Roku City x SXSW

Turning a fan-favorite digital downtown into a real-world brand platform.

Overview

Roku City @ SXSW brought Roku’s fan-favorite screensaver to life as an immersive, three-story experience during the company’s first major presence at the festival.

The activation served as the launch platform for Roku’s expanded Best Buy partnership, spanning Roku-made TVs and retail media, while also showcasing Roku Originals, advertising, and the broader Roku ecosystem.

By turning a business story into a consumer cultural moment, the program demonstrated how Roku City could evolve from beloved entertainment IP into a distinctive platform for brands and advertisers.

Elements

Immersive Experience

Roku’s iconic screensaver became an immersive, multi-level world, with entertainment Easter eggs, projection mapping, and theatrical details designed to reward fans and engage the wider SXSW audience.
Best Buy Partnership

A Best Buy Home Theater embedded the partnership within Roku City, showcasing Roku-made TVs and connecting the experience to a broader relationship spanning retail, streaming, and advertising.
Fan Experience

A rooftop diner, style shop, park, themed food, and interactive experiences turned Roku City into an SXSW destination that finally allowed attendees to “move to Roku City.”
Roku Originals Premiere

Roku premiered Slip, created by and starring Zoe Lister-Jones, reinforcing Roku Originals as premium programming that deepened engagement and created more valuable environments for advertisers.

Approach

I led the marketing strategy and narrative around Roku City @ SXSW, connecting several distinct business stories through a single consumer-facing idea.

Key responsibilities included:

Strategic positioning and launch narrative
Best Buy partnership marketing
Event programming and experience
Client, media, and industry engagement
Cross-functional leadership across sales, product, content, and partnerships

The objective was to use Roku City’s cultural relevance to make Roku’s business ambitions tangible, bringing consumers, content, commerce, and advertisers together in one experience.

Impact

Turned Roku’s business story into a consumer cultural moment, earning consumer coverage, multiple experiential awards, a 90 NPS, and fully booked diner reservations within 90 minutes.

AWARD-WINNING ACTIVATION

Secured sponsorship commitments from several major brands as inaugural Roku City advertisers, turning the experience’s cultural momentum into a new premium canvas for marketers.

NEW SPONSORSHIPS

Successfully launched an expanded Best Buy partnership spanning the retail debut of Roku-branded TVs and a new retail media collaboration connecting commerce data with Roku advertising.

SCALED PARTNER MARKETING