Robots and virtual reality advances aside, my SXSW experience was heavy on results and opportunities around mobile video.
On the live streaming side, we now know that last year’s SXSW darling Meerkat was forced to change its business model with the appearance of Facebook Live and the adoption of Periscope.
It was Facebook’s moves and associated metrics that especially caught my attention over the last few days:
As shared by a company executive, 100 million hours of video are viewed every day on Facebook. Mobile is a large driver.
Ninety percent of the views on Facebook for the Straight Outta Compton trailer were on mobile.
The trailer for Furious 7 had 100 million views on Facebook, with an undisclosed but high number on mobile devices.
Approximately 2.2 million people watched the Facebook Live stream of Peyton Manning’s retirement announcement. This came despite the fact that the event was shown on a variety of television and online outlets.
Facebook has long viewed mobile as its biggest growth opportunity. Clearly video is key to the company’s aspirations.
Elsewhere:
Of the gazillion people at SXSW, no one brought a better in-flight Wi-Fi solution. Damn.
In a panel on beacons, Clorox's Sarah Ortman said that a brand’s mobile outreach in store should solve a problem or delight a consumer. Or both.
Despite the hype, I didn’t see many robots at SXSW unless you count those who stayed out until 4 a.m. and were forced to attend early morning panels.
The majority of McDonald’s U.S. business is via the drive thru, making mobile solutions more important. The company had a large presence in Austin.
In the UK this year, mobile ad spending will surpass TV spending as well as desktop spending, according to eMarketer
Half of all debit card holders don't believe it's safe to use their card for online purchases, Kantar reported. I wonder what these people would say about using a smartphone to make a purchase. Likely, no, thanks.
In 2015, Apple sold 441 iPhones per minute.
