A Guidebook for the

International Consumer

Electronics Show

If you are reading this, you’re probably already thinking about how and why you should attend the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). But lets put this event in context. Every year, more than 170,000 attendees from +150 countries gather in +2 million net square feet of exhibit space. They represent more than 3,600 exhibiting companies. +1,800 government professionals. Truly international, the 2015 CES had attendees and participants from 153 different countries. In 2015, more than 27% of CES attendees were from outside of the United States - more than 48,000 people.

VERIFIED ATTENDANCE

% OF TOTAL ATTENDANCE

International attendees 30,803 17%

International Exhibitor Personnel

15,909 9%

International Media 2,121 1%

Total International Attendance

48,833 27,6%

A Guidebook for the International Consumer Electronics Show

This massive audience gathers in the Desert oasis of Las Vegas in early January for two main reasons: to see what’s new and what’s coming in the year ahead; and to do business hosting seemingly endless meetings with partners, vendors customers and more.

Because of the emphasis on uncovering and learning what’s new, its no surprise that CES draws more than 6,000 global media that come to see the latest on a variety of segments from driverless cars and 3D printers to smartphones, wearables and sound systems. With such a large audience and early January date – CES has become the defacto launch-pad for many brands looking to make a statement for the year ahead.

The combination of all these

factors FUELS THE EXCITEMENT around

the annual show, making it one of the

MOST DESIRABLE - YET CHALLENGING

EVENTS for a brand to tackle.

#1: I NEED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BREAK THROUGH THE NOISE!?

While CES is not “Free” - you don’t need to spend seven figures to have an impact. While there are plenty of high-cost venues, booths and activations that brands use each year - there are plenty of other cost effective ways you can use CES to reach your target audience

#2: ONLY THE “BIG” TECH BRANDS CAN HAVE AN IMPACT AT CES.

False. The vast majority of companies at CES are not the big tech brands. Some of the best examples of success at CES come from brands that are not large—but have thought through their brand story at CES and found unique and authentic ways to engage their audience. While you may see “big” brands dominating share of voice over all, many of the awards and accolades handed out during CES are given to smaller companies that have clear reason for being at the show.

#3: IF I HAVE A BOOTH, PEOPLE WILL SHOW UP!

While a booth is a great way to make a statement, provide an experience and demonstrate your brand -- it doesn’t mean your audience will remember you. Ultimately the traffic and impact of your booth is greatly driven by location and a well thought out plan to you reach and engage your audience. Think of ways to make your booth an experience, a destination for your attendees and be sure to allocate space for 1:1 media meetings and private hands-on time with products.

Top Misperceptions of CES

#4: WE’LL START PLANNING FOR CES IN NOVEMBER.

Simply put, CES starts in July - 5-6 months before the actual show. Some OEMs begin planning 13 months out. If you try to plan for CES a month before the show, you risk losing any vendor or venue space availability – often requiring more financial investment and resulting in less-than-ideal locations. From a media perspective, many begin scheduling their on-site meetings in November and their on-site calendars are virtually full by the beginning of December.

#5: CES IS A SHOW FOR GEEKS, NOT CONSUMERS.

The industry-insider, vendor/dealer component show of the past is over. As digital and tech have pushed deeper into our day-to-day lives and change the way we live, work and play the media mix at CES and brands attending have quickly diversified. Today it is not surprising to see “non-Tech” brands like Hammermill paper, The Girl Scouts and Sketchers shoes using the show to reach mainstream lifestyle, fashion, design and other consumer media that have started to attend to explore technology’s impact on all aspects of our lives.

#6: NOW THAT CES HAS ENDED, I CAN MOVE ON!

More often than not, brands focus their post-CES marketing resources on analytics and reporting – did we get the return on our investment. What often goes by the wayside is the follow-through on opportunities uncovered while at the show. Be sure you have a post-event plan that focuses on continuing your momentum and closing the opportunities you unearthed on-site.

DO DON'T

Start Early:

Start earlier than you are probably thinking. July is a good month to start even if you’re not 100% sure you’ll be investing in CES.

Wait Until November:

No matter your business reason, if you are entertaining CES, start thinking about it as early as possible. Even if you’re not sure of the product, offering or your funding.

Focus on Your Distinct Audience:

Think through your audience. Know them. Know what you want to tell them. Know what they want to hear from you--why should they care about you?

Boil the Ocean:

Don’t view CES as a mass-marketing exercise -- you will likely reach nobody if you try to talk to everybody.

Partner, Partner, Partner:

Align with your partners or 3rd parties to help extend the reach of your story, add authenticity to your story, help you reach new audiences and can help increase your visibility by encouraging your partners to help spread the news.

Try to go at CES alone:

Even the biggest brands at CES bring fresh partnerships, their ecosystem or customers together to tell a bigger story.

CES Do’s and Don’ts

DO DON'T

Think Beyond The Walls of CES:

How do you get your news to customers, partners, audi-ences that are NOT physically in Las Vegas.

Focus on Booth Traffic:

Don’t focus all of your at-tention or efforts or metrics on “booth” traffic or on-site metrics. CES is a springboard to tell your story to your audi-ence, wherever they may live or work.

Embrace an Integrated Marketing Mix:

Ensure you’re taking full advantage of your sponsorship/investment dollars. Many brands don’t include PR or Social team members in their conversations with the CTA when securing booth or other contractual investments.

Operate in a Silo:

To get the most from your investment - you must have your booth team working with your demo team work-ing with your partner team working with your PR/Social team and more. Integration and coordination is critical for success.

Find White Space:

CES is massively busy, noisy and competitive for marketing eyeballs, so finding a new or unique way to get visibility – a little white-space to highlight what you do – Is no easy task. Regardless of your budget, be sure you spend adequate time researching, planning and working through how you can do this.

Follow the Pack:

If you just try to out muscle or out message someone, you’ll likely get lost. You need to outthink them. Many fantas-tic products and brands never get exposure at the show be-cause the brand only sticks to booth activities or ‘traditional’ conference tactics.

DO DON'T

Bring the Right People:

You never know when a last-minute opportunity will pull plans in a different direction, so expect to staff multiple fronts as part of CES and that the staff on-site are well-trained communicators and you have a variety of marketing skillsets engaged and ready to activate on a moment’s notice.

Understaff the Booth:

Many unscheduled opportunities come up organically as media and attendees visit the booth wanting information ASAP, not to mention the need to quickly react to whatever your competition throws at you. Ultimately, you don’t want to spend 4 hours trying to find someone you need right now.

Go for the Gold:

Plan to start submitting for awards at least two months ahead of time. Many awards close in November/December, and CTA’s official CES awards close in September – to repeat a common thread: start early.

Expect the Awards will Find You:

Don’t wait until the last minute and expect awards to come through. Awards are based on product that can be actually demoed and is planned for release in 2016 -- even if the award says there is no formal submission process, you should reach out to the publication or relevant reporters at those publica-tions. Some media determine awards based on what they see at the booth so staying top of mind and even brief-ing them in advance of CES under NDA often helps them decide which booths to visit.

DO DON'T

View Anyone as a “Reporter”:

Media are everywhere and every CES attendee has a camera ready to tell your story. Plan on video cameras in the booth and for live feeds at press conferences. At press conferences, broadcast and livestream media expect to have a live feed to plug into and camera operators expect a section devoted to broadcast. Between media and attendees, expect that everything in the booth is subject to filming.

Try to Control Your Message:

What happens in Vegas, doesn’t stay in Vegas! Unless highly structured, don’t expect anything to be off the record or forbidden from recording unless explicitly stated as part of a close-doors meeting.

HOW NESCAFE PUT COFFEE AT THE CENTER OF INNOVATION

To highlight the brands innovative history, NESCAFÉ, one of the largest coffee brands in the world, surprised many at CES with the launch of the NESCAFÉ START-UP program. By partnering with Mindshare and several VC firms, they created a start-up competition and live-event at CES which garnered broad media attention as well as buzz during the conference itself.

In the announcement of the effort, Sean Murphy, Head of Global Strategic Marketing, NESCAFÉ stated, “NESCAFÉ is a pioneering brand that has innovation as part of its core DNA. In more than 180 countries NESCAFÉ has sought to improve peoples’ lives, generation after generation, for the past 75 years…We look to create shared value for all NESCAFÉ consumers and stakeholders through the unique entrepreneurial force united at CES.”

A Sampling of Successful Brands at CES

Whether you’re looking at Intel’s staple booth in Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center or their Keynote and Press Day events, the brand has a common theme - show how technology is changing our everyday lives. One way Intel does that, is by highlighting the way its technology is helping customers, partners and influnecers deliver new experiences.

Intel has used CES as a platform to connect its technology to personal trends for the last several years. At CES 2015 alone, Intel aligned with brands like Jaguar, eyewear with Oakely, entertainment with Dreamworks, audio with SMS Audio, fitness with Basis and Runkeeper, smartwatches with Fossil and many more. To help get those stories told beyond the walls of CES, Intel has partnered with social and consumer/lifestyle influencers and also empowers every team member working the Intel booth to be a spokesperson.

Intel+ iJustine During 2014 Press Day

HOW INTEL PARTNERS FOR CES SUCCESS

Intel+ Social Influencers at CES

Intel + Oakley Partner on Wearables

From sound-proof theaters designed to deliver high quality audio and top-notch visuals, LG attracts a huge amount of traffic and media attention because of their interactive experiences. LG’s entire booth focuses on actual interaction with the product, starting with its giant display wall at the entrance. Starting here, attendees are greeted by a wall that is made up of dozens of HD and UHD televisions, right at the entrance to center hall. This introduces people to their latest TV lines, such as flexible televisions, flowing into mobile, accessories and home appliances. Each of these business unit stations feature fully interactive demos with dozens of on-site staff fully briefed on each product, ready to provide hands-on time with the products. LG begins planning for this at least 13 months in advance.

Additionally, LG is a staple of Press Day and often featured in the main time-slot. For years the brand has featured interactive demo stations and deploys a team of media-ready product staff to reach as many influencers as possible during the event. The LG Press Day event always attracts hundreds of media attendees – but LG aims higher. LG both livestreams the event and has a separate overflow room on-site. On-stage, LG announces partnerships and new products, writing scripts months in advance and tweaking up until the actual event. Surrounding the event, LG also conducts broadcast media tours, remote media activities and holds pre-briefs with their top media as early as November-early December – all in an effort to get ahead of the CES news cycle, drive the biggest wave of global media coverage and put the brand near the center of the CES universe.

LG GETS ITS STORY OUT OF LAS VEGAS

HOW A PAPER COMPANY ENGAGED CES ATTENDEES

Hammermill brought the most analog innovation to the most digitized event in the world – Paper. In an effort to show the value that paper continues to add to our lives and its importance in a world that is rapidly going digital and using less paper – thee brand chose to dive in and put itself, and its new printing App, at the center of cultural excitement of being in Las Vegas. Known as “sin city” and its brand of “What happens in Vegas, stays in vegas” Hammermill found a creative and authentic territory to insert its brand into a conversation virtually all CES attendees were having.

Hammermill challenged CES attendees to destroy the evidence of last night by using the new App to print photos from their phones that would immediately go through a giant shredder. The result, a wave of media buzz, a fun, authentic experience for CES attendees, a virtual mountain of shredded photos and positive launch for the new Hammermill App.