ces 2015: 50+ highlights for marketers
TRANSCRIPT
CES 2015:50+ Highlights for Marketers
Why keep this to yourself?
CES 2015 will blow your freaking mind
Here are highlights from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that are particularly interesting for marketers. But given that marketers are people too (shocking, right?), a handful of these updates are about some of the most impactful technologies and trends. And a few of the big tech updates during CES weren’t released here but tie into these themes, so don’t knock us on such technicalities. We get it.
We’ve got sources on all our slides for you to explore and learn more, except for a handful of photos that came from our team.
What were your favorite CES highlights? Send them our way to @MRY.
See you at #ces2016!
David BerkowitzCMO, [email protected]@dberkowitz
What’s ahead
• Overview
• Photo / Video
• Wearables
• Connected Devices
• Fun & Games
• Transportation
• Drones
• 3D Printing
• Wrapping Up
Overview
What other show can serve up every single tech
buzzword in a single room?
Yet do we really need sensors in everything?
More: https://twitter.com/dberkowitz/status/552251461858365440
We need to keep people, not tech, at center of CES
More: https://twitter.com/Starcom_USA/status/553240170355785728
Brands take the spotlight
2015 is the year non-tech brands stole the CES
spotlight, with Under Armour, Hershey,
Swarovski, and others announcing products
and partnerships. There is no turning back.
What’s YOUR plan for 2016 and beyond?
The Future of CES belongs to marketers
“CES, at its core, isn't a show
about electronics. It's a show
about time.”- David Berkowitz in Ad Age
More: http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/future-ces-belongs-marketers/296457/
Why do brands show up? To chill with Shaq
(and also scout the show floor)
More: http://adage.com/article/consumer-electronics-show/visa-s-digital-brand-chief-hanging-shaq-ces/296477/
Top 10 Takeaways & Trends (part 1 of 2)
1. Non-tech brands are taking more of the spotlight at CES, and that will be a bigger theme of
CES the rest of the decade
2. Big screens get thinner and prettier, but brands should focus more on viewing shifting to
smaller screens (ahem, mobile)
3. RIP 3D (for now); momentum has shifted entirely to virtual reality, which could offer people a
far more enticing reason to wear such headsets
4. Drones and versatile cameras such as GoPro are opening up new photo and video
production possibilities that can give consumers completely new perspectives
5. Every product that doesn’t have a sensor in it just might within a few years (or there will be a
version available that does)
Top 10 Takeaways & Trends (part 2 of 2)
6. The Internet of Things (IoT) could face new walled garden hurdles with devices only working
with their proprietary operating systems (eg another Apple vs. Google battle), but other
parties such as Samsung are trying to get all such devices to talk to each other
7. For wearables in 2015, success will hinge on what’s affordable, fashionable, and offering a
clear value proposition
8. 3D printing is still mostly for industrial and professional use cases, but partnerships between
hardware manufacturers and consumer brands may help popularize the technology
9. As cars and other experimental vehicles get smarter (while also getting greener), brands will
have more ways to reach consumers while in transit
10. Many of the best technologies are designed to let people have fun, or even create a sense
of wonder. Tap into that however possible to create new kinds of emotional connections with
consumers.
How to chart the impact of what you see at CES
Innovative
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How to chart the impact of what you see at CES
Innovative
Applic
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InnovativeIrrelevant
Applicable Essential
Examples from CES 2015 (this will vary by brand)
Innovative
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Photo / Video
The one BIG idea
4K and OLED are winners and 3D is on the
backburner, but the big shifts in behavior will be
with mobile video, with GoPro and drones
changing how brands and people create
content.
A staple of CES: TVs keep getting prettier in terms of
picture quality and hardware design
More: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/05/tvs-get-their-moment-at-international-ces/?
If only we could keep up with our screens…
More: https://twitter.com/dberkowitz/status/552936173333528576
Not sure value of curved screens? Samsung says they
help eye strain
Curved screens apparently also increase your
performance at Gangnam Style dance-offs
See all the great 3D TVs we found at CES!
(Better luck next year, 3D; 4K remained in, but 3D was MIA)
Brush that lint off your backside as 3D imagery catches
on
More: http://nikon360project.com/?dash=D74CF2E0
Selfie sticks are everywhere. They’re especially fun for
photobombing stick users’ videos
More: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/04/blue-spark-debuts-wearable-baby-thermometer-and-app/
Selfie Stick joins Xerox, Kleenex, and Jell-o in push to
ensure its grand brand isn’t genericized
The Belfie Stick got more buzz than some of the
keynotes, and has one of the best logos ever
More: http://www.businessinsider.com/belfie-stick-2015-1
Wearables
The one BIG idea
Pay attention to 3 big themes in 2015:
1. Affordable (products <$100, or high value for
more expensive items)
2. Fashionable (what looks good?)
3. Usable (a clear value proposition)
The best products will hit on all 3.
The Year of the Smartwatch
“From push notifications to unique, hyperlocalized deals and special event promotions, smart watch technology may mean better targeting, providing marketers with the necessary contextual cues to ensure relevant messaging.”- Allyssa Kaiser on MRY’s blog
More: http://blog.mry.com/2015/01/05/2015-the-year-of-the-smart-watch/
Withings announces $150 version of its fashionable,
long-lasting battery smartwatch
More: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/04/withings-rolls-out-150-version-of-its-handsome-activite-health-watch/
Misfit partners with Swarovski to for health trackers
you’ll never hide under a shirt
More: http://mashable.com/2015/01/05/misfit-swarovski-shine-fitness-trackers/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link
No, this patch won’t help babies quit smoking, but it will
constantly relay their temperature
More: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/04/blue-spark-debuts-wearable-baby-thermometer-and-app/
Could sensors such as Valedo’s that come with training
programs lessen need for costly surgery?
More: http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/04/the-valedo-helps-you-train-back-pain-away/
Belty’s auto-adjusting belt may not make it, but
adaptable wearables could be huge opportunity
More: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102310127#.
FWIW the Volt Buckle is the coolest belt ever, but its
crowdfunding campaigns have flopped
More: http://voltbuckle.com/
Sony’s SmartEyeglass attaches to existing glasses
More: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/06/sony-smartglasses-attach/
Now we can be immersed sonically in a virtual world
surrounded in all directions
More: https://www.oculus.com/blog/oculus-ces-2015/
Google Cardboad’s makeshift VR sells 500K units,
hints at way to bring VR to mass market
More: https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/
Lowe’s Holoroom adds augmented reality now, virtual
reality later to plan dream homes
More: http://gizmodo.com/lowes-is-putting-kinda-sorta-holodecks-in-its-stores-1589515013
Brain scanning continues to push CES frontiers, such
as Muse’s brain trainer
More: http://www.choosemuse.com/muse-improved-ces-2015/
Connected Devices
The one BIG idea
The New York Times said it best: “The unofficial
theme seemed to be: Put a sensor in it.”
What kinds of things are they putting sensors in?
More: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com//2015/01/05/from-the-start-sensors-rule-at-ces/?_r=0
It’s the CES of Things
“Obviously the Internet of Things is here: brands understand that every product a consumer interacts with is going to be connected to data. Everything is going to have sensors, and everything is going to be connected to the Internet.” - MRY CEO Matt Britton in Adweek
More: http://www.adweek.com/sponsored-technology-trends-breaking-through-ces
Qualcomm’s booth asks a huge question; proprietary
silos could hurt growth of internet of things
Misfit launches a smart bulb that works with its sleep
trackers – but will people pay $50 per bulb?
More: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/06/misfit-bolt-smart-bulb/
Parrot’s Flower Power automates water plants and turns
plant care into a mobile experience
More: http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/flower-power/
Voice activation gains traction across automakers,
smartwatches, and home devices like Cubic
More: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cubic-your-personal-ai-with-personality--2
“We were promised flying cars; we got washing
machines instead” #truth
More: http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/05/tales-of-ces-we-were-promised-flying-cars-we-got-washing-machines-instead/?ncid=tcdaily
Mirrors of future will track how well your products work,
sell you new ones
More: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-mirrors-of-the-future-will-point-out-all-your-flaws-to-sell-you-products
How long before smart toothbrushes like Kolibree
improve the world’s dental hygiene?
More: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/07/kolibree-gamifies-its-smart-electric-toothbrush-video/
SCiO pocket scanner identifies meds and determines
food calories
More: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241632
Fun & Games
The one BIG idea
Remember when soccer balls didn’t supply you
with reams of performance data and your toys
didn’t adapt to your mood? Adults as well as
kids will start to experience the future of
connected devices through play. Is there a way
for your brand to be part of the fun?
Adidas packs sensors into soccer ball to track and
display performance data
More: http://www.adidas.com/us/micoach-smart-ball/G83963_720.html
UA Record, Under Armour’s social network, connects
fitness lovers with friends, plus stars like Gisele
More: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/01/07/under-armour-incs-new-app-wants-to-put-your-fitnes.aspx
How to win all the geek press: Sixsense releases
motion-controlled virtual reality light saber
More: http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/8/7511273/ces-2015-star-wars-virtual-reality-sixense-stem
WowWee’s ever smarter robots can interact differently
based on programmable moods
More: http://www.wowwee.com/
Best use for a robot at CES? Winning beer pong
More: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/robotic-arm-plays-beer-pong-with-impressive-accuracy-195136470.html
Transportation
The one BIG idea
Along with the shift to greener, zero-emission
modes of transportation, cars and other new
kinds of vehicles are getting smarter. That will
present marketers with new kinds of media
through which brands can reach consumers in
transit.
Audi’s A7 self-drives 500 miles to Vegas. Will it soon be
safe to watch Jimmy Fallon while driving?
More: http://www.wired.com/2015/01/rode-500-miles-self-driving-car-saw-future-boring/
Ford Smart Mobility aims to improve the world through
innovation
More: https://twitter.com/dberkowitz/status/552931313708040192
Gesture control big at CES and now permeating
automobiles, such as in Volkswagen concept
More: http://blog.caranddriver.com/volkswagen-goes-all-star-wars-on-a-golf-r-interior-for-rad-gesture-control-ces-concept/
Gogoro scooters backed by $150MM. The next Tesla or
the next Tucker?
More: http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/05/after-raising-150-million-in-stealth-mode-what-the-heck-is-gogoro/
If people don’t go for electric scooters, maybe smart
roller skates will do the trick
More: http://www.wired.com/2015/01/ces-gallery-day-2/?mbid=social_fb#slide-id-1694437
Drones
The one BIG idea
The coming impact of drones will be twofold:
1) It will open up new forms of photo and video
production that were never before possible.
Give your audience a new perspective.
2) The more distant future revolves around
what drones can transport from place
to place.
It’s a bird, a plane… an Amazon Drone. This Prime Air
test flight shows drones’ commercial potential.
More: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/04/blue-spark-debuts-wearable-baby-thermometer-and-app/
Market leader DJI releases $3K Inspire 1 for serious
drone filmographers
More: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/04/djis-2800-camera-drone-was-a-hit-at-ces-unveiled/
What’s cooler than drones? Self-aware drones
More: http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/06/with-skyspecs-guardians-the-drones-have-become-self-aware/
Holy mother of buzz: Nixie debuts a wearable selfie
drone prototype
More: http://makezine.com/2015/01/07/nixie-the-wearable-selfie-drone-delights-crowd-at-ces-2015/
3D Printing
The one BIG idea
While 3D printing is still costly and not quite
simple enough for the mass market, brands
such as Hershey and Martha Stewart are
pursuing different kinds of partnerships that give
them footholds in the future of this disruptive
technology.
Makerbot adds touches of of wood, metal, and stone to
3D printing
More: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3040507/what-to-expect-from-3-d-printed-wood-metal-and-stone#5
Brands partner with printers: Makerbot shows off its
Martha Stewart line
More: http://www.ibtimes.com/ces-2015-makerbot-martha-stewart-user-designs-take-center-stage-1775450
3D scanners such as Fuel 3D increase potential of 3D
printing, make it more accessible
More: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3040507/what-to-expect-from-3-d-printed-wood-metal-and-stone#5
How to get 3D printing mainstream? Hershey’s partners
on printing chocolate
More: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/01/06/now-you-can-print-chocolate/?mod=e2tw
Wrapping Up
In the future, we will control race cars with our minds,
and look kind of like this (be afraid… be very afraid)
Planning for CES 2035: Toshiba’s Android robot may
steal your job (for now, steals job of booth babes)
More: http://mashable.com/2015/01/06/toshiba-robot-weird/
More great links about CES (part 1)
• CES Innovation Awards (Consumer Electronics Association)
• These Smart-Home Products are Actually Smart to Buy(BloombergBusinessweek)
• Dylan’s Desk: The Best of CES, from Selfie Sticks to Smoke Alarms(VentureBeat)
• CES 2015: The Coolest Tech You Have to See (USA Today)
• Your Future Kitchen Knows When Food is Spoiling, Tells You What to Make for Dinner (Mashable)
• What CMOs are Talking about at CES: Four Major Trends (Bob Lord column in Ad Age)
• CES: Everything Old is New Again (a history lesson from NY Times)
More great links about CES (part 2)
• This is the Unofficial Brothel of CES (not totally safe for work, but it is a great
case study in community management in a heavily regulated industry,
courtesy of Nellie Bowles at re/code)
• CES 2015: Cutting Through the Hype, Part 1 and Part 2 (Future Foundation)
• CES 2015: Connected Devices That Help Us See More Effectively (Frank
Durrell of Starcom MediaVest Group in M&M Global)
• 6 Things I Learned from Riding in a Google Self-Driving Car (The Oatmeal)
• The Top 11 Tech Trends of CES (VentureBeat)
• Is 2015 the Year of the Smart Home? (CEA)
See what else we’ve said about CES 2015
• The Future of CES Belongs to Marketers (David Berkowitz column in Ad Age)
• Live Blog: The CES Panel on Video Advertising (Danny Sullivan coverage of Berkowitz’s panel in Marketing Land)
• CES is Shaping up to be the Next Cannes (Adweek quotes Berkowitz)
• The Technology and Trends Breaking Through CES This Year (CEO Matt Britton featured in Adweek video)
• A Second CES for Marketers Rises from the Shadows (Berkowitz writes about Shadow CES for LinkedIn)
• Sneakers, Bling, and Chocolate Steal CES Spotlight: 5 Brands That Outshone Electronics and Tech Companies (Berkowitz byline in Ad Age)
Features on MRY’s blog:
• 2015: The Year of the Smartwatch?
• The Future of Automobiles is Now at CES
• Cyber Security in a Connected World
• Hospitality in 2015 and Beyond
Keep in touch
Follow us:
@MRY
LinkedIn (and we’re hiring!)
blog.mry.com
-David Berkowitz, CMO
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