There’s just one week left until it’s time for SXSW, the biggest tech festival in the world. Anyone that needs some help with choosing the right talks, panels, workshops, we picked some of our favorites:

How Do We Ethically Manipulate 2B Minds, by Tristan Harris
Design thinker Tristan Harris is known for his great TED talks and work on how technology influences our attention and behaviour. The balance between being ‘online’ and being closed off from your immediate surroundings versus being “offline” and feeling like you’re missing out on something big, is the focus of the Centre for Human Technology. Where he calls tech giants out to consciously deal with how they have the power to determine the thoughts and feelings of mankind.

Navigating the Video Revolution in the Digital Age, by Susan Wojcicki
YouTube powerlady and CEO Susan Wojcicki talks with Wired Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Thompson about the responsibility of YouTube as a social platform and the impact it has on the contemporary media landscape. Need we say more?

Illusion Design, Story Craft and Virtual Worlds, by Curtis Hickman
All VR fans know about the breath-taking experiences of The Void.

It combines physical and virtual environments in a ‘hyper-reality’. Hickman, Creative Director at The Void, put great effort into making people feel like a real part of the virtual world through all senses. His talk takes a glimpse into the future of VR, storytelling and future experiences.

How Uber is Designing a Self-Driving Future, by Molly Nix
Uber is an example to many when it comes to user experience. But how do users behave in a self-driving Uber? Molly Nix examines Uber’s plans to enrich this next level user experience and answers the question of “How do you deal with multi-tasking users?”, “How do you ensure security?”, “Can we overcome the natural instinct to keep a strong grip on the wheel?” and questions of practical issues such as travel sickness.

How Will Brands Grow in the AI Era, by Steven Wolfe Pereira
Quantcast is an “AI powerhouse” for marketers and agencies. Wolfe believes that it’s not about the data per se, but it’s about understanding the data. He foresees AI having a huge impact on customer experience, industries, businesses and marketers. Our task is to actually build upon the data we already have.

Just Press Go: Waymo’s Self-Deiving Cars Are Here, by John Krafcik
After 9 years and driving 4 million miles, Googles’ ‘moon shot’ is finally a reality. Waymo CEO, John Krafcik seems to have the recipe for success when it comes to self-propelled vehicles, with the least human intervention so far. We’re looking forward to hearing all about his vision and promises.

Design in the Era of the Algorithm, by Josh Clark
Machine learning is the new design material, but we all know of examples that completely miss the mark. It’s up to designers and data experts to create solutions that are unbiased and inclusive. Josh Clark looks at our role in the creation of these future interfaces.

Ethical Personality Design: The Future of HCI, by Sophie Kelber
Huge’s Executive Director, Product and Innovation, focuses on the ever-closer relationship between people and virtual assistants. How do we provide an ethical framework when it comes to the future of human-computer interactions?

Create the World You Want to Live In, by Guy Raz
Brands are able to address social problems and actually initiate movements. Lead by our favourite NPR reporter Guy Raz, we hear how supermodel Karlie Kloss and Adidas Head of Global Brands, Eric Liedtke both make the difference. Tech in service of a better world.

Fake news, social addictiveness, dumb cities and the need for a Department of Technology
Dept wouldn’t be Dept if we didn’t give stage to our best speakers. So hear what Arthur Stobbelaar, Max Pinas and Franklin Schamhart have to say on Tuesday 13th of March from 15:30 to 16:30 in New Dutch Wave (Waller Ballroom, 700 E 6th St, Austin) about the theme of ‘Smart Cities.” Focusing on design ethics and how technological progress can be ensured within governments.

There you have it, our top 10 on a platter. Giving you a head start in the race against FOMO, trying to choose from too many interesting sessions, long queues and too much fun. For anyone who is already in possession of a ticket, don’t forget about this handy app that lets you download the above sessions and mark them as ‘favourite’ in your schedule.

If you’re going: LYFT is Austin’s version of Uber. Lastly, don’t even think of heading out the door without a power bank. See you in Austin!

Bonus Tip: Featured Session — Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman

Okay, so one more. Queues probably loop around the building four times ;) and a must for all Star Wars fans…

10 SXSW Talks That You Don’t Want to Miss was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Germany’s largest e-commerce agency for fashion and lifestyle sets the course for future growth as it becomes a part of Dept, the international network of leading digital agencies.

By joining as a key partner, superReal clients get easy access to extensive expertise in the fields of online marketing, data and technology. The now 105-person agency strengthens both Dept’s position on the German market as well as its international e-commerce capabilities.

Volker Will, founder and managing director of superReal: “By combining our knowledge and expertise, we can support today’s e-commerce leaders to a greater extent in their online businesses; from brand to platform, smart data and online marketing. In addition, joining Dept sets our course for further international growth whilst keeping the superReal culture alive. Exciting times ahead!” superReal will work together with Dept’s agencies at an operational level while preserving their existing management and DNA.

superReal has experienced an extremely successful development since its foundation in 1999 and has gathered broad knowledge on integrating, predominantly, Spryker and Shopware technologies. With a 45% increase in sales and projects for Nivea, OTTO, TOM TAILOR, Birkenstock and Weber under its belt, 2017 turned out to be another record-breaking year.

Paul Manuel, co-founder of Dept: “superReal’s creative and technical power combined with Be Excellent, also known for their solid technical expertise, and online marketing agency Trust Agents, creates a unique and all-in-one ‘Dept solution’ for e-commerce and lifestyle brands. Because we’ve added a great people culture and entrepreneurial spirit, you can understand that we can’t wait to work together and create long-lasting impact within the German market.”

About Dept:

Dept is an international family of digital agencies headquartered in Amsterdam. With the addition of superReal, its network is expanding to 750 employees in total with a combined turnover of over 80 million euro and offices in the Netherlands, UK, US, Germany, Ireland and Spain. www.deptagency.com

superReal becomes part of Dept was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The agency world is ruled by major consultants, in-house teams, and advertising giants that empower clients. During the Dmexco — the leading global digital marketing event — boasting more than 40,000 visitors, we listen to a talk by Bob Greenberg, founder and CEO of R/GA. The theme of his talk? ‘How to create the next Agency Model’.

Greenberg knows what he’s talking about, too. He has managed to stay alive in the marketing and advertising world for more than 41 years (!). In the meantime, R/GA provides employment to more than 2,000 people around the world, working on the cutting edge of technology, design, and marketing. Of course, this didn’t happen overnight. Greenberg explains how he had to reinvent his company several times. For example, in the mid-nineties, which marked the switch from production agency to interactive agency. This was not easy for the employees because they had to step out of their comfort zones and learn new skills. However, it was necessary if they were to survive as an agency and stay ahead of the rest.

It is interesting to hear that Greenberg used to maintain a disruptive cycle of nine years, but in recent years, had to implement major innovations almost every year. Not because he prefers it this way, but because it simply corresponds to the speed at which one must operate nowadays. During his talk, he mentions several ways that R/GA tries to stay ahead of the game.

R/GA ventures

A special programme for start-ups with money. That sums up R/GA ventures. The programme puts them in contact with the talent and skills available at R/GA and they get access to the agency’s Fortune 500 clients. The objective? Helping the start-ups grow to a meaningful size. In the meantime, more than 70 ventures have been helped, with partners like Verizon and Snap Inc. A fine example is this smart ShotTracker & Keemotion case study.

Consultancy

While consultancies have declared the hunt on creative agencies, R/GA chooses the opposite path, as it already announced in the media earlier. R/GA distinguishes itself by concentrating on execution rather than PowerPoint slides. The agency says that its strong culture and ability to work in flexible teams sets it apart from the major management consultants. The ability to dare to take risks and grabbing opportunities that lead to innovation, without delay. This is not merely a great sales story; R/GA’s consultancy business grew by 50% in the past year under the internal motto ‘consultants that make’.

Everything is Connected

When it comes to staying ahead of other agencies, R/GA tries to differentiate itself through communication and design in particular. Away with the funny or tear-jerking 30-second commercials, but instead, a series of contact moments that convey the message. Greenberg uses ‘Nike on Demand’ as an example, where mobile technology, smart sports data and chat are used to help sportsmen and -women achieve their goals.

The infrastructure of the future

Bringing digital and physical together. It is the future and the reason Greenberg has created its own ‘Connected space’. The workplace of the future with innovative tools, design, furniture and infrastructure. Everything to help its employees work together better. The R/GA OS software, for keeping track of hours and budgets, is key in this regard and forms the backbone of project organisation. This enables the agency to operate as a single entity with a 24/7 workflow.

The agency of the future is flexible and willing to take risks. Greenberg is a firm believer in the disruptive aspect, and, therefore, R/GA will — in his own words — always only be 80% ‘done’. After all, you have to keep on moving. And it is great to see R/GA making a statement in four entirely different areas.

Climbing to C-level, finding consultants on sneakers and convincing clients that advertising is more than merely a website or commercial is easier said than done. As an agency we have the ingredients to get there as long as we don’t forget to put into practice what we also establish for our clients. After all, things only start to get dangerous when you have everything 100% figured out…

www.deptagency.com

Surviving as an agency according to R/GA was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dept announced today that it has been nominated across seven categories in the 7th Annual Lovie Awards 2017. Hailed as “the most prestigious, and the only, truly pan-European awards” the Lovies honor excellence across the European Internet community.

Now in its seventh year, the Lovies celebrate digital work produced by Europe’s top teams from brands and agencies across the continent, awarding the best in Websites, Mobile & Applications, Social, Internet Video and Online Advertising.

Dimi Albers, Managing Director Dept: “The Lovie Awards are a prestigious award, and we are very happy with seven nominations across the Dept agencies. Now it’s up to our fans to vote for the winner!”

Spread the lovie ❤️ and vote here:

• Websites: Financial Services — TamTam & Kempen
• Mobile Sites, Apps & Podcasts: Best Use of Messaging — TamTam & Oxxio App
• Mobile Sites, Apps & Podcasts: Community & Social — TamTam & My Neighbourhood
• Websites: Best Navigation/Structure — a friend of mine & Piet Mondrian
• Websites: Art — a friend of mine & Piet Mondrian
• Internet Video: Animation — a friend of mine & Ontdek Mondriaan
• Websites: Financial Services — Studio Dumbar & New conversational platform for a.s.r.

TamTam, a friend of mine and Studio Dumbar are part of Dept, an international network of leading digital agencies. From Europe and the US, more than 600 talented people combine creativity, technology and data to create digital solutions that help brands grow and make our lives easier. www.deptagency.com.

Dept nominated seven times for Lovie Awards 2017 was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Irish digital agency Webfactory is about to become part of the agency network Dept. With an office in Dublin, the network is expanding its services in Europe.

With over twenty years of experience, Dublin based Webfactory is the leading digital agency in Ireland. The agency, with 45 strategists, creative talents and developers, is well-known as a pioneer in the field of large-scale, interactive and technically innovative Internet projects. Webfactory has a number of clients within the Irish finance, insurance and utility industries such as AIB, Irish Life Health and Calor Gas. It also helps increase the online visibility of international brands such as Google and Microsoft.

Paul Manuel, co-founder of Dept: “Webfactory is not only an authority within the Irish market, but its services also tie in seamlessly with the services of digital agency TamTam, which is also part of our network. Together, we will be able to realise smarter solutions within these verticals. In addition, we believe that the Irish market will continue to grow, and it will become easier to collaborate with the major international brands that are based in Dublin.”

Webfactory has won the award for the best Irish digital agency five times, and it estimates that more than 50% of Irish people interact with at least one of its services every day. Joining Dept is the first step towards the company’s international expansion, which gives Webfactory and its customers access to far more services in the field of data and online marketing.

Simon Walsh, director of Webfactory: “After 24 years it was time for the next step. A step that energises us, that allows us to continue to do what we are good at and to learn new things. The collaboration with the agencies within the network ensures that we will get even better at meeting international demand and can broaden our horizons, especially when it comes to online marketing and digital media.”

Dept is a network of leading digital agencies. With the addition of Webfactory, the network is expanding to 600 employees with a combined turnover of over 70 million Euro and offices in the Netherlands, UK, US, Germany, Ireland and Spain. www.deptagency.com

Webfactory is joining the Dept network was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Global digital agency Building Blocks (part of Dept) has completed the strategic acquisition of software developer, Tricode.

The move further strengthens Building Blocks’ technical capabilities and enables its expansion into new markets, namely the Netherlands and Macedonia where Tricode is based and renowned for its expertise in Java development.

The acquisition sees employee numbers at Building Blocks reach 150 and increases global revenue by £4m to £13m.

With this acquisition, Building Blocks has broadened its technical capabilities with Java solutions such as Adobe Experience Manager and Magnolia, and ecommerce solution Intershop, which will strengthen its offering to clients around the world.

Commenting on the acquisition, Building Blocks’ CEO, Jasper van de Luijtgaarden said: “As a global agency that exists to provide the very best technologies to its customers, we’re delighted with Tricode joining the Building Blocks family — it will make us stronger, bigger and better.

“The partnership will help us achieve our goals of increasing our footprint in the Benelux and Balkan regions, while developing our breadth of technical expertise and enabling us to offer a better service to our global client base.

“We expect this to be a positive and seamless integration with existing clients of both agencies benefitting from an enhanced services portfolio.”

Tricode’s CEO, Evert Jan van Schuppen said: “This is a great move for our company and our clients, who will benefit from the breadth of services that Building Blocks and the wider Dept network can offer, including consultancy and strategy, experience design and digital marketing services”.

Founded in 1999, Tricode employs over 60 people across its headquarters in Veenendaal in the Netherlands and Skopje in Macedonia. It works with high profile clients such as Liberty Global, Koninklijke Bibliotheek and Rabobank.

Building Blocks was founded in 2007 and its multidisciplinary team of 70 operates globally from offices in Manchester — UK, Zaragoza — Spain and Boston — USA, helping global companies solve complex problems with digital technologies. Over the past few years, Building Blocks has achieved consistent growth; 2016 was its most successful year to date, achieving a 34% increase in global revenue. Its client base includes global brands such as Triumph Motorcycles, Yara International and Kaspersky Labs.

Building Blocks is part of Dept — an international network of leading digital agencies. Comprising ten agencies in total, all offering complementary digital services, Tricode clients will benefit from tapping into the full capabilities of the Dept network, which includes specialist e-Commerce agency, Be Excellent, online marketing experts Expand Online, and top three Dutch agency, TamTam. www.deptagency.com

Building Blocks (part of Dept) completes acquisition of Tricode was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The second edition of the Dept Festival, taking place on Friday 1 September 2017 at Thuishaven Amsterdam, promises a mixture of sun, sand, and inspiration.

The events in the jovial circus tent, converted into a main stage for the occasion, are focused on creativity, data, and technology. Speakers will initially include the legendary Stefan Sagmeister, SXSW’s Topher White, Google’s Jason Kerr, TED hero Aubrey de Grey, and Mr Bingo. Furthermore, Dept Festival would not be able to function without its host Dennis Weening, who is reprising his successful role from last year. Fifteen ‘Depsters’ are currently in contention for the title of best presentation, in the hope of securing a well-deserved spot on the podium. This year, the talks are divided not just between two topical stages. An additional sun drenched outdoor stage has also been set up.

Dept Festival represents brief, energetic talks; technology; dancing; and networking at Thuishaven Amsterdam. Following its successful 2016 edition, the organisation is expecting 1,500 digital creatives this year, who work at Dept, at customers or in digital industry. The agency has expanded significantly in the UK and Germany this year. It is therefore also hoping that awareness of the festival in Europe will expand.

Paul Manuel, co-founder Dept: “We started the ‘talks’ seven years ago, in which our own talents were able to make the presentation of their life within the ‘Live Your Dream’ programme. It is quite remarkable that these ‘Talks’ have since evolved into a festival with presentations by top names in the industry. Beautiful stories and catching up with your feet in the sand. I look forward to it!”

The festival is by invitation only, but you might be able to secure a ticket via www.deptfestival.com.

Dept Festival announces the first names for 2017 was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The annual Global Digital Outlook Study by SoDA and Forrester is live. As part of SoDA, the network of the hundred most innovative and award-winning digital agencies in the world, we will list the seven main results for you here.

1. 48% of marketers expect an increase in digital budgets

While it no longer qualifies as news, it feels good to conclude that 48% of marketers expect the digital budgets to increase in the coming year as well. This means that the overall total for marketing budgets will remain the same, but the majority (27%) expect to allocate a greater proportion of the budget to digital projects and campaigns. However, as high as 21% of the marketers expect to invest significantly less in online marketing. But that still is a lot, given that only 11% of the marketers surveyed last year said they expected to see a decrease in the digital marketing budget. What is the budget spent on then? Unfortunately, the report provides no answers.

2. We are going for Programmatic, VR & Voice

On what projects will this budget be spent then? Like last year, digital experiences (web and mobile), content, digital services and analytics top the list. When it comes to digital media spend, marketers expect the majority of spending to be on Video Advertising (49%) and Social Content (47%). Marketers expect new, short-term investments in Programmatic Advertising, VR/AR and Voice/Chatbots. When we put the same question to digital agencies, it appears that most — fortunately — have a pretty good idea of what customers want to invest in.

3. Innovation Labs FTW

When it comes to the way in which marketers and agencies work together, a large number expect that real collaboration with multi-agency teams will be the spearhead of 2017. In addition, the majority of agencies consider talent attraction and continuous development of new services as the main strategy for success. The creation of an Innovation Lab — alas, you probably thought you were unique — is already a fact for 66% of the agencies, and it actually appears to be a fruitful approach to rolling out new services quickly.

4. Multiple, specialised agencies are preferred

It is interesting to see that half of the agencies believe in specialisation for growth, while the other half actually prefers combining multiple services. Marketers themselves (40%) prefer to use multiple, specialised digital agencies for their activities. Do you ever wonder why marketers stop working with an agency? Usually, this has to do with the lack of innovation or — what else? — the price.

5. Here come the consultancy firms…

Innovation. Where 66% of the marketers surveyed in 2015 thought they could organise this internally, just 14% still hold this expectation in 2017. The bad news for us as digital agencies is that consultancy firms like Accenture and Deloitte Digital are number one in bringing innovation to the market, ranking even higher than digital media partners like Google and Facebook. It may have to do with the fact that 49% of the marketers now say that C-level colleagues are overlooked in the selection of digital partners. The agencies themselves expect that, thanks to their ‘makers’ mindset, digital agencies will be able to stay in the top 3.

6. Talent attraction the biggest problem when insourcing digital teams

58% of the digital agencies expect that insourcing of digital teams will pose a threat to their activities. The corporate marketers are seemingly getting better at this, especially in the area of ​​social media, analytics and digital experiences. This year, their priorities are data, organisational culture and structure and customer insights. Interestingly, marketers have high expectations for insourcing, but a comparison of the current data to that of 2016 shows that they are just plans that never come to fruition. The reason? The search for talent appears to be more complicated for marketers on the customer side than for us as digital agencies.

7. Innovation? Creativity & data it is!

A good conclusion from the report is that marketers and digital agencies seem to be on different pages when it comes to digital innovation. 78% of the marketers believe that their organisation is ready to innovate, while only 23% of digital agencies agree with that. Too much business-as-usual and no innovation process are, according to digital agencies, the main reason why innovation cannot succeed. While the agencies seem to focus on innovation, marketers are very specific in what they want from agencies. Better designs and creativity (44%) and taking better advantage of data (43%) appear to be the key priorities.

The conclusion? As a digital agency, we will not be able to avoid insourcing, the major consultants and search for talent. But let’s all make sure that the marketers see the added-value of makers, a perspective from outsiders and digital natives who are used to today’s warp-speed world. Let’s practice what we preach!

What digital agencies can learn from SoDA’s Global Digital Outlook 2017 was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tim de Kamper has been appointed Regional Director Benelux for Be Excellent (part of Dept). The agency, which was founded in Germany and has offices in Jena, Berlin, Dresden, London and Amsterdam, implemented more than 190 commerce sites in more than 50 countries over the past six years.

For the past ten years, De Kamper was Head of eCommerce Development at DigitasLBi, where he gained extensive experience with projects within Salesforce Commerce Cloud, formerly known as Demandware. He was also responsible for setting up the Salesforce CRM Center of Excellence. Under the Be Excellent banner, he will now start working on the expansion of a dedicated eCommerce team in Amsterdam. Areas of focus include providing local services to the Benelux market and the integration of services with the agencies in the Dept network.

Be Excellent focuses on consultancy and the implementation and support of world-wide web shops in the fashion, electronics and sports industries. Its main activities are related to working with multi-channel platforms for brands such as O’Neill, Panasonic, Playmobil, Birkenstock and Quicksilver.

Be Excellent is part of Dept, an international network of leading digital agencies. From our offices in Europe and the US, 500 of the most talented and experienced people in our industry combine creativity, technology and data for digital solutions that help brands grow and simplify our life.

Dept fully commits to eCommerce with Tim de Kamper was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Second Degree, part of the digital agency Dept, is the first to offer the services of a newsroom: an editorial department of former journalists and creatives that work together on content productions for brands and media.

Every brand uses social media these days, seeks to collaborate with a publisher or launches its own content platform to activate its specific channels. Second Degree founder Martine Meijburg: “The foundation is still a good, qualitative and relevant story aimed at the right target group.” Newsroom helps brands to identify their best stories, the optimal way of telling them and to disseminate them among the target group.

Editorial formats

Meijburg is managing director of Second Degree. In the past four years the agency, which started out in 2013 as a 100 percent LinkedIn marketing agency, has specialised in content marketing, social advertising and data analysis within the B2B market.

“Since 2015, we have observed a clear shift among our clients: in the past, brands focused 100% of their brand on LinkedIn but demand is becoming increasingly broader and content marketing plays a major role in this respect. We now produce long reads, write white papers, blogs, podcasts, newsletters, produce image databases and compile editorial formulas,” reveals Meijburg. “Our paid campaigns have a greater impact when we are also able to jointly reflect on the content we are driving.”

NRC

Freek Staps (42) is a veteran when it comes to journalism and worked for sixteen years at NRC Handelsblad as a correspondent in New York and also led four editorial teams including Economy and Online. He is also co-founder of NRC Q, which earned him a Fellowship at Harvard to conduct research into online innovation.

“Journalists can tell a good story better than anyone,” says chief editor Freek Staps. “Companies know that and it’s something the public values.” Besides Staps there are other journalists, creatives and freelancers originating from, for example, De Volkskrant, De Wereld Draait Door, Financieele Dagblad and advertising agencies.

According to Staps traditional advertising sometimes gives the impression of: “hey, look how great I am. Brand journalism involves demonstrating your knowledge and being relevant to your audience in that way. And this is something that journalists are extremely good at: telling a story from the perspective of a target group instead of from a marketing perspective. We look at a company and ask the question: what is really important?

Measurable results

Meijburg: “What’s important is that the content we produce delivers measurable results for our clients.” In addition to the strategy and production, Second Degree handles the content’s dissemination and monitoring. The editorial department also helps traditional and print-targeted media to become more online-oriented.

About Second Degree (Part of Dept)

Second Degree provides high quality and result-driven content and efficient dissemination. We handle the entire process from strategy to implementation and distribution.

Second Degree is part of Dept, an international network of leading digital agencies. From our offices in Europe and the US, 500 of the most talented and experienced people in our industry combine creativity, technology and data for digital solutions that help brands grow and simplify our life.

The marketing department is transforming into a newsroom was originally published in Dept on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.