How SXSW Sydney used brand tracking to launch its flagship event Down Under

We caught up with the SXSW Sydney team to learn how they use brand health data as they introduce an iconic U.S. event brand to a new market.

Meet SXSW Sydney

SXSW Sydney (South by Southwest Sydney) is a conference, festival, and expo that brings together creative minds from across the Asia-Pacific region every October. Building on the 37-year legacy of SXSW Austin in the United States, the Sydney edition helps creatives build connections while exploring what's next in tech and innovation.

Proving the need for brand-building in Australia

While SXSW (commonly referred to as “South By”) enjoys strong brand recognition in the U.S., the Sydney team faced a unique challenge.

"South By in Austin is so well known in the States, so our team assumed that it was just as well known internationally — particularly in Australia," says Sam Saunders, Head of Marketing at SXSW Sydney. Even after a successful 2023 event, the mission didn’t translate as well as expected. Sam adds, “People just weren’t connecting or understanding what South By is.”

The marketing team knew that getting buy-in for long-term brand marketing without concrete data would be tough. Plus, they needed to show their value to strategic partners like Destination New South Wales — which would drive tourism and improve turnout for SXSW Sydney — and attract future partners.

So, after their first year in the market, SXSW Sydney turned to Tracksuit to get a handle on their brand awareness and prove the impact of their marketing efforts.

“Our marketing team knew our brand awareness in Australia was low and that our efforts to increase it would make a meaningful difference — but we needed to prove it. Beyond ticket sales, we needed to show that we are making an impact for the long-term.”

Building a data-backed strategy to drive brand awareness

Tracksuit's brand health dashboard brought eye-opening insights to SXSW Sydney. The team discovered their awareness levels were less than half of comparable events like TED and TEDx Sydney — events they assumed would have similar recognition levels in Australia.

Armed with this baseline data, SXSW Sydney developed a targeted marketing strategy focused on:

• Emphasizing awareness outside of NSW to drive tourism alongside Destination New South Wales
• Increasing relevance and preference among their core 25–44-year-old demographic
• Establishing SXSW Sydney as an event "worth traveling for".

“The functionality is very impressive, including the AI aspect. It’s adding so much value and helping us understand our audience and their media habits in ways that we didn’t even expect.”

Demonstrating the impact of brand-building

In just four months, SXSW Sydney saw significant improvements across key brand health metrics in their Tracksuit data:

• Increase in awareness: Achieved a 5% statistically significant lift in awareness among adults aged 25–44.
• Boost in sentiment: Gained a 9% lead over the competitor average in the sentiment that SXSW Sydney "brings together different kinds of people."
• Rise in preference: Increased national brand preference by 3x.

These numbers made the case for brand marketing loud and clear to the SXSW Sydney team. The data also showed Destination New South Wales that the partnership positively impacts their goal of boosting local tourism.

Beyond the numbers, SXSW Sydney earned important brand associations that supported their strategic goals. They outshined their competitors on key statements like "brings together different kinds of people" and "worth traveling for" — crucial wins to help Australians understand the value of the event.

“The greater team was surprised because they didn’t realize the tremendous impact brand marketing can have. But having a respected platform like Tracksuit is powerful — it helps us prove a significant change in the data exactly when we need to.”

Looking forward: Fueling the momentum to build national recognition

Fresh off these wins, SXSW Sydney is hitting the ground running. The team is already putting their Tracksuit insights to work. Their partnerships team is using the brand health data to shape their 2025 pitches, while their media agency is weaving the learnings into next year's campaigns.

"What consumers are saying about us is a huge lever. The partnerships team uses these statements to secure major partnerships. And I can already tell the unprompted imagery will affect ad campaign planning. Recently, the 'expensive' association is cutting through — and with many free or low-cost credentials, that's something we can prioritize and counter now,” Sam adds. “I'm so excited to see what will happen."

For other brands looking to build brand awareness in new markets, it’s common to make assumptions about how the new region will react. But Sam emphasizes the importance of having real-time data to fuel your strategy. “When you live and breathe your brand, it’s easy to miss the big picture. Having continuous brand tracking helps you zoom out and see exactly where you stand.”

With always-up-to-date brand health data backing their strategy, SXSW Sydney has transformed internal skepticism about brand marketing into enthusiastic support for long-term brand building. And they're laying the groundwork to become as beloved in the Asia-Pacific as their Austin counterpart.

“For me, it’s the assurance that we’re doing the right thing. Being able to see in Tracksuit every month that we are heading in the right direction has been a relief — and it helps us confidently shape each campaign.”