SXSW: Everything is Bigger in Texas – The Brands, The Crowds and The Buzz for Two Mobile Trends

Yes, SXSW was more crowded than ever this year. Stay in a hotel outside downtown? Check. Sure, brands like Chevy, PepsiMAX and even AOL flaunted big-budget campaigns that stole our attention away from smaller players. And it’s of course no surprise that the iPad 2 was the talk of the town as the pop-up Apple store drew large crowds away from the convention center.

However, despite the attention that the crowds and big brands generated, the heart and soul of SXSW Interactive has remained (at least partly) intact. A handful of startups were able to capture our interest and two mobile trends managed to steal the hearts of digital nomads last week in Austin:

1.       Group Messaging: A fairly long list of players including Mogwee, Twilio, Kik, Beluga and Yobongo emerged during the show, but GroupMe seems to have come out on top. The mobile app won the SXSW Breakout Digital Trend Award and according to an infographic seen on TechCrunch also generated the most buzz on Twitter.  While at the show, everyone at the show seemed to be giving the app a try. Even Zeno’s Scott Murphy became a fan of the app while there. Right now GroupMe has the momentum, but only time will tell if the app will become more than a fad and reach the phones of mainstream consumers.

2.       Photo Sharing: These apps allow users to take and share photos from their mobile phones and with the buzz they started in 2010 and sustained through SXSW, they’re here to stay. With more than 6 billion photos uploaded to Facebook each month it’s clear that they have a viable place in the market and should only get bigger and better. Instagram, Hipstamatic, PicPlz and Path all sparked discussions at Southby, but Instagram seems to be leading the way. It’s captured the attention of mainstream consumers – right before SXSW the app passed the two million user mark – and has tech moguls like Liz Gannes giving it a thumbs up.

At the end of the day, despite some negativity about the panel session layout, unprecedented crowds and big brands infiltrating SXSW more than ever, the festival still served as a showcase for emerging startups. Photo sharing and group messaging are both mobile trends that should be able to make a lasting tech footprint. Both Instagram and GroupMe seemed to play their cards right, giving them the momentum they need for broader adoption – and possibly evolve into the next Twitter or Foursquare.