When I think of my college experience, speakers are crucial — parties at my friend Cortney’s old Victorian house, which was practically fallen apart, turned into something magical with the help of the cylindrical black JBL Flip 1 we lugged around from her house to our student newsroom to create just the right mood. It was the mid 2010s, and music shaped everything: the local folk rock bands we loved, the celebratory dance parties after we’d sent the newspaper to print, the late nights imagining who we might become.
There was some of that same energy in JBL’s campus activation at the University of Texas in Austin this week, held at the college sports bar and event Space Victory Lap as part of the audio brand’s SXSW presentation. College kids — and a few influencers, including Sky Katz and David Suh — milled around JBL-themed dunk booths and corn hole games while local Austin band West 22nd played garage rock interspersed with covers of MGMT’s “Kids” and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain.” Later, the DJ Xandra would do a set as night fell on the astroturf courtyard.
The experience was part of JBL’s continued plan to reach young fans and expand their audience, in celebration of their newest speaker editions, the Flip 7 and Charge 6, which are available for pre-order now and start shipping April 6. Elsewhere at SXSW, JBL launched a bespoke Sound Bodega with a mock general store counter and performances from Laila!, DJ Pee Wee, and more (plus influencer guests like Kyra Green and Chris Olsen). The brand also partnered with Rolling Stone for its Future of Music showcase, bringing artists like Hannah Bahng, Jasmine.4.t., Benson Boone, and Megan Maroney to their stage.
At a panel on March 11, JBL’s VP of Marketing Chris Epple sat with Twitch streamer Cody “Clix” Conrod and Xandra to talk about how JBL is reaching Gen Z, and how creators are refining their relationships to brands. “We realized that the future, the opportunity and the current really sat with Gen Z — the people that are Gen z based on age but also in mindset,” Epple said. “One of the things we heard was self expression and personal identity were very important to them.”
The new speakers are emblematic of that — iterations on two of the most beloved portable speakers from JBL’s collection, speakers that young people drag to a friend’s house party, or pack in bags on the way to the beach for spring break. Both speakers are sleeker, with more battery life and shorter charge times, and they continue to be “waterproof, dustproof and drop-proof.”
They also have JBL’s proprietary tech, AI Sound Boost, which improves audio reach and quality. At the Sound Bodega, JBL created custom-printed fruit-themed versions, and my only wish is that those would be available to actually buy.
