Looking beyond the CES hype

Marek Wrobel, head of media futures at Havas Media Group, reports back from this year’s consumer electronics trade show and highlights the developments which will actually make a difference to brands

CES – the annual, Las Vegas-based consumer electronics trade show – has always been geared towards building excitement, as well as stressing technology’s potential to change our lives and, in general, ways to create a brighter future. But it is also known for walking a thin line between meaningful solutions and hype.

So forgetting robots, drones, and smart toilets, what were some of the main developments that will matter for brands in 2021 and beyond?

5G(etting real)

5G was top of the agenda at CES, but it was made clear that 5G deployment will be a marathon, not a sprint. It’s important to understand that launching a new generation of mobile communication is a balancing act between customers, network operators, services, and device makers.

Thankfully, there are positive signs visible on almost all fronts – sales of 5G-enabled phones reached 225M in 2020 (it took 4G four years to get to that level), and there are over 100 commercial 5G networks across the globe.

Devices themselves are getting better too, with the third generation of 5G wireless modems launching this year.

But what about services? Well, this is where we get to one of the biggest challenges facing 5G – while the ecosystem is evolving and many of us already understand the main benefits it brings, namely faster connection, lower latency, and better bandwidth, we still struggle with translating these into use-cases.
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Luckily, Drew Blackard, VP of mobile product management at Samsung Electronics, offered a good approach – there are two types of use-cases: ‘better on 5G’ and ‘available only on 5G’. For the time being we will see the former, while the latter is introduced slowly.

Brands need to remember that the same thing happened with the switch from 3G to 4G. It took time for publishers and developers to create 4G’s so-called ‘killer’ apps and features, but then it enabled the shift to mobile-first experiences, the pivot to video and driving adoption of immersive technologies, which in turn changed the media landscape forever.

So, while ‘only on 5G’ use-cases are still unclear, brands writing 5G off may find themselves missing out on a massive opportunity, or even being left behind.

TVolution

As in previous years, almost all the main TV makers launched new models during CES, although what was more interesting for me was the discussion about the evolution of the role TV plays in our lives.

Firstly, while it is obvious that we do watch more TV during lockdowns, watching TV is again becoming an activity that brings families together. This shift is part of a bigger ‘old is new again’ trend – something that is also happening in the UK.

On top of that, TV sets are now so much smarter and are becoming the heart of the smart home. For a long time the smart speaker has been the cornerstone of the smart home movement, but having watched quite a few CES presentations, it seems like connected TVs may steal that title based on their familiarity and the important role that television has played in our homes historically.

These two developments are even more notable than lockdown-enforced higher viewership numbers, as they have the potential to evolve our relationship with TVs. That in turn will enable brands to create new types of TV experiences, building on the existing strengths of the medium but supercharging them and making them truly interactive.

Comeback kid

While it’s usually all about new and exciting trends, this year’s CES proved that there is one trend that the pandemic seemed to reverse – the death of the PC.

There is no doubt that the PC has had a few quiet years, during which the smartphone undisputedly claimed the title of technology’s golden child. And even though arguably the pace of innovation in mobile devices slowed down, the industry’s attention then switched to wearables and IoT, leaving PCs to a slow decline into irrelevance.

But then the pandemic hit, and it was our PCs – with their big screens and productivity tools – that enabled us to earn a living, learn and connect with our friends. Based on the data shared by Lisa Su, CEO of AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), over 300 million PCs were sold in 2020, which is the highest number since 2014.

So, while PCs may not be as sexy as mobile devices, they have proven to be useful and they are not going anywhere.

Therefore, brands shouldn’t forget about them in their media activities and should think about how to leverage this newly rekindled love affair.

Going (remote) places

After the year we’ve had, it’s hardly surprising that the shift to remote work / education / fitness / health / shopping (you name it!) was a big part of the conversation at CES.

And while the majority of presenters praised the power of technology, they were not convinced that the shift to remote life will stick around once the pandemic is over.

First of all, many tools rising to prominence during lockdown were either not created for the purpose they are currently being used for (e.g. video conferencing was created for work, not education) or have struggled with the magnitude of the shift – for example, ecommerce businesses have faced huge issues related to shipping and returns.

Secondly, a lot of presenters pointed out that while remote communication can be ‘good enough’ for existing relationships, it’s extremely hard to form new relationships – both at work and outside of it – through a computer screen.

Lastly, speakers expressed a longing for ‘unscheduled moments of inspiration’, which many felt have been lost in the era of video calls.

So even though ‘remote living’ will play a more prominent role than before the pandemic, it won’t take over our lives. Rather, we will see more and more hybrid solutions which – hopefully – will combine the best elements of the online and real worlds.

“Good morning, good afternoon, good evening”

This was how many of the sessions at the first ever all-digital CES began, reminding us that people were joining the event from all around the world. The shift to online made CES more accessible to a whole new audience – a trend we’ve also seen with museums, live music events and theatres.

While reportedly the number of attendees was slightly lower compared to the previous year (at 150k compared to last year’s 170k), this doesn’t seem so bad when you consider the number of exhibitors fell from 4,000 to just 1,800.

The move online did have its drawbacks, though. After viewing nearly 40 sessions virtually, I felt like I’d completed a video call marathon. I was surprised by how little creativity or interactivity there was in terms of format, and, ironically, the lack of technology present.

This was highlighted when a fascinating keynote from an automotive manufacturer on the future of mobility and flying cars finished with an invitation to their content hub in the form of… a call to action asking viewers to type a URL into their browser. So much for the big reveal!

It was a good demonstration of the need for brands to look beyond the hype and harness new technologies to create truly meaningful solutions – solutions with the power to transform our everyday experiences.

Marek Wrobel, head of media futures, Havas Media Group