Axios

AUSTIN, Texas – Social media is redefining how consumers discover and trust products and companies, brand leaders said at a March 9 event at Axios House SXSW.

The big picture: Gone are the days of solely relying on search engines to build brand recognition and reputation. Consumers are increasingly turning to social media and influencers to determine what to trust.

Axios' Kerry Flynn, Eleanor Hawkins and Nicole Cobler moderated conversations with Bobbie chief brand officer Kim Chappell, Form co-founder Sami Bernstein Spalter, and Tecovas VP of brand marketing Samantha Fodrowski at the event, which was sponsored by Suntory Global Spirits.

What they're saying: Brands that aren't utilizing social media are "missing the boat," Chappell said.

• "Moms, especially the younger moms that we're seeing come up, are not going to Google in the way that they used to," she said. "They're actually turning to TikTok, and they're saying, 'what is the best baby formula' or 'this brand versus this brand.'"

Bobbie embraces influencer marketing but only partners with people who genuinely use the products.

• Chappell stressed the importance of sticking to the company's mission and values. When it comes to social activism, she said their customer base responds strongly to supporting causes that align with their mission.
• "People want to know that their dollar is going to something more than just a transaction," she said.

Zoom in: For influencers and brands, staying true to their identity is critical.

• "I love that quote, 'no one is you, and that is your power,'" said Spalter. "No matter how crowded a space is or no matter how saturated it can be, no one's ever going to do it the way that we do it because they're not us."
• "You can sometimes feel like looking around is going to give you inspiration to help you figure out what's next. My best philosophy is actually staying really heads down and being able to know yourself so well and check in with yourself to help decide what feels authentic to you before just doing what worked for someone else," Spalter added.
• Fodrowski said Tecovas aims to offer an authentic approach to Western fashion. "What's so nice about us being so young is we're able to be the most welcoming brand in Western, and that's what we really try to lean into," she said.
• "When we have different celebrities and musicians [who] want to wear our boots and are big fans, we love it," Fodrowski added.

Content from sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, Eric Schuetzler, Suntory Global Spirits' head of global research and development, said consumers look for authenticity and transparency about a product, such as for their ready-to-drink (RTD) bottled cocktails.

• "If you get a ready-to-drink cocktail, you don't necessarily know everything that goes into it," said Schuetzler. "The more that we're able to demonstrate and show people and tell people, this is how this cocktail is made, and it's much more convenient, and you can take it anywhere you want, and you can have the mixologist taste without the mixologist there – that's what we're trying to bring to light."

AUSTIN, Texas – AI is transforming how brands cut through the noise and engage with consumers, retail leaders said at a March 8 event at Axios House SXSW.

The big picture: As brands compete for consumer attention, more digital work, technology, in-store experiences and omnichannel strategies are expected to drive the next wave of customer engagement.

Axios' Kerry Flynn and Axios Local's Nicole Cobler moderated conversations with Ulta Beauty's chief marketing officer Kelly Mahoney; Jason Wersland, Therabody's founder and chief wellness officer; Amanda Henry, Therabody's vice president of business development and women's wellness; Olipop's CEO, co-founder and formulator Ben Goodwin; and Samsung Electronics America CMO Allison Stransky at the event sponsored by Lowe's.

What they're saying: Ulta Beauty has used AI since 2018 to enhance its data and tailor its marketing approach based on shopping habits, Mahoney said.

• "Beauty is so dynamic and beauty is very, very personal," she said. "So we were really forced early to think about how to personalize the experience because everybody's beauty experience is just so no one-size-fits-all."

Zoom in: As more brick-and-mortar stores close, technology can help physical stores stay relevant.

• Ulta Beauty is piloting LUUM Precision Lash, an automated robot that applies lashes on customers in-store.
• "We know lashes are in," Mahoney said. "But it's really tricky [to apply]. It's hard to do it. And so how can we make that experience much easier for our beauty consumers when they come in?"
• For Therabody, physical stores remain vital as competitors flood the market.
• "When you create an industry, everybody piles in," said Henry. "But then when you actually feel the products, you're like, 'OK, wow, there's a real difference.'"

How it works: Beyond selling products, Therabody is making its online store more than a marketplace.

• "It's [not just] a shopping site," Werlsand said. "You have tons of education. We have a science department. We have research in there so you can dig down if you want to as a physician, or a practitioner, or a body work or massage therapist. So we really want to make it so that when you jump on, whoever you are, you feel really at home."
• Samsung is also leveraging technology to create a seamless consumer experience with its SmartThings platform. Stransky said the platform is "product agnostic" and connects to more than 300 third-party products, allowing customers to have fully connected homes.

Separately, Goodwin highlighted the power of social media marketing to reach customers.

• "It's really cost-effective. It's a really fantastic way to have a very direct relationship with your customers."
• However, Goodwin noted that social media can disproportionately resonate with younger generations, so blending other forms of media like television helps brands have a wide-ranging audience.

Content from sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, Chandhu Nair, Lowe's senior vice president of data, artificial intelligence and innovation, said that as retail evolves, customers are looking for the convergence of the physical and digital world.

• Nair said most new homeowners are millennials who are used to having everything digitized on their phones. "As we look at all of the new technologies – whether that is generative AI, or spatial computing or augmented reality, etc.– we're trying to bring all of that to drive experiences for our customers."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and seven other GOP House members on Wednesday called for a "domestic terrorism" investigation into attacks against Tesla and Elon Musk.

Why it matters: #TeslaTakedown protests have largely been peaceful, but the letter from the members of Congress is an attempt to paint the entire opposition movement and Democrats as supporting violence.

Hightouch, a platform for customized marketing, has launched an employee tender offer that will value the business at $1.3 billion, it tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: It's not just slow IPO markets driving the recent tender offer frenzy — the AI boom is also playing a big part.

Driving the news: Stepstone and PeakXV will buy up to $30 million in common stock in the tender offer, at a step up in valuation from the $1.2 billion Hightouch netted last month from investors including Sapphire Ventures.

• Employees who have been with the business at least two years will be able to sell — lower than the typical four year requirement. Hightouch has also given employees a massive 10-year post-departure exercise window.

The big picture: This decision to offer liquidity earlier on is partly a response to the mass outcry from startup employees that — unable to cash out — had their huge paper gains in 2021 gutted.

• The other part is the heavy competition for AI talent: "We're competing against offers from OpenAI and Anthropic — and those companies have tender offers that make them look liquid," says Hightouch co-CEO Kashish Gupta.

The bottom line: Every company nowadays needs AI talent.

Google announced Wednesday it is bringing the broad knowledge of its Gemini large language models into the world of robotics.

Why it matters: The move could pave the way for robots that are vastly more versatile, but also opens up whole new categories of risks as AI systems take on physical capabilities.

HOUSTON — The need to power the AI revolution is the top-of-mind issue for energy CEOs and thousands of professionals at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference here.

Why it matters: Depending on who you listen to, AI will either lead to a decades-long extension in relatively unfettered fossil fuel use or may not cause electricity demand to skyrocket as much as many assume.

The future of defense is being defined by the "technical revolution taking place right now" across industry, according to Dan Jablonsky, the chief executive at rocket propulsion company Ursa Major.

• "In an area like this, when you have this much disruption, it actually allows the disruptors to break through, which I'm really excited about," he told Axios in an interview.

Why he matters: Ursa is racking up defense contracts and test flights. It's also playing alongside some of the biggest names, like RTX.

John Roese, Dell's global chief technology officer and chief AI officer, told Axios during a Washington visit Tuesday that the federal government's AI adoption is poised to speed up in part because of success cases in business.

Why it matters: "Nobody in the government wants to be the bleeding-edge, first adopter of a technology — that's pretty risky," he said.

There's a new defense contractor in town, supported by the same investment firm that's selling BlueHalo to AeroVironment.

The big picture: Arlington Capital Partners this week unveiled GRVTY, which specializes in signals and geospatial intelligence as well as cyber.

Lockheed Martin is eyeing everything from its command-and-control networks to its F-35 stealth fighter to its Sentinel A4 radar for Golden Dome, the rebranded missile shield sought by President Trump.

Why it matters: "In terms of importance for the defense of the nation, it's similar to the Manhattan Project," Frank St. John, the company's chief operating officer, said in an interview.

• A key difference between past and future, though, is the "wide array" of existing, deployed equipment that will "form the basis," he said.

The U.S. Army now has in hand a few Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Nodes, state-of-the-art trucks that promise to streamline the battlefield process of spotting, tracking and blasting.

Why it matters: The program — years in the making, but also on time and budget — is critical to the Defense Department's connect-everything-everywhere dream of Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control.

• It also supports two of the Army's biggest ambitions: deep sensing and long-range precision fires, or the ability to find, shoot and kill more accurately from farther away.

AI systems designed to predict the likelihood of a hospitalized patient dying largely aren't detecting worsening health conditions, a new study found.

Why it matters: Some machine learning models trained exclusively on existing patient data didn't recognize about 66% of injuries that could lead to patient death in the hospital, according to the research published in Nature's Communications Medicine journal.

Antisemitic conspiracy theories are flooding America's most popular pro-Trump podcasts, exposing deep political and moral fissures at the heart of the new MAGA coalition.

Why it matters: At a moment of record-high antisemitism in the U.S., an astonishing split screen has emerged between the Trump administration and prominent influencers that reliably spread MAGA's message.

As Elon Musk's slash-and-burn budget cuts hit Republican and Democratic areas alike, some GOP lawmakers are privately back-channeling with the Trump administration to try to shield their constituents from the fallout.

Why it matters: Republicans have largely cheered on DOGE in public — but behind the scenes, many of President Trump's allies fear potential political backlash to the cuts, and are scrambling to limit the damage.

Elon Musk has told the White House he plans to give $100 million to President Trump's political operation, according to a person familiar with his plans.

Why it matters: The contribution is unheard of in both amount and type: Musk, who is technically a special government employee, is the world's richest person.