• by Aaron Baar , March 11, 2015

For many attending South by Southwest, the event is about discovering something exciting and inspiring to take home and build upon. The UPS store, which has positioned itself as a small-business owner’s best friend, is trying to help attendees share those insights throughout the festival. 

The experiential effort is an extension of the brand’s #ViaStories social campaign, which launched last fall. That effort encourages small business owners to share the stories that took them on the path to running their own business. 

“All small-business owners got where they are via something or someone,” Karen Mawhinney, group account director at Erwin Penland, the agency behind the concept, tells Marketing Daily. “People got really excited about sharing their stories, even more than we thought they would.”

For the SXSW component, the UPS Store is expanding the concept to encourage attendees to share their discoveries, motivations and inspirations gleaned from the festival on a blank canvas in the shape of the United States. To reinforce the idea of UPS Stores as the outlets for shipping needs, the 16-foot by 8-foot display is constructed out of cardboard boxes.

While previous stories have been shared via video and social media at business and entrepreneurial events, the focus for SXSW has broadened to include more inspirational themes in keeping with the festival’s forward-thinking agenda, Mawhinney says. 

“We’re asking [attendees] to fill in this blank canvas of the U.S. with their stories of discovery and inspiration,” she notes. “It will be interesting to see  how this different approach goes over.”