The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has evolved from its origins as the quintessential hardware and consumer technology forum to a global gathering of all things tech related – content, ads, data, privacy, energy, and more. If your business lies within adtech, enterprise tech, fintech, healthtech, media & entertainment, and cleantech/greentech, CES is a huge opportunity to insert your presence – physically or via thought leadership.
This year’s trends can help frame companies in developing innovative, smart and timely external communication strategies. Interested in learning more? Here are highlights our agency practice group leaders saw bubbling up this year:
Sustainability was perhaps the biggest overarching CES theme in 2023. As the world continues to focus on cleantech and green tech innovation it’s no surprise that conversations at CES have followed suit. This year we saw major auto companies unveil their latest EVs, the U.S. Postal Service announce the rollout of its new electric mail trucks, and John Deere debuted its ExactShot, which is designed to reduce fertilizer by up to 60%. Apart from the auto side of the show, Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, took the stage to discuss how the government and tech industry can work together to build a sustainable future by expanding the use of and access to clean energy. As the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act begins, we’ll start to see exactly how cleantech companies, and the U.S. in general, will benefit.
Streaming TV, identity, and the evolving nature of platforms are big trends to watch this year in the world of advertising, and CES is a great example of how these trends are taking shape. Roku launched its own line of branded smart TVs, which will help it to gather more information about streaming TV viewing to bolster its advertising business. TikTok is making the jump from mobile to big screen by partnering with Vevo and IMDb. Meanwhile, on the identity trend, The Trade Desk introduced its Galileo offering, which complements its Unified ID initiative with the goal of helping brands chart the internet without traditional targeting tools such as third-party cookies via its platform. And on the heels of news that the duopoly has fallen below 50% of ad spend, Twitter was at CES courting advertisers and trying to win back trust, confidence and ad dollars to its platform.
Enterprise applications for the metaverse are heating up. While the metaverse may still be seen as a “far off” concept to many, it’s gaining ground across big tech enterprises. Companies like Microsoft and Nvidia are leveraging technology to promote collaboration within enterprises, to, for instance, better enable cross-company meetings at a time when so many enterprises have switched to either a hybrid or remote-first working model.
CES underscored that the metaverse is both a media and a tech trend. Hollywood and the entertainment companies that surround it are embracing the digital frontier in addition to emerging technologies like AI. While the developments are nascent, the possibilities are endless – from changing the way we experience entertainment, to connecting with audiences on a deeper level and using artificial intelligence to develop content. Note to media and entertainment companies: Ignore these developments at your peril! Paying attention to the appetite for emerging technologies and taking action to experiment are now absolute table stakes.
With economic uncertainty and rumors of increased interest rates in the near future, fintech is addressing many related consumer concerns. From providing much-needed services to the unbanked or underbanked to offering new ways of managing money altogether, fintech is at the foundation of fresh ways for people to be more financially aware. At the end of the day, fintech will need to help companies, large and small, ride the coming economic roller coaster.
What CES 2023 tells us is that sustainability, investment in innovation, and building social good are all more critical business imperatives than ever before. Look for these themes to dominate business news and thought leadership in the months and years ahead.
– Gina Preoteasa, SVP, Emma Wolfe, VP, Charlyne McWilliams, SVP, Mackenzie Gavel, Account Director, and Sammy Jordan, Account Director