This year SixSpeed sent Account Director Randy Cunningham to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to help pull off our latest Impossible to Imitate project on behalf of 3M Privacy Filters (more on that at a later date).
After getting inundated with tepid to mild AI takes for the better part of the last two weeks, we thought we would share a few thoughts of our own.
This is not to dog on any particular booth. Everything was amazing. Cutting edge. So much LCD. Insane amounts of chrome.
But when you step into the Valhalla of futuristic tech where everyone’s fridge can send an email, some of the most stand-out booths either blasted through the roof of an already high ceiling (like the NVIDIA talk or LGs jaw dropping display of kinetic LEDs), or felt full of character from the brand as opposed to production value for production value’s sake.
(Shoutout to 3M’s broader promise to uncomplicate technology that stood out in a sea of serious tech as refreshingly unserious, while still cutting edge).
Now, don’t get us wrong, we were practically raised by memes. But it’s hard to know what’s real when you’re doomscrolling through a torrent of digital content and doctored photography.
Just look at how many Tik Tok influencers just outed themselves for lying after it shut down for less than a day.
What we saw while attending CES was the palpable buzz of so many clever people in the same room. You could hear the dreams and the curiosity floating through the air. People meeting face-to-face. Ideas starting out as a handshake or a chance encounter at the blackjack table. Our activation mirrored that energy. It wasn’t about being the most cutting edge. It was about sharing knowledge about technology through human connection.
Experiences that are unfakeable (i.e. things you can see, smell, and touch) are never going away.
“It’s too expensive to go.”
“Why are brands burning money at trade shows.”
“There’s more ROI in direct email marketing.”
[Insert mopey contrarian take here].
Without diving too deep into economic philosophy (DM us on Instagram if you want to set up a meeting on that), everything is a trade off.
Yeah maybe if you liquidated a million dollar AI refrigerator booth into a performance marketing budget you’d sell more refrigerators with an IQ of 120.
The reality is brands show up and create a spectacle at these events because showing that they can is a strong signal that they are still on top of innovation mountain. And it proves that the future is bright.
It’s like the misunderstanding of the Peacock’s tail. Mates don’t choose the one with the biggest tail just because it’s beautiful.
As the tail is a symbol of fitness in the dating market for peacocks — how gaudy can they get while still staying alive. That’s precisely what CES is:A display for cutting edge electronics companies to show, not only are they alive, they’re thriving. (Same goes for Super Bowl spots).
It’s all about the energy, getting caught up in it, watching the magic happen. Where there’s a show, there’s an audience. While you can get the goosebumps online, it’s always a bit more magical in person.
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