For digital marketers, the annual CES Vegas tech fest is less about gadgets – like the onewheel motorised skateboard that’s wobbling between cool and cringing – and more about which digital trends are getting big buck backing.
So what opportunities did CES 2014 reveal for digital marketers?
- Connected Car: The Next Big Thing For Digital Marketing. At CES, Pandora revealed that it will reduce ad frequency for drivers, but improve targeting. A win-win for brands and consumers. Fewer, but more relevant ads. With international regulations specifying that all new cars will be connected, the challenge for brands will be how to own – or at least be part of – the driving experience
- Smartphone Rules: The New Bioport. Whilst a lot of CES noise was around wearable tech (still a work-in-progress category), what was interesting is how many of these devices, and other CES innovations (from smartphone stun guns to thermal imaging and tricorders), are using smartphones to do the digital heavy lifting. The smartphone a new bioport – a personal digital interface or hub connecting us to our digital life. Takeout for digital marketers? The route to the consumer heart is via the smartphone.
- Retina TV: The Future of Digital is [Still] TV. No Apple didn’t announce it’s forthcoming Retina iTV, but hi-res 4K TV was a big theme, as were other TV initiatives, Sony’s console-less Playstation and curved/bendy screens (for curved/bendy homes?). The interest, investment and innovation in TV is indicative of how TV is and will continue to be the centrepiece of our digital lives. A digital strategy without TV as its centrepiece is like a Starbucks without coffee.
I love Pandora. Good thing they will soon come up with more relevant ads for the listeners. This is quite similar to what social media platform like Facebook is doing – they put up relevant ads for members.