Last week I attended CES 2025 in Las Vegas. In its own overwhelming fashion, it showcased an amazing variety of technological innovations, with significant advancements and AI innovation, robotics, consumer electronics, and sustainable tech. Many of the advancements presented are expected to significantly influence marketing and media strategies, which were topics of some of the discussions in the C-Space panel series each morning.
Rapid Evolution of Artificial Intelligence
The acceleration of AI technologies enables marketers to better understand consumer behaviors and create more personalized and efficient marketing and media campaigns. Innovations in wearable technology and smart home devices offer new platforms for immersive and personalized consumer interactions that will allow marketers to engage audiences in novel ways, enhancing brand relevance.
Expansion of Data Analytics
Data privacy continues to be a hot topic, and consumers expect that their data is being used responsibly to provide individualized and personalized experiences. The continued expansion of data analytics capabilities provides marketers with deeper insights into consumer journeys and enables more informed decision-making and optimization of marketing strategies. However, measurement strategies and learning plans must be developed that enable AI solutions to lessen data overload, harmonize disparate data sources and deliver more actionable insights to improve brand performance.
Smart Homes, Chess-Playing Robots, and Wearable Tech
New and expanded smart home systems are integrating household devices into connected smart networks tailored to individual user needs. In addition, robots designed for a variety of purposes – from emotional interaction or companionship to health and/or elderly care – highlighted the growing role of AI in daily life. (Although I did find that playing checkers with a cute little robot was slow and un-fun; reaction times will really need to improve in the future to make this a positive user experience.) Not surprisingly, electronics brands showcased innovative display and audio capabilities as well as more wearable devices – some offering advanced practical applications such as real-time language translations. Electronics manufacturers also unveiled advanced processors to enhance performance for gamers. Quite a few companies showcased renewable energy solutions for homes, emphasizing a commitment to environmental sustainability.
For me, CES 2025 highlighted technological innovations that are set to transform marketing by enhancing personalization, enabling data-driven strategies and improving consumer engagement with brands.
With the constant advancements to AI and technology come new opportunities and challenges for marketers. AI being used in marketing is nothing new, but using it to further understand consumers and create better targeting is the new norm when it comes to personalized advertising, creating new data streams that are more complicated than ever. New developments in connected technology are creating screens and potential advertising locations that haven’t existed before. Advertisements on refrigerators screens, smart watches, and home speakers can be extremely intrusive. These are more intimate forms of technology and advertising that are integrated into our lives on a level that we have not seen before, which could cause discomfort and a decrease in brand trust.
How do you succeed in a landscape with new technology and AI functions being thrown into the ring on a daily basis? The general consensus during CES panel discussions was that agencies and clients have so much data, often from different sources, that we now need to find ways to corral it and make it work together. Can we use AI to sort, organize, and highlight our data to more efficiently dig out those insights? Are there new tools on the horizon that will help us analyze data more efficiently?
If we focus on tools and strategies that make data more streamlined and useful, brands can better position themselves to deliver value to their consumers while respecting boundaries and not advertising on technology that feels invasive.
