CES 2012: A Comprehensive Guide for Marketers

CES 2012 in Review David Berkowitz VP Emerging Media 360i blog.360i.com / @ 360i MarketersStudio.com / @ dberkowitz about.me/dberkowitz

What you’ll find here
Introduction (nice to meet you)
Trend and buzz overview
What doesn’t matter for marketers (today)
What matters for marketers in 2012
Spotlight: Payment innovations
Product potpourri (some fun ones to watch)
Bonus: Dumbest product of CES 2012!
Wrap-up: What else happened during CES?

Welcome to the rodeo!
The Consumer Electronics Show is both a new frontier and a fantasy land
Let’s stop the rodeo clowning and train our lassos on what really matters for marketers

Social media = people connecting with each other
Social media = devices connecting with each other
Comparing CES to SXSW (South by Southwest) See more: “ Presenting CES: Consumer Electronics Socialization ” SXSW CES

Trend and buzz overview

Microsoft and Samsung stole show with keynotes; AT&T popped with launch of Galaxy Note smartphone Source: Simply Measured Source: CEPulse.net

“ If you just peek into the huge International Consumer Electronics Show, you might think that it’s mostly a deafening showcase for tablets, thin TV screens, superthin laptops and Android phones. But if you… walk all 15 miles of exhibit halls — you’ll discover that, in fact, you were right.
- Pogue on “ Sampling the Future of Gadgetry ”
In his brief, spot-on video on “ The CES No-Shows ,” the Times’ Sam Grobart says a big reason why CES matters less today is that consumer technology’s focus has shifted from hardware to software
The New York Times captures the heart of CES DAVID POGUE SAM GROBART

Klout’s top CES brands
Klout tracked the social activity of a number of the top CES brands
While Microsoft and Samsung attracted much of the buzz, Google and Lenovo are even more proficient at sharing, by Klout’s measures
It’s also interesting to see the topics they focus on digitally
Ford and Google both stand out for Social Media
HTC is the only one of the 5 mobile companies to pop as an influencer for its own brand

What doesn’t matter for marketers (today) (or anytime soon)

Did any of the key trends matter?
The top 3 trends getting CES buzz were OLED, ultrabooks, and tablets (via Simply Measured )
None of those will matter to brands anytime soon in ways that will change their marketing plans if they’ve been staying current with consumer behavior
The big news is that these devices will facilitate more media consumption across a range of digital devices

Ultrabooks: back to the future
“ Ultrabook” was one of the big buzzwords at CES
That’s all it is – a buzzword for a thin laptop the likes of which has been on the market for years
“ If you want to be the first to own a new ultrabook, travel back to 2008 and buy the first MacBook Air.” – Ad Age Digital Next (my post)

Don’t hold your breath for the OLED revolution
“ LG and Samsung displayed prototype 55-inch OLED screens that were so thin, you could shave with them. (OLED is a breathtakingly clear, crisp, colorful, expensive kind of screen...)
“… What could be sharper than 1080p hi-def? Why, four times as many pixels, of course. That’s the idea behind the so-called 4K television, like the prototype from LG.
“ And if you understand that much, you’ll enjoy the even greater silliness of Sharp’s 8K prototype. (What’s so silly? Even if you bought one of these screens, you’d have nothing to watch. Nobody broadcasts or sells movies in 4K or 8K resolution.)”
- David Pogue
Image: ZDnet

3D TV
They’re gorgeous
Everyone visits the exhibits and oohs and ahhs
And then no one actually buys them
Biggest drawback today: with the glasses on, one can’t interact with their digital devices… or other people in the room

Nokia’s Lumia 710 is the first Windows Phone to launch in the US, getting great reviews
None of that matters for marketers – it’s all SMTMS: Show Me The Market Share!
4G is evolutionary. Mobile broadband keeps getting faster, enabling more mobile media consumption. This is a trend in progress, but there’s little that’s new.
Nokia’s Windows Phone & 4G Image source: LA Times Windows Phone 4G

Cars become more social
Ford’s interactive SYNC platform is now in 4MM cars
Mercedes announced cars will connect to Facebook, Yelp and other digital services
This continues the trend of more access to digital & social media literally anywhere, with automakers creating products that are social by design
That makes their products more relevant, keeping up with rather than changing consumer behavior

Virtual reality headgear by Sensics (proof that the movie “Disclosure” was infinitely ahead of its time) Image: via Lonelysandwich

This phonograph – yes, from CES 2012 (but it does have an AM and FM radio built in!)

What matters for marketers in 2012

TVs watch you, and gain a voice
“… Sony will deliver more than 300 connected devices to consumers in the next 3 years, which includes everything from smart TVs to the upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld.” - VentureBeat
For Samsung's 7500 and 8000 series TVs, all you have to do is say ‘Hi, TV’… for the TV to turn on and know who's there.” – Ad Age
Nuance (powering Dragon, Siri) and others also announced voice controls; MSFT is promotes this heavily for Xbox, ahead of expected Siri TV from Apple
This has the potential to make TV advertising far more interactive - and accountable.

Kinect coming to Windows Feb 1
Kinect is expanding beyond the Xbox to Windows 7 / 8
The Kinect for PCs will be available for $249 ($149 for academia)
Many of the projected uses will be B2B – training, R&D, healthcare, etc
As an open platform, what developers do with it will drive a lot of the demand

Who will make it possible to virtually try on clothes?
The dressing room of the future was on display by Microsoft (above) and Bodymetrics (below), both using the Kinect to map the perfect fit
Someone will crack body mapping to make online shopping reliable
Whoever wins this will need to have massive adoption by retailers & apparel makers so it works universally, or close to it
People won’t go through all the effort just for a single retailer / designer
More: PSFK , VentureBeat
Also, startup to watch: UPcload

Samsung AdHub – can an OEM take on Google?
Samsung promoted its AdHub , an ad network to run on Android and its own Bada operating system
This puts Samsung in direct competition with Google, especially with Google owning Motorola
Developers should appreciate more options to see who can best monetize their apps
Apple is also a competitor and pioneer for Samsung to learn from, given Apple’s own iAd offering

Google Indoor Maps launched almost in time to use them
Google is rolling out Indoor Maps, first for Android
During CES, it launched in Vegas , a perfect city for them given the vast and confusing indoor venues
It’s rolling out steadily across various cities. Expect it to come to malls, large retailers, and other locations soon

Gaming devices get even more interactive
The biggest gaming news was from Microsoft – 66MM Xbox consoles in use, 18MM Kinects
Innovation is happening everywhere in the gaming field
WowWee showed off new toys that interact with tablets
Discovery Bay Games turns the iPad into an old-fashioned Atari arcade game, among other interactive games and hardware it produces
Parrot’s AR.Drone 2.0 is the latest version of hovercraft that flies with the aid of augmented reality, beaming back what it ‘sees’ to the controls on a mobile phone

Curation & simplification
With SO much content and so many devices, it’s hardly surprising that digital services are launching to help consumers get what they want and need quickly
2 of note:
For entertainment, there’s Fanhattan , which shows how to access any TV show or movie, such as through Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, On-Demand, etc
For shopping, there’s Decide.com , focused on electronics with tips on when’s the best time to buy a product
These are just tastes of the activity happening in this field

Spotlight: Payment innovations

Dynamics Inc, Nagra ID make credit cards interactive
Dynamics Inc (above) and Nagra ID (below) both offer credit cards that can be more versatile and/or secure
Entering a security code on the card or pressing a button to select the account rewrites the magnetic strip, creating added functionality
While mobile payments are rising dramatically, innovation here will keep credit cards even more relevant in the years ahead
More (on Dynamics): New York Times

Intuit, PaySaber take on Square
Intuit demoed GoPayment , allowing any mobile user to accept credit card payments
PaySaber offers card readers that also include printable receipts, with hardware customized for iPhones and iPads
Both tout security as a competitive differentiator over the hot payment startup Square

Visa’s V.me speeds up online payments
Visa showed various payment solutions for both merchants and consumers
V.me is its new online service to compete with PayPal; merchants can offer it to speed up the payment process on their sites
For consumers, along with faster payments, they can link other credit cards
This can be an advantage for consumers who like PayPal but miss earning points from their cards

Product potpourri (some fun ones to watch)

Lytro: Last Gadget Standing
Lytro won the Last Gadget Standing award for its cameras
The cameras capture all the light coming in so it doesn’t need to focus
Focusing happens after the fact; click the image anywhere to refocus it
Try it at https://www.lytro.com/living-pictures
Cameras cost $399 for 8GB, $499 for 16GB

Water powered fuel cell from Powertrekk
This fuel cell from Powertrekk is powered by water
Designed for outdoors enthusiasts who need access to portable power for days or weeks at a time, it’s the kind of innovation that may well spread into portable power chargers of all kinds
It would make traveling around CES far easier when you can ‘plug in’ at a water fountain

This printer will actually print cupcakes, or plastic parts
Essential Dynamics showcased a printer that “prints with a whole host of materials, including food, chocolates, silicone, cheese, epoxy, organics, etc.”
I’m not sure how much you’d want cheese to come out of your printer, but 3D printing is becoming more accessible
This one is $3,000, and once it gets under $1,000 it will migrate from professional hobbyists to early adopters

QOOQ: the French cooks’ tablet
The QOOQ tablet didn’t launch at CES, but was referenced there in a panel
It’s a tablet designed for the kitchen, with a subscription model for content
Currently available in France, the English model will debut later in 2012
While chefs may love it, it’s hard to see this competing with the iPad

Bonus feature: The dumbest product of CES 2012!!!

Quiz time: What the heck is FeedAir ?
A) The best way ever to read snippets of your email and friends’ Facebook updates four characters at a time
B) The perfect gift for those who thought of buying a Chumby but feared it would be way too useful for them
C) An even worse use of $50 than investing in Europe’s bailout fund
D) All of the above
Don’t worry. We grade on a curve.
This award is on FeedAir’s site. I’d hate to see what didn’t make the cut.

Wrapping up

Stuff that happened during CES
As CES tried to dominate tech & media news, several notable stories broke outside of Vegas :
Google issued a polarizing update by infusing Google+ social results into search listings
Facebook made its commenting plug-in work for mobile
Social entertainment service GetGlue raised $12MM
Chat app Voxer reported 200,000 downloads daily
Foursquare expanded its Explore recommendations to the web, competing with Yelp, Google, & others
CES is an important event, but the world doesn’t stand still just because 140,000 geeks invade Vegas.
Danny Sullivan interviewed Google Chairman Eric Schmidt about its social search update, which overshadowed any other Google CES news

Thanks for reading this far. Keep in touch.
David Berkowitz
VP Emerging Media, 360i
blog.360i.com / @ 360i
MarketersStudio.com / @ dberkowitz
about.me/dberkowitz

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CES 2012: A Comprehensive Guide for Marketers

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