The definitive Digiday guide to what’s in and what’s out at SXSW

Digiday is at SXSW giving you the latest industry news out of the festival at Austin, Texas. More from the series →

SXSW has lost some of its luster. Mega-events typically follow a trajectory in which they reach great heights before an inevitable decline. SXSW’s height was probably Barack Obama coming to speak in 2016. Agencies have curtailed their contingents, brands aren’t as hot and bothered, and few are looking for the next startup darling to emerge in Austin, Texas, this weekend. Still, the ride can be fun.

Here’s our take on who will be up, who will be down and who will go sideways at this year’s edition of SXSW Interactive.

More in Marketing

Marketers shift growing shares of search spending to GEO

Generative AI is pushing brands to shift SEO budgets toward visibility in AI-generated answers over clicks.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese pulls dollars from search – people aren’t Googling ‘cream cheese’

Philadelphia Cream Cheese has stopped paying for search ads, at least to prospective shoppers on Google. Over the past year, the Kraft Heinz-owned CPG brand has phased out its traditional search ad spend, opting to put those dollars instead into retail media and broader channels, according to Maddy Zingle, vp of marketing for Philadelphia Cream […]

TikTok courts CMOs with first-ever Collective, as it targets bigger budgets

In its first CMO-focused event in the U.K. TikTok showcased how easy it is for brands to create content. The event is only part of the platform’s sharper 2026 commercial strategy: targeting larger, long-term ad budgets, courting independent agencies, and positioning itself as a serious competitor to Meta in 2026.