to trends quickly. And the team has, it's crazy, they have an encyclopedia of Looney Tunes clips for any trend and for any social holiday. So it's kind of like a machine of social media strategists.

Kristy Chase Tozer 19:52

That's incredible I

Andrea Alava 19:52

I know, I want to shadow them. And then unplanned trends, they were just always ready for them And they highlighted community engagement. But they also highlighted what I thought was interesting, that it's not all fun and games, is they use social media for internal selling purposes and to acquire partners. So they basically went to Target, and they presented their social media metrics because they secured a million, and followers on Tiktok basically overnight. So they use that to secure brand partnerships, sponsorships. They use it to sell opportunities. It was critical to the B2B. So when we go to our partners and they want to get, you know, new collabs going, we always are saying, rely on your metrics. You have really good social media numbers. Use those to close deals. They kind of confirm that thinking. And then another really insightful little data tidbit. So they, it only takes them 180 minutes from idea to post.

Kristy Chase Tozer 20:53

Holy cow. For such a big

Andrea Alava 20:55

Right, but the importance of the partnerships, the trust that they have in their agency, to get something turned around in 180 minutes. So if a trend breaks Unheard of. Right. That cycle of approval is working really quickly. That's great. What a dream. So that was my second one. This next one I'll keep it short and sweet. So the last one was cultural relevance, not just a buzzword, with the CMO of Synesta and EOS, and it emphasized relevance, and relevance to them is an emotional pull from a larger audience above a functional need.

Kristy Chase Tozer 21:35

circle or

Andrea Alava 21:36

used to own the little circle, know, the little circle chapsticks, or lip balm.

Kristy Chase Tozer 21:44

EOS lip balms, yeah, the little round ones that come in a ball. Right,

Andrea Alava 21:47

well they're actually, like their best seller is their shaving cream. And, I

Kristy Chase Tozer 21:53

did not

Andrea Alava 21:54

And, right, I know. I had no idea. But they told the story, and the way they told that story is they use social media and they use their user generated content to kind of tell that story. Right, so they always say that brands should be self aware, not be serious, and the important thing with relevancy is to move at the speed of culture. It goes back to that 180 minutes.

Kristy Chase Tozer 22:18

Yeah, no

Andrea Alava 22:20

So speed is paramount for cultural relevance and it's important to immerse yourself in that pop culture conversation. The other thing that Kristy always says that big things move the needle, but most aren't the big sexy things.

Kristy Chase Tozer 22:33

is No, It's not, but it's, it works!

Andrea Alava 22:38

they're using, so EOS is taking user generated content, and they're turning it into ads. So they're buying this content legally and turning it into ads. And they find the majority of their content in the comments. My favorite thing about TikTok is the comments. I mean, it's,

Kristy Chase Tozer 22:58

mean, I

Andrea Alava 22:59

just scroll through comments all day. So, their big piece of advice was look through your comments, Use them, engage with your audience, have authentic conversations with your audience. And that was just so interesting.

Kristy Chase Tozer 23:13

Okay, well there were some pretty cool activations and keynotes. Which were your favorites?

Andrea Alava 23:20

I also love the Make Curiosity

Kristy Chase Tozer 23:22

See, it was a good one.

Andrea Alava 23:25

it. Like I just nerded out. I didn't, I guess I didn't place emphasis on how important curiosity is. And to keep that wonder that you have as a kid. Absolutely. All the way. to an adult in a professional setting

Kristy Chase Tozer 23:42

and the different ways that people are curious. I had never really considered that the way you're curious is very different from the way I'm curious.

Andrea Alava 23:51

savage. You're like yours is pure.

Kristy Chase Tozer 23:53

I

Andrea Alava 23:53

a pure

Kristy Chase Tozer 23:54

Which actually makes sense if you know us.

Andrea Alava 23:58

And I'm like voracious about it. So

Kristy Chase Tozer 24:03

So what did you love about it beyond just that overview?

Andrea Alava 24:08

So key takeaways from making Curiosity Contagious. Connection is why curiosity is so important, and it's a way to connect, to keep your teams engaged, and to really learn about everyone's different curiosity styles. I didn't know that there was an inner child, who is the dreamers and the creatives, the rebels who fight the status quo, the tinkers who problem solve, and then the voyagers. who have a staggering intake of information. There's no such thing as too much

Kristy Chase Tozer 24:41

much information. Too much

Andrea Alava 24:43

It was just absolutely fascinating. I can't wait to watch, you know, all the little videos about it. I can't wait to listen to that podcast. So, so interesting.

Kristy Chase Tozer 24:53

was fascinating.

Andrea Alava 24:54

love a quiz. You give me a quiz, I'm gonna take

Kristy Chase Tozer 24:58

And we started the session with a quiz, so we could learn our own personality styles. Which,

Andrea Alava 25:03

was so much fun.

Kristy Chase Tozer 25:04

right. So, were there any other moments that you're still raving about?

Andrea Alava 25:09

Yes, because I see them on TV all the

Kristy Chase Tozer 25:11

all of a sudden. So,

Andrea Alava 25:13

So the Nat Geo women who run the storytelling world. Yes, it ties back to our Secrets of the Zoo show

Kristy Chase Tozer 25:20

Oh.

Andrea Alava 25:21

And the women on the panel were absolutely remarkable. Wanted to cry a little bit. To hear from award winning female leaders in the documentary wildlife and conservation space talk about the industry's evolution. These women on the stage are paving the way for women in the field in the ins and outs of production. It was such a joy to hear about their experiences and there are just some moments that will stick with me forever regarding the power of storytelling. you touched on this. And

Kristy Chase Tozer 25:52

was at a totally different session with Nat Geo where we went through the storytelling.

Andrea Alava 25:57

Yes. So he talked about how good storytelling involves compassion, listening, subtleties, and nuance. And it's so important to tell stories because people forget that childlike wonder. And, I mean, this goes back to the curiosity, right? We just forget to be curious. We forget that wonder. And it's important to document history. So one of the panelists said, and I wrote it down because it was, it was such a wow moment. She said, Controlling history is to erase contributions. Progress is made through contributions. And it's important to find a way to embrace history in our everyday lives for the shared possibilities of our futures. So freakin profound. Wow, that is profound. I was like, what? Write that down. That's amazing. And then there's moments that are very unexpected. I mean, when we were filming Secrets of the Zoo, you know, if there was an animal birth, you would run over. Nothing was scripted. And those moments are called, Heart explosions,

Kristy Chase Tozer 26:57

good term! Right?

Andrea Alava 26:59

right? And these are moments of no control and you're getting those reactions, those real time raw reactions. So it was just so moving to see these women up there, to see, you know, the stories they're telling and the work they do is important. So that was, that

Kristy Chase Tozer 27:17

Amazing. I love it. It sounds great.

Andrea Alava 27:20

Enough about me, let's move on to our social media manager, Naydaliz. This is her first time on the podcast. Cue the clapping sound effects. Good job, everyone.

Kristy Chase Tozer 27:33

Naydaliz manages social media efforts for tons of Tampa accounts, including Water Street Tampa, Sparkman Wharf, Tampa History Center, Three Corners Pizza, and more.

Andrea Alava 27:45

She's like Gossip Girl. She's revealing herself. That's right. All right, Naydaliz, this is your second time to South by and last year you came away with a ton of learnings What were your top three sessions for 2024?

Naydaliz DeJesus 28:02

All right, it was hard to narrow it down But I'd say the first session I really enjoyed was the science and craft of storytelling So you start to make people care she started off the session by saying when you are storytelling, you want to ensure that you feel it all. And then she went into the three guiding principles of storytelling, which I thought were fascinating. So the first was to make a human and the perfect example for that was the Farmer's Dog Super Bowl ad from 2022. I don't know if you guys remember that one. But it was showing the dog being there throughout your life. It's a tearjerker, growing old with you. So it definitely hits on the heartstrings. Yes. The second principle was listen to your heart to find the story. And I thought this example was really interesting because they spoke about Dove and the female employees were seeing the effects society had on women's confidence. and the male higher ups didn't really see the need to make this their mission until the female employees surveyed their wives and daughters of the male bosses and then showed the male bosses the results. So that kind of opened their eyes. They listened to their heart to help find that story. And now it's Dove's whole brand.

Kristy Chase Tozer 29:28

Amazing. I had no idea that's where that originated.

Naydaliz DeJesus 29:30

Right? Yeah. Again, at first they weren't interested. They didn't see the need for it. But when they realized that their wives and daughters had low self esteem, it really opened their eyes.

Kristy Chase Tozer 29:41

Amazing. Research.

Naydaliz DeJesus 29:44

And then the third guiding principle of storytelling is to turn your brain into a character. And they used Liquid Death as an example, which I love. Liquid Death. So they wanted their ads to be the funniest thing you see on your day and to spread joy. That's awesome. I love it. Yeah. So I think they do a very good job at that.

Kristy Chase Tozer 30:07

That's great.

Naydaliz DeJesus 30:09

The second session I enjoyed was Play as Brand Strategy. Oh, I think you joined me, Kristy, with this one. That one, too. And so that one they focused on play is our brain's favorite way of learning. And one of the examples they used was airline safety videos. And as a consumer I thought this was very interesting because airline videos first started off very boring and serious and now you see flight attendants having fun with it. That's right. And trying to make it more entertaining.

Andrea Alava 30:41

And you remember it. So I flew to New Zealand and Bear, Bear Gryllis did the video. Okay. And he was all in nature teaching you about the safety. That's awesome. But I still remember it to this day and that was over five years ago.

Kristy Chase Tozer 30:59

Yeah and it's funny because I always think of Southwest because their flight attendants do such a fun job with delivering that and they, but their example in the session was actually and I was like, Oh, I didn't even realize that. It's so good. It's really neat.

Naydaliz DeJesus 31:14

And then they also talked about, um, to remember as a brand play, it doesn't have to be a fun and wild campaign. It can also be meaningful and compelling. So they talked about Lyft recently launching a campaign for their female and non binary drivers. And then they talked about how their female and non binary drivers can now. basically requests to only drive around female and non binary passengers. And they even created a playlist featuring female and non binary artists to go with this campaign. So it wasn't anything wild, but it still was impactful for the female community and the non binary community.

Andrea Alava 31:59

I just love the airline videos. Like what a moment, like what a passive, like it's almost a passive moment, right? Like that's when you're checking, do I have my gum? Do I have my headphones?

Kristy Chase Tozer 32:11

And most people are not paying attention.

Andrea Alava 32:12

And they're not paying attention. So it's taking advantage of such a passive moment and use it for marketing purposes, but doing it in a creative way where you're actually enjoying it.

Kristy Chase Tozer 32:22

And it's actually supposed to be operational and safety.

Andrea Alava 32:26

Exactly. I just love that.

Naydaliz DeJesus 32:28

Um, and most importantly, I learned that play is universal and everyone has the potential to play.

Kristy Chase Tozer 32:35

Takes me back to college. No matter your brand. That's what we learned in school.

Andrea Alava 32:39

I mean, yeah, in all my education classes it was children learn through play. That's right. So it's highly important. And it still translates.

Kristy Chase Tozer 32:47

Yeah. Into adulthood. That's right. Love it. That's great. What's next?

Naydaliz DeJesus 32:53

All right. The last session that stood out to me was Beyond the Buzz.

Kristy Chase Tozer 32:58

Behind the Buzz?

Naydaliz DeJesus 32:59

Navigating hype.

Kristy Chase Tozer 33:00

Just kidding. Just kidding. Beyond. Beyond.

Naydaliz DeJesus 33:04

So obviously I had to pick it because the word buzz was in it. Of course. But it focused on navigating the hype advertising. And right now we live in a time where we're constantly looking for the next big thing. We scroll 300 feet per day. We're 21 miles per year in search of novelty.

Kristy Chase Tozer 33:25

That's amazing.

Andrea Alava 33:26

Well, I probably, I probably, you probably double that. Right. Yeah. I'm running marathons today.

Kristy Chase Tozer 33:32

That is shocking. Holy cow.

Naydaliz DeJesus 33:36

Yeah. I think there should be a separate study for social media managers. But brands are two and a half more likely to significantly grow market share when they deliver strong experiences tied to innovation. So I thought that was a cool fact. An example that they used was Coke Zero's rebrand. So their new and improved case. That they use to advertise with their can that they redesigned. So I thought that was a cool example, especially coming with a family who drinks Coke Zero, kind of saw that rebrand go into effect. And then, um, it's important to remember that the hype cycle is like a roller coaster and you can eject. at any moment.

Kristy Chase Tozer 34:22

Oh, that sounds kind of scary, right?

Naydaliz DeJesus 34:27

So hold on tight.

Kristy Chase Tozer 34:29

That's right. No kidding so, as a social media manager, we know you appreciate a quality activation. Which one was your favorite? I love it.

Naydaliz DeJesus 34:37

I really enjoyed the Paper Mae and Sharpie activation. Yes. The way they transformed the outside of the bar that it was held in. Yeah. The activities they had inside, like designing your own tote or hats using their markers. writing a postcard using their pens and even their specialty cocktails.

Kristy Chase Tozer 35:00

Oh, that was so good.

Naydaliz DeJesus 35:00

It was a dream activation in my eyes.

Kristy Chase Tozer 35:04

I love that they let you kind of write out your own cocktail. That was super fun.

Naydaliz DeJesus 35:10

That was so cool. I'm not artistic in that way, so I didn't participate in that part of the activation.

Kristy Chase Tozer 35:17

It was neat.

Naydaliz DeJesus 35:19

But a lot of people were, and it was cool to see how many people were engaged.

Kristy Chase Tozer 35:24

for sure.

Naydaliz DeJesus 35:25

I feel like they thought of every way to incorporate their brand and their products.

Kristy Chase Tozer 35:30

I agree. It was really well done.

Andrea Alava 35:32

And I'm surprised you didn't say Poo Pourrie. I know.

Naydaliz DeJesus 35:36

Poo Pourrie was up there. Poo Pourrie was up there for sure. I mean,

Kristy Chase Tozer 35:42

I think we've, we're all going to talk about Poo Pourrie before this is done. Yeah.

Andrea Alava 35:47

So is there anything else besides that massive poop? It was literally a massive poop. Yes. It was like a big art installation of the poop emoji.

Kristy Chase Tozer 36:00

Yes.

Naydaliz DeJesus 36:01

You could literally see it from the convention center.

Andrea Alava 36:04

Yeah. Is there anything else that really surprised you?

Naydaliz DeJesus 36:09

I think the thing that surprised me were some of the stats that I learned. And I'd love to share them.

Kristy Chase Tozer 36:16

Oh, we'd love to hear them.

Naydaliz DeJesus 36:18

Um, I learned that engagement increases by 80 percent when you use captions in a video.

Kristy Chase Tozer 36:26

That's great.

Andrea Alava 36:27

Increases accessibility.

Naydaliz DeJesus 36:28

Yes. 82 percent of consumption is done with SoundAll. And I'm definitely in that 82%.

Kristy Chase Tozer 36:38

Me too.

Naydaliz DeJesus 36:40

This one was fascinating, and Christy and I talked about this a lot. Snapchat has currently 800 million users.

Kristy Chase Tozer 36:50

That's insane to me, but if my children are any example

Andrea Alava 36:54

Youth!

Kristy Chase Tozer 36:57

All of them are on it, more than anything else.

Naydaliz DeJesus 37:01

Over 50 percent of people on Snapchat don't use TikTok, and over 40 percent don't use YouTube.

Kristy Chase Tozer 37:08

Jeez, that's wild.

Naydaliz DeJesus 37:10

I know, because to me, TikTok is life. Yeah, it's crazy. And the last stat that I thought was interesting was the number one consumer driver for Gen Z is happiness.

Kristy Chase Tozer 37:24

I think we're all seeing that in a lot of different places. The workspace. It does, it does.

Andrea Alava 37:31

Their daily lives.

Kristy Chase Tozer 37:32

And as a mom of Gen Zers, you hear it like regularly from all of them. It's true. And they, they value their happiness in a very different way than And some of us who are older who think, well, you get to be happy when you've done these things.

Andrea Alava 37:48

You live to work. After work. You live to work. Exactly. It's either you're five to nine.

Kristy Chase Tozer 37:54

Or you're, yeah, that's right, that's right. Awesome. Well, that is very cool. Thank you so much for joining us, Naydaliz.

Naydaliz DeJesus 38:01

Thank you for having me.

Kristy Chase Tozer 38:03

Awesome.

Andrea Alava 38:04

Let's close out this episode with Kelsey, the voice behind some of your favorite social media accounts, including Nebraska Mini Mart, Dang Dude, Rooster and the Till, Tampa Theater, CW's Gin Joint, and more. Welcome to the show,

Kelsey Harris 38:21

Hello! So happy to be here!

Kristy Chase Tozer 38:23

here. Alright. Kelsey, this was your first South By. What are some tips for any newbies interested in attending?

Kelsey Harris 38:30

It was so exciting being at South By. I feel like I've been aware of it since I was in middle school or high school, which was a while just because I knew it was such like a thing for celebrities. So it was nice to be on the other side, I guess like on the other side of like the magazine.

Kristy Chase Tozer 38:42

So

Kelsey Harris 38:43

It was so exciting. I think some of my tips, my three tips were tennis shoes, which was something that Andrea

Kristy Chase Tozer 38:48

had. Absolutely

Kelsey Harris 38:50

There was so much walking, whether we were in the convention center, which is humongous, or going to the different hotels where the other sessions were, or even after just getting food because we were so hungry. Tons of walking. You definitely hit your 10k steps. Vitamin snacks is pivotal. I had a ton of snacks on me. Um, and also just being like aware of your surroundings. I had Juiceland app downloaded on my phone because I was able to basically go to Juiceland every single day. Um, at least once between sessions just to stay fueled. Um, so I could be on my A game taking notes and then my best friend was my portable phone charger. Um, that thing was attached to my phone. I feel like the entire time because we were just ferociously typing away on our notes app.

Andrea Alava 39:30

Yeah, and I think as a team, we were more than ready. And I think we had a meeting the week prior where we outlined every single session. We knew what our daily schedule was

Kristy Chase Tozer 39:43

who was going where

Andrea Alava 39:44

sessions we were attending. And it's still kind of changed when you got there because there were some surprise kind of, I wouldn't say like off campus sessions that we had no idea about. So I don't think you can ever be too ready for a South

Kristy Chase Tozer 40:00

Yeah. But I would definitely say that. that. few days before you go, whatever, that preparing and going through all the sessions. And we were fortunate, there were four of us, so we could cover a lot of

Kelsey Harris 40:11

Yeah.

Kristy Chase Tozer 40:12

But whoo, had we not done that, I would have been completely

Andrea Alava 40:15

Yes. and I think yeah, and I also think people aren't aware that there's so many tracks like there's a politics track I wanted to attend some of those there's a well, there were so many wellness sessions. There was

Kristy Chase Tozer 40:27

Um, All of the food marketing. All

Andrea Alava 40:29

All of the food marketing there was a government track urban planning Transportation,

Kristy Chase Tozer 40:36

You name it, they had a track for

Andrea Alava 40:39

and we have so many clients that we were like, Oh, that would be good for this client if we attended, and that one sounds great for this client. So it's a lot to wrap your head around. So a game plan

Kelsey Harris 40:50

is the most important. Yeah,

Kristy Chase Tozer 40:52

it

Andrea Alava 40:52

Yes. You don't wing it. You don't wing an interview. You don't wing

Kristy Chase Tozer 40:56

Absolutely not.

Andrea Alava 40:58

not. Words to live by. That's

Kristy Chase Tozer 41:00

it. Have a plan.

Andrea Alava 41:03

That's really great advice, Kelsey. Your first time can be very overwhelming. So now I want to know, what were your top three sessions?

Kelsey Harris 41:12

This was so hard. Yeah, I feel like it was like picking your favorite children. I felt like I had so many good nuggets from every session that we went to. So I tried really hard to pick out my three. My first one was I attended a session called Superstar Brands, Connection in the Era of Creators. It had two of the heads of marketing at L'Oreal and then TikTok creator Bobby Anthoff. They really dove into their CeraVe brand and then their strategy behind the Super Bowl.

Andrea Alava 41:39

Michael,

Kelsey Harris 41:40

Michael CeraVe.

Andrea Alava 41:41

So

Kelsey Harris 41:42

So that was really exciting. They basically had a three part strategy. They started it by like, posting fake news on X and getting people involved about how,

Kristy Chase Tozer 41:52

there is a lot of fake news on X.

Kelsey Harris 41:54

created CeraVe. Um, the second part was Bobby Anthoff, who's famous on TikTok. She's known for doing, um, like really awkward interviews. That's just the best way to, yeah, best way to describe it. And so, she interviewed Michael Cera, and even before, so that was the first two parts before the Super Bowl, and before the Super Bowl, they already had 9 billion impressions

Kristy Chase Tozer 42:18

Nine billion with a B?

Kelsey Harris 42:21

B, yes, um, even before it aired, so that was fascinating, and then the Super Bowl commercial, which we're all, um, aware of, is basically, he said, he's, his whole kind of awkward commercial, and how he's the face, and how, you know, Thankfully, he's the one that created it, um, so it was really interesting hearing their strategy behind the three parts, and I mean, nine billion impressions before even the big ad was

Andrea Alava 42:44

I love that that

Kristy Chase Tozer 42:46

Unbelievable.

Andrea Alava 42:46

It's It's brilliant.

Kristy Chase Tozer 42:47

But really cool takeaways. I mean, maybe everybody can't run a Super Bowl ad, but that concept of putting together a campaign in three parts to make it really fun and engaging is something you could certainly use with anyone. Mm-Hmm.

Kelsey Harris 42:59

And

Andrea Alava 42:59

I think everyone that needs to use CeraVe eye cream, night cream, watch SuperBad. It's the age, it's the age group, right?

Kelsey Harris 43:09

It is interesting too, because they have always been like a dermatologist led brand, which now you see like everyone says they're, you know. They have a dermatologist backing them, but they were saying how like they were truly like the first ones to lead that movement and they also talked about how CeraVe's is an experimental brand for them, so they'll, like, this was such like a fun, innovative campaign, so they'll basically take their insights and then funnel it down to other L'Oreal brands that they see, like, that it would work or be fit for them as well.

Andrea Alava 43:38

Sponsor me, sponsor me CeraVe

Kristy Chase Tozer 43:40

Love it. All right. And then what's next?

Kelsey Harris 43:43

Next was I'm really into wellness. Um, and health and all the things so my next two were a little more wellness focused, but future flavor one of the heads of Driscoll's was the lead on it and it was basically all about better for you berries and about how cotton candy grapes like have taken over

Kristy Chase Tozer 44:02

my daughter's favorite.

Andrea Alava 44:03

I haven't had them yet. I need to.

Kelsey Harris 44:06

And it was really interesting to me because I love hearing about like like, agriculture and how things are getting made, and I have personally never had the cotton candy grapes because I always thought that they were genetically modified. So the first thing that stood out to me is that they're not genetically modified, which is fascinating. Basically, it's a cross pollination. that they do that takes 12 years on average before it's successful to get one flavor. So they've been working on this for years and years and years. And something that's also fascinating is the lowest sugar grape that they have, which you would think the opposite. Yeah.

Kristy Chase Tozer 44:40

the opposite. In fact, I think I had a conversation with my mom about it, that I didn't want to buy those for my daughter, even though they're her favorite. But that's great. Great to hear.

Kelsey Harris 44:49

Um, and they also talked about how consumers are trying to make like better, healthier decisions and the cotton candy grape is kind of like that gateway for people to make. Everybody loves cotton candy, but they might be a little like, whether you're a green grape or a red grape fan, um, yeah. It's more accessible basically to try a flavor profile that will help you then lead to other eating, like incorporating other produce into your diet.

Kristy Chase Tozer 45:14

That's great, I love that.

Kelsey Harris 45:15

So I thought that was fascinating. And then the last one was Seeds to Change. It was about impactful and climate friendly food. This had Jason, who's the CEO of Whole Foods, and then Allison, who is the Director of Social Impact and Sustainability for Gaia Herbs. So both of these brands, I use every single week Gaia Herbs, um, supplements, and then everybody knows what Whole Foods is, but it was really interesting to hear, um, Jason talk about Whole Foods. He has a really rural background, which is really interesting. So he's a really big emphasis on food systems and agriculture and talked about some of Whole Foods practices that they bring in. They, for their private label mix, they were the first private label to have certified, certified organic. And then they've also created another, stamp of approval, which is regenerative agriculture, which Gaia Herbs also touched on a lot,

Andrea Alava 46:09

Huh.

Kelsey Harris 46:10

which was fascinating, and also talking about how they had also announced that week that Whole Foods was in the U. S. Creating this new concept called Whole Foods Daily Shop. It's launching later this year in New York City It's a smaller format store and they're hoping to bring basically this into other communities that don't have Whole Foods So more impact in communities, which is exciting And they also just talked about the sustainability of how current agriculture practices are not working It's becoming degenerative and it's also like taking the nutrition out of the store Soil, and our fruits and vegetables are less nutritious. And they talked about, like, what we can do more at, like, a local level. I love, getting my groceries every week at Meacham Farms, and they also have Providence Cattle there, so there's, like, two ways you can, like, support locally, which one of our clients, Proper House Group also uses, in their food, so. I loved it. Yeah.

Kristy Chase Tozer 46:59

Yeah. 'cause I wonder, you know, as he's talking about organic farming and regenerative practices. How much of that goes into the restaurant community, right? How many restaurants are using those same farms or those same outlets to get their food?

Andrea Alava 47:17

Love it.

Kristy Chase Tozer 47:18

Neat. All right, so looking back on all the cool activations or the keynotes that you can't stop thinking about What was your favorite one, and why was it Poo Pourri?

Kelsey Harris 47:29

The Poo-Pourri one was very interesting. It was like a whole process. We had to download an app, we got like the special Poo Pourri scent, the special bathrooms. The

Andrea Alava 47:40

pocket

Kelsey Harris 47:41

The pocket size,

Kristy Chase Tozer 47:43

size. The back

Andrea Alava 47:44

back pocket of your pants. That's Brilliant.

Kelsey Harris 47:47

stores, yeah.

Kristy Chase Tozer 47:49

you, Poo Pourri definitely had a, uh, a name for themselves.

Kelsey Harris 47:55

Poo Pourri was one of my favorite activations from what they did, like, at an app standpoint. Their app was, incredibly developed. We got the pocket sized poop It was an axe campaign. Yes. We got the pocket sized potpourri, which you had mentioned, Andrea, which was amazing, and coming to stores soon, by the end of the year, they said. And just how they had, like, decorated the port a potties was an experience, to say the

Kristy Chase Tozer 48:16

was like a party in the potty.

Andrea Alava 48:18

the app also showed you what, um, Like where the nicer

Kelsey Harris 48:22

bathrooms were. Bathrooms were, yeah.

Kristy Chase Tozer 48:23

Yes,

Andrea Alava 48:24

Austin.

Kristy Chase Tozer 48:25

was a good incentive to

Andrea Alava 48:27

I love a nice

Kristy Chase Tozer 48:28

that

Kelsey Harris 48:28

Yes.

Andrea Alava 48:29

Show me where they're at.

Kelsey Harris 48:32

I love that one. And then my favorite keynote by like a landslide was breaking barriers, shaping narratives, how women can lead on and off the screen. That panel was just staffed with all of our favorite people. Katie Couric, Brooke Shields, Megan Markle, Erin Hands, who is an editor at 19th News, and then Nancy Wang Yoon, who is a DEI consultant. And just all those women were a wealth of knowledge. I felt like I could have listened to them all day long.

Andrea Alava 48:59

Brooke Shields was so amazing.

Kelsey Harris 49:00

funny. She was hilarious. fact

Kristy Chase Tozer 49:03

that she can poke fun at herself as a young woman and some of the things that she did that now she would never let her daughters do, right? Like, Fascinating. And as a mom, that was so interesting to hear.

Kelsey Harris 49:18

I loved it. And just being Katie Couric, we've all, you know, seen the Today Show a million times. I'm actually about to finish her book right now. She had mentioned, I had did not know she had a book. So I've been reading that, after South By and it's just been incredibly fascinating, her story. And then, I'm. I was the biggest fan of the Royals, so being in Meghan Markle's presence was just my everything and was just soaking up every single word she said, Yeah, Harry was in the same room, my

Andrea Alava 49:43

front row. Yeah,

Kelsey Harris 49:44

front row, it was very I'm glad I did not know at the time because the excitement level would have been too high, but it was very

Kristy Chase Tozer 49:51

very exciting. That's awesome. Well, so much for sharing your insights.

Kelsey Harris 49:55

Thank you for having me.

Kristy Chase Tozer 49:56

That is our recap of South by Southwest, really abbreviated. There is so much more. If anyone listening wants to have a one on one with any of us, we could probably talk your ear off for hours. So if there's anything we

Andrea Alava 50:09

show you all my

Kristy Chase Tozer 50:10

that you want to know more, let us know. Please reach out and let us know, but we appreciate you taking the time to listen to us today and we look forward to the opportunity to using all of these amazing insights that the whole team gathered while we were at this amazing conference and really sharing them with all of our partners, everyone we work with, and anybody else that wants to hear about them. We're happy to share all the time.

Kelsey Harris 50:35

Thank

Kristy Chase Tozer 50:35

so much for listening to Behind the Buzz. And if anybody wants to talk to us, you can check us out on Instagram at theRumbleBuzz or check out our website, TheRumbleBuzz. com And

Andrea Alava 50:49

see you next episode.

Kristy Chase Tozer 50:50

you next time!

Andrea Alava 50:52

Next episode.