#Dare2Disrupt

CES 2016

TRENDS AND INSIGHTS FROM CES

CES is the premiere opportunity to discover tomorrow’s disruptive trends and technologies. Key trends at this year’s show included the mainstreaming of virtual media, the rise of the connected home, content in the age of ad blocking and drones, all kinds of drones.

Following are highlights from this year’s show and how marketers can use them to create competitive advantages and relevance between brands and consumers.

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6 COOLEST THINGS WE SAW AT CES

VIRTUAL REALITY SPOTLIGHT

MOBILE TRENDS

IoT: 3 BIGGEST DEVELOPMENTS

HOW GREAT CONTENT NEUTRALIZES AD BLOCKING

SMG VOICES FROM CESSMART REFRIGERATORS: ONE OF THE MOST BUZZED-ABOUT SMART APPLIANCES THIS YEAR

DRONES

The Parrot Disco drone is making the experience of flying simpler for novices and providing new capability for professional video capture. Flying for as long as 45 minutes and at speeds up to 50 mph, the unique POV this drone captures will allow for new types of video content creation to fly over brand activations this year.

6 COOLEST THINGS WE SAW AT CES

Samsung gave CES attendees the first-ever synced and shared VR experience with the Gear VR 4D Theater. This futuristic glimpse of cinematic theater content means brands can now use the immersive nature of VR to reach more than one user at a time with marketing messages.

VIRTUAL REALITY

CONNECTEDHOME & SELF

RETAILHOLOGRAMS

PERSONAL POWER PLANTS

AI PERSONAL ASSISTANTS

Kino-Mo wowed with its stunning 3D full-color holograms. With retailers trying to create new, immersive, in-store experiences to entice shoppers, these holograms can help build brand awareness and potentially change in-store retail signage and displays forever.

Sen.se debuted a series of eight Peanut sensors. Each sensor connects users’ mobile device or Wi-Fi and monitors such things as water and medicine intake, temperature, sleep and home security. These low-cost devices will help less tech-savvy users get into the IoT and can provide new data points and e-commerce services to brands.

MyFC introduced Jaq, the world’s smallest fuel cell. The device utilizes a recyclable card filled with salt water that, when inserted into the slot, creates hydrogen to power the smartphone. Each card costs less than a cup of coffee and, eventually, could be branded like restaurant matchbooks.

Segway’s Ninebot merges the hoverboard with artificial intelligence (AI). Consumers can ride Ninebot, it can answer the door and keep watch while they’re away. Consumer products with AI will be able to access the internet and communicate with e-commerce, search and social similar to Amazon’s Alexa. AI devices will also be invaluable in helping marketers read human emotions and intuit what’s relevant to consumers at any given moment.

VIRTUAL REALITY STEPS INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

MILLENNIAL OPPORTUNITY Sixty-six percent of Millennials indicate they would probably or definitely purchase a VR device this year, according to Greenlight VR research. That means VR could be the most important new platform to emerge for marketers over the next decade. “There are still many technologies that haven’t been invented that will, in a few years, further and fully define VR’s role in our world,” said Aaron Luber, Head of Partnerships at Google Cardboard.

ENHANCES WHAT YOU DO BEST Brands that use VR to amplify what they already do well to bring consumers into a new world will be the most successful, said Jake Silverstein, Editor-in-Chief of The New York Times Magazine. In the Times’ case, VR works because it took a thing the company already does well—telling great stories—and empowered it to do that better.

AWARENESS OUTSHINES USE Right now consumer awareness of VR is high, but actual use is low. To trigger mainstream adoption, VR will need to be simpler and easier to understand. Brands can raise VR’s mass appeal by optimizing new content experiences that help define the marketplace as it evolves in real time.

The boom in virtual reality was center stage at this year’s CES. From mobile and high-end headsets to connected accessories like gloves and gamepads, VR’s long-awaited cultural breakthrough has arrived.

VR is positioned to fundamentally change how we consume and engage with content. Here are three learnings shared during SMG’s “Reality Through VR-Tinted Goggles” session at CES.

KEY INSIGHTS

SPONTANEOUS NETWORKS Mobile devices are sending and accepting wireless signals that, if connected seamlessly, can add relevancy to every step of a consumer’s day. “Instead of your phone reacting to beacons, we’re creating experiences where you walk through space and it reacts to you,” said Dave Mathews, NewAer Founder and CEO. Technology like this gives marketers the ability to reach consumers on the fly by reacting to them.

MESSAGING: THE NEXT BRAND FRONTIER The top four global messaging apps get more unique users per month than the top four social media apps. “We’re moving quickly from thinking of messaging as a messaging tool to a point of utility,” said Vivian Rosenthal, CEO of Snaps. But with the average user session lasting four minutes, brands get only a passing glance to prove their relevancy with consumers.

MOBILE PAYMENTS REPLACING CASH Mobile payments will grow to $192 billion by 2019 in the U.S. alone, according to Forrester. “Cash in many ways has already disappeared,” said Tariq Hassan, Bank of America’s Head of Global Wealth Management Marketing and Global Brand Strategy. For marketers, the merging of media and commerce on mobile devices provides an avenue for brands to reach consumers at the precise moment they want something.

THE MOST IMPORTANT MOBILE TRENDS

From floor conversations to our “Mobile First, Mobile Always, Mobile Now” session, here are the three biggest mobile trends for marketers:

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THE SAFER, LESS CHAOTIC HOME Toasters, coffee makers, ovens and refrigerators that can be automated and controlled remotely were all on display. So were IoT devices centered on smart monitoring of the home. More connected devices within homes means more data for marketers to leverage and deliver relevant brand messages through those devices.

THE HOME AS A UNIQUE DEVICE ID A big trend this year was the standardization of IoT. Connected IoT devices on one dashboard creates a unique device ID similar to a smartphone. That means marketers will be able to leverage data never available before such as where the home is, what room users are in, what type of products they have installed and what type of family member is associated with each room.

EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION This year’s IoT advances centered on making IoT devices incrementally and iteratively better. IoT devices have more capability and are talking to each other more. That, combined with precipitous price drops, means the IoT is poised for increased consumer adoption and potentially could create new marketing ecosystems for brands.

INTERNET OF THINGS: 3 BIGGEST DEVELOPMENTS

To see the explosion in the Internet of Things world, all one had to do was walk the floor of CES. Research firm Gartner estimates more than 26 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. From the quantified-self to the quantified-home, here are the hottest developments in IoT:

KEY INSIGHTS

MAKE ADS CONSUMER-FRIENDLY By cleaning the ecosystem of bad advertising, ad blocking makes marketing more consumer-friendly, says Tracey Scheppach, EVP, Precision Video, SMG. “This is an opportunity to move from a world that isn’t working to creating a world more engaging and relevant than ever.”

HOW GREAT CONTENT CAN NEUTRALIZE AD BLOCKING

Consumers who use ad blockers have increased 41% last year to around 200 million globally. This reality will make it more challenging for advertisers and publishers to reach desired audiences. But with the right content, it can be done. Here’s how:

DON’T INTERRUPT USERS Pleas to consumers to stop ad blocking fall on deaf ears, says Scott Meyers, CEO, Ghostery. “Change should come from marketers, not consumers,” adds Justin Choi, CEO, Nativo. “What consumers are saying is don’t give me a bad experience. Don’t interrupt me. Don’t try to sell me so hard.”

RESPECT USER PRIVACY; SPEED DELIVERY There are a few reasons people cite for ad blocking. But Campbell Foster from Adobe says the company’s research shows that fewer than half a percent of the population worries about being tracked, that increased bandwidth is eliminating download concerns; and that data will increasingly be subsidized by advertisers or carriers.

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“I liken CES to looking through a pair of virtual reality glasses. Each year we get a chance to look at a new reality. The curation that we bring to our clients I think is what has changed the name of the game for marketers at CES.” Michael Kassan, Founder and CEO, Medialink

SMG VOICES FROM CES“You’ve got to come and see this technology and how it fits into consumers’ lives and then you have to put that into a business context.” Laura Desmond, Publicis Groupe Chief Revenue Officer and SMG Global CEO

“The most important software we use is going to be our brains and the empathy we bring to technology…. You see a lot of technology on the show floor but not enough of them solve for the human condition.” Shiv Singh, SVP of Marketing, Visa

“It comes back to the people behind the technology instead of the technology itself…. [it’s] stitching together lots of conversations with really smart people and understanding what they actually need so we are solving real problems.” Vivian Rosenthal, Founder, Snaps

“The reason VR excites me as a marketer is because if you experience it, you can’t engage with anything else. You can’t even try to be distracted.” Carrie Seifer, President, Digital, Data & Technology, Mediavest

“The biggest disruptor at CES this year may be this idea of getting convergence of smart home devices so they finally become easy to use and make your home less chaotic and not moreso.” Brian Cooley, Editor-at-Large, CNET

MORE VOICES FROM CES: CNET EDITOR-AT-LARGE BRIAN COOLEY’S SUPER SESSION AND MRY CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER DAVID BERKOWITZ’S HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FLOOR

#Dare2Disrupt

CES 2016