Hasta La Creative!

Did brand marketers beyond the technology vertical dominate this year’s Consumer Electronics Show? Not exactly. But there were a number of brands, often surprising ones, which were more visible and exciting than the electronics mainstays. This is a sign of what’s to come.

Earlier in the week, I predicted that a greater variety of brands would soon take over the convention. The prediction proved prescient, but not entirely to the credit of brand marketers. It was a lackluster year for product launches, as the show featured incremental improvements in a range of categories such as 3D printers, autos, appliances, connected devices, drones, robotics, TVs and wearables. One announcement that keeps coming to mind is that LG found a way to put a smaller washing machine inside a washing machine. It’s reminiscent of the Onion article, “New Starbucks Opens in Rest Room of Existing Starbucks.”

For other brands, it’s akin to when the Super Bowl itself is terrible and the commercials are pretty good. After a while, no one is talking about the game at all, so the commercials are all anyone’s talking about. This year, with a dearth of big news coming out of the convention center, marketers can focus on what their peers from retail, packaged goods and other verticals are doing.

Continue reading at AdAge.com