With Day 1 officially behind us and an exciting Day 2 already off to the races, there was definitely some amazing sessions worth sharing with y’all.

As suspected, mobile is a big topic at this year’s #SXSW. Yesterday, I attended a panel that looked at the power of mobility and that brands who truly immerse themselves in this medium will become 21st century brands. This by the way is the next big thing - not technology.

The panel was led by the electric, fast-talking and incredibly brilliant Thom Kennon (seriously check him out).

The current challenge (the whole room agreed) is that brands are trying to find new ways to interrupt, capture and engage consumers. The problem is that this is a form of chasing. Chasing is not a strategy. Guessing is not a strategy. Following is not a strategy. So what is a brand to do?

If you drown out all the data on consumer behaviour and pay attention to mobile the answer is easily found. At every stage, consumers are shaping trends and showing us how to be 21st century brands just by engaging with mobile on a daily basis. So then why when it’s as plain as the nose on our faces do we do anything else?

It’s time for brands to ignore all the stats on the next big thing and find their own unique offering. Begin focusing exclusively on what you know about your customers and you will find the key to innovation. Rob Griffin put it best when he said, “Don’t sell output - sell a new outcome in consumers lives.”

Mobile is the answer to all of this. Your experience must make it easier for the consumer to do what they do. Find the opportunity by looking at how consumer behaviour changes because of connectivity and find how to connect with this change to your brand’s offering. What do I have to change to offer similar services to make it easier for my customer to interact with me, engage with me and make me part of their daily routines.

So with mobile usage continuing to grow and knowing smartphones are the entry point for many customers to embrace your brand, how will this change how we approach innovation? If customers have chosen to align with you, what are we doing as brands to make it worth their while? It’s interesting to think that mobile is one of the most intimate ways marketers can connect with customers and yet so many miss the opportunity. How do you think mobile will shape future conversations?