👑 When the King shows up, you know it’s big

Hi {{first_name|there}},

Yes, His Majesty The King stopped by SXSW London today, turning heads in Shoreditch and marking a milestone moment for the festival’s debut year.

But that’s not the only headline today. Day 4 is stacked with sessions pushing the boundaries of brand, influence, and inclusion.

Scroll down for today’s top highlights.

At SXSW London, Kim Nyström and Claire Houghton-Price from Pophouse shared how they’re reshaping legacy music brands for new audiences.

"To truly honor an artist's legacy, you have to put the fans in the center. They don't just listen to the music. They carry the emotions, the memories and the meaning." This powerful statement from Kim Nyström underscores Pophouse's fan-first approach.

They spend significant time with artists or their estates to understand their unique creative DNA, ensuring new projects remain emotionally authentic.

As Claire Houghton-Price explains, this crucial step ensures everything they do going forward is "intrinsic to anything we do coming forward."

Pophouse is redefining how we experience legacy music by leveraging technology to create immersive experiences that reimagine rather than merely replicate. From ABBA Voyage to the upcoming KISS avatar show in Las Vegas, their ambition is clear.

As Claire Houghton-Price highlights, they are

Kim Nyström emphasizes that "great songs don't expire, but they need context, they need storytelling, and they need prince and cool." Pophouse understands that even the most iconic artists need renewed context to engage new generations.

They're building a bridge between past and future, connecting those who grew up with the music decades ago with today's youth, proving that it's "not about nostalgia, it's about green storms that continues to wrestle in generation after generation."

This sentiment perfectly illustrates Pophouse's commitment to ensuring artists' legacies live on, continually introducing their music and stories to new audiences in innovative and impactful ways.

Mechanical watches are having a renaissance.

At this SXSW panel, Christopher Ward’s COO Sarah Baumann was joined by designer Will Brackfield and musician/watch collector James McVey to explore what’s driving a new generation of interest in mechanical watches—and why they remain such a powerful form of wearable art.

Will shared how his process of designing a mechanical watch begins with hand-drawn sketches (most of which get scrapped) and evolves into 3D renderings. Creating symmetry on both sides of the watch, as in the 144-hour power reserve "The LOKO," often requires pushing engineering to the limit.

James compared watch design to songwriting—both involve collaboration, countless micro-decisions, and a balancing act between innovation and staying true to your roots. Like a band evolving its sound, watch brands must take risks without losing loyal fans.

Mechanical watches may be obsolete in practical terms, but emotionally, they’re irreplaceable. There’s something timeless about human-made mechanisms, crafted with precision and built to last.

Social media has transformed watch culture. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok are making space for new collectors, younger voices, and independent brands to thrive. As Will noted, this visibility has also brought designers into the spotlight—raising expectations but also strengthening community feedback loops.

From silicon components to rethinking stereotypes, the future of watchmaking lies in connection, not status. It’s about emotion, community, and celebrating the physical object in a digital world.

In conversation with CNBC’s Ryan Browne, Monzo CEO TS Anil unpacked what it takes to build a bank that people don’t just use—but love.

Monzo’s founding vision was simple: make money work better for everyone. That meant co-creating the bank with customers from day one—even the name Monzo was crowdsourced. Today, that same ethos drives how the bank operates across a user base of 12 million individuals and 600,000 businesses in the UK.

TS Anil shared how Monzo designs for emotional and practical moments: from recognizing payday as a celebration, to offering gambling blocks that over 600,000 customers now use. Every product starts by asking: what problem are we solving for the customer?

While many banks approach AI as a cost-cutting tool, Monzo uses it to solve customer pain points—like detecting fraud and tailoring financial advice. AI is integrated across product and engineering teams, with a strict focus on doing what’s right for the user.

Despite growing to 4,000 employees, Monzo maintains its start-up DNA through mission-led hiring and always-on user research. Employees hold each other accountable to customer-first values—TS calls it “raising the mission to the centre of everything we build.”

Monzo is expanding internationally, starting with Ireland and the US, but still sees huge untapped opportunity in the UK. The long-term goal? A single platform to spend, save, borrow, insure, and invest. And yes, it’s all built in-house—from the app to the tech stack.

📍 Venue: SXSW London takes place across 30+ East London venues. See the maps.

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Enjoy Day 5!

The Unofficially SXSW Team

Independently Created. Not affiliated with SXSW.

Unofficially SXSW is a ClickZ Media publication in the Events division