CMOs at CES — Maybe it’s time to head back to Las Vegas
“Why are so many marketers at CES? The real question is why all of them aren’t at CES.” — MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan in CES keynote, from 1/11/12 AdAge: CMOs Explain Why They’re Flocking to Vegas for CES
I’m not going to write about the over-the-topness that is CES, it’s been done. I’m not going to speculate whether CES is going the way of COMDEX.
But I do sense a pivot in the works, or at least a (smartly) evolving event. It makes complete sense that CMOs and ad agencies are meeting & speaking at CES this year, as advertising+social+mobile+location+analytics all intersect, with the brand at the hub. It’s not the platform per se. It’s figuring out how to communicate the brand across which platforms make the most sense, depending on your resources, assets and audience. While keeping an eye on what’s next. And that’s what CES is best at.
So maybe it’s time to put Las Vegas back on my travel circuit for next year. I do love the scale of that city and especially the hotels. Everything is super-sized, even the lobbies. And even a few decent restaurants.