ces 2012: trends, technologies & media response
TRANSCRIPT
CES 2012:
TRENDS,
TECHNOLOGIES
AND MEDIA
RESPONSE
...because sometimes, what happens in Vegas,
shouldn’t stay in Vegas
Introduction Every year in January the great and the good of the consumer technology
industry descend upon Las Vegas to showcase their latest innovations.
Anybody who has ever attended will agree it is easy to get lost in the crowd,
both physically and from a brand perspective. Some companies return
triumphant. Others join a long list of those who hoped to strike it lucky in
Vegas, but leave with little to show – except some late nights in America’s
playground – after spending a lot of money.
GolinHarris has pulled together this report to explore the media trends and
outcomes from this year’s show, highlighting what worked in terms of
generating media coverage and that all-important social media buzz.
I hope you enjoy it. If you would like to discuss any of the points raised in
more detail, please drop us a line.
Lisa Falcetti
Executive Vice President, Co-Lead, U.S. Technology Practice
GolinHarris
t 714.918.8228
www.golinharris.com
Walking the floor:
Long before most of us had
discovered the remote control, Las
Vegas favorite, Elvis Presley,
famously used a gun to turn off his
television (right).
Technology has come a long way
since then, of course, and Elvis
would have needed a whole army if
he was to take issue with all the
televisions on display at CES last
week.
Unlike Elvis in his Las Vegas heyday,
these televisions also are getting
thinner by the year and it was that
innovation, alongside the rise of
OLED screens and smart TVs, which
really caught the imagination of
many media attendees.
However, it was far from just a TV
show.
Smart phones and tablets also were abundant this year with names, such as Nokia,
staging a ‘comeback special’ of their own. The launch of the Lumia 900 certainly got
more than its fair share of column inches.
CES also played host to a host of weird and wonderful gadgets on display. And, up
for discussion in the media were perennial talking points, such as the ‘Booth Babes,’
with Forbes posing a key question – are girls in bikinis still the way to create interest
in consumer technology in 2012?
Did you know: Despite pre-show
talk of decline, CES 2012 boasted a
record-breaking 3,100 exhibitors
and attracted more than 153,000
attendees
Making a splash: Who generated the most media coverage and who
made the most noise on social media
The Talk Of The Town: Being different works Green technology was firmly
back on the agenda this
year, from the show’s official
car – the Ford Fusion hybrid
– to a device which almost
managed to steal the show
against all the odds.
The Nest app-controlled
smart thermostat drew the
cameras with its sexy looks
(OK, it’s sexy for a
thermostat) and its promise
of allowing users to more
efficiently control how they
heat their homes.
Among those behind the
device are Tony Fadell,
Apple's former senior vice
president of the iPod
Division – quite possibly a
good reason why it looks a
cut above the average
thermostat.
The lesson here is that
different works. We saw
hundreds of televisions at
CES … but only one app-
controlled thermostat.
2012 may have marked Steve Ballmer’s last
CES keynote.
Microsoft says its focus is going to be on
smaller shows from now on. But the larger
than life Microsoft boss still generated more
media coverage than any other senior exec
talking at the show:
The top five were as follows:
1. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft
2. Eric Schmidt, Google
3. Stephen Elop, Nokia
4. Paul Otellini, Intel
5. Howard Stringer, Sony
Above: Steve Ballmer pictured with Ryan
Seacrest who was compère for the Microsoft
keynote.
What’s The Word On The Tweet
Our research has revealed that 93.5 percent of all online
conversation around CES took place in ‘micro media’ channels
such as Twitter and Facebook.
Blogs
4.9%
Mainstream media
1.5%
Micro Media
93.5%
Most Tweeted
about brands:
1st (21.3% share)
2nd (18.5%)
3rd (14.6%)
4th (11.9%)
5th (11.4%)
USA (58 %)
France (6.9%)
Japan (3.8%)
UK (3.5%)
Brazil (3.5%)
It is perhaps no
surprise the top country
for originating tweets about
CES was the U.S. - accounting
for 58 per cent of the total. The top 5 were:
Day by day: Top 5 Brands by share of social voice
Microsoft
Samsung
Sony
LG
Nokia
Microsoft
Samsung
Sony
Lenovo
Nokia
Day One saw a host of announcements and the highest volume of both news
coverage and social media conversations. Microsoft’s keynote enabled the
company to take a lead in the social arena, and the first day was also LG’s
biggest showing of the week in social chatter on the heels of its smart TV
announcements.
Day Two saw Microsoft conceding some ground, while Lenovo made its one
and only showing in the top 5. That was on the back of an Intel announcement
and its Yoga Ultrabook and tablet hybrid demos, which proved to be popular
video content online. Sony and Samsung both grew share around television
announcements, though Samsung’s ‘disc to digital’ announcement also
resonated with people clearly keen to digitize back catalogues of media.
Day by day:
Top 5 Brands by share of social voice
Microsoft
Samsung
Sony
LG
Nokia
Microsoft
Samsung
Sony
LG
Nokia
Day Three saw a very strong showing from Nokia. The company CEO tweeted
about Nokia scooping CNET’s ‘best of show’ smart phone award, sparking a
flurry of retweets. Meanwhile talk of Samsung’s Galaxy Note was spreading
like social media wildfire.
Day Four suggested the week in social media had been very good for
Samsung. A range of launches, most notably the Note and the widely
discussed ‘Smart Window,’ got social channels chattering. Importantly, the
Smart Window, due to its interactivity, was a major driver of video content in
social channels. People who can’t be at the show want to see things working.
Media Trends
The great appeal of CES is the thrill
of the new – a first opportunity to see
the technology we’ll be talking about
later in the year. Since speed is
critical for media who want to win
the race to cover the major
announcements. This resulted in a
flurry of coverage on Day One, which
markedly tails off (right).
For the tech press, CES
certainly remains a pilgrimage
worth making, and nobody was
more productive at the show –
in terms of pure numbers than
Dow Jones News Service (left).
The New York Times and PC
Magazine put in a very decent
shift as well.
Despite some high-profile media being unimpressed by the notion of a trip to Las
Vegas...
...many did still make the trip this year and were busier than ever. A trend of
increased CES coverage year-on-year continued unbroken:
Five year news reference volume of ‘CES’
Source: Google Trends
Day 1
What the media were saying: No clear winner but lots of good news
Conclusion
Record attendance and wall-to-wall media coverage would not appear to be the
hallmarks of a show in rude health.
The growth in social media also has clearly helped companies exhibiting at
CES break out of the noise on the conference floor and reach new audiences
and new levels of engagement in the altogether frenzied world of social media.
Few things fuel the wheels of Twitter so spectacularly as some ‘must have’
innovation and gadgetry, presented in a simple, visual way.
Undoubtedly social media and the blurring of the lines between online
channels and ‘traditional’ media is also driving the increasing levels of
coverage. Whereas a newspaper or broadcaster may have limited itself to one
or two big announcements from CES in years gone by, their increased online
channels and outlets allow for a far more rapid fire, ‘little and often’ approach to
content, in the manner of their younger rivals. Among the most influential
voices on social media this year were CNET and Mashable, whose links were
tweeted more than 14,000 times during CES week.
Of course, some people will say that for the umpteenth year running, the focus
of the show was on fiddling with form factor - smaller tablets, thinner TVs,
bigger screens, lighter notebooks – or tinkering with specifications, such as
higher resolution cameras in mobile handsets. But the purists will tell you those
are exactly the reason why consumer technology continues to be the exciting
industry it is.
Contact:
Lisa Falcetti,
Executive Vice President,
U.S. Technology Practice Co-Lead
GolinHarris
T: +1 714.918.8228