CES 2014 – Key trends and what it means for Australian marketing
As the huge Consumer Electronics Show comes to a close Scott Heron looks at the dominant trends which have emerged and what they will mean for the coming year.
The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is where tech giants and gadget geeks converge to reveal the latest products including TVs, smart phones, wearable devices and digitally connected cars.
It has also become a critical stop for marketing executives to see the latest technologies in an effort to figure out how these technologies will transform their business, and the opportunity to be the first to use these technologies in a compelling and useful way.
From this year’s conference, a few key themes emerge.
Rise of the wearables. The main theme from CES this year has been the rise of wearable computing, and the move of wearables from niche to mainstream. Large players, like Intel and Sony, announced their wearable bets. A number of companies announced partnerships with the fashion industry in an attempt to make the products look less dorky. Wearable products relate to notions of ‘quantified self’ and ‘life-logging’ and can range from t-shirts that measure your heartbeat and temperature, to earpieces that can quantify alertness levels. Whether it is through your t-shirt, your wristband, or earpiece, devices will be monitoring a significant amount of information about an individual – both previous data and current data.
More platforms and tools going native. ‘Native’ advertising – providing content in the context of the user’s experience to make it feel less intrusive – continues to be a key theme. Yahoo! introduced a number of ‘digital magazines’ – image heavy sites relating to various topics including technology and food and relying on native advertising rather than traditional banners. Starcom MediaVest Group unveiled a new technology initiative, called ‘Content at Scale’ which is meant to reduce the time intensity of native ads by allowing advertisers to browse through a library of published articles and use excerpts in display ads.
Heron
Smart TVs allowing web video streaming. The large technology companies are taking aim at the traditional cable-based TV networks and providing alternative delivery and distribution models. Sony announced it is looking to launch Cloud TV service in the US, leveraging the base of 70m internet-connected devices sold in the US, including 25m PlayStation 3 consoles. Yahoo! also announced a TV solution called Yahoo Smart TV, a new version of its connected TV platform providing personalised recommendations from live TV to online streaming.
The challenge for the Australian marketer within each of these trends is to translate these technology themes and trends into something compelling for their customers/users, and to manage the complexity in delivery.
In the case of wearable, this could mean solving a particular customer problem that wearable is best suited to solve – either on it’s own or in combination with other devices. This is no easy feat. As Brian Krzanich, the CEO of Intel, said in his keynote, most efforts in wearable computing to-date were “not solving real problems”.
While wearable computing presents great opportunities relating to providing a personalised experience, and gathering consumer insights through data, there is also the need to act responsibly about the use of data. If I am wearing my iWatch in an area of town where there is crime – is my insurance going to go up? People will only use these devices if they feel their data is being respected and protected.
In the case of native advertising, linking to articles or content that is relevant to the user, seems consistent with digital marketing principles. However, there is a line to how much ‘native’ content a user will tolerate – the newsfeed on many social platforms is already getting crowded. Also, it remains to be seen whether technology can provide a shortcut yet maintain the level of quality in more time and labour intensive native advertising.
The rise of alternative forces in TV is not necessarily a new trend, but maybe now has its day in the sun. Sony seems to have a strong proposition with a large user base and developed network of content partners. The message for marketers will be to continue to look at TV more holistically – at the quality of the content itself, considering different video formats, and considering video in relation to other tools like Twitter and dual screening.
With these new technologies, it is great to see the innovative spirit is alive and well in technology and marketing. But, it will be less important who is ‘first’ but more who gets it ‘right’.
Scott Heron is the chief digital officer for CumminsRoss
