Rising above the clutter—reflections on CES 2009
Written on January 20th, 2009 by Vassberg Alan
Written on January 20th, 2009 by Vassberg Alan
The setting is perfect, if you think about it. The cacophony of sights, sounds and experiences that are Las Vegas complement the sensory overload of CES. Not surprisingly, though I walked past hundreds of booths, only a few of them left a lasting impression.
The smörgåsbord of brands and products at CES got me thinking. What we see on the show floor is a perfect analog for what consumers experience: Marketing overload. The brands that made the biggest impression on me fell into three categories: 1) those I am connected to professionally, 2) those I am connected to personally, and 3) those brands that showed me something really compelling. Most of what sticks with me from CES falls in to the first two categories. That just reinforces what we all already know: Successfully marketing to your target depends on building a relationship with that target.
That third category is the toughest nut to crack. What makes your brand (or your product) compelling? Sadly, much of what I remember from CES as “compelling” had nothing to do with the brands being promoted. Three of the many booths with cool cars come to mind. One had a killer Jag, and two had Lamborghinis. I can name one of the booths, but not the other two. The cars used to attract my attention worked—but were ultimately more compelling than the messages I was supposed to absorb while there. Especially when surrounded by a hundred other messages.
When I think back on the show, there were very few items that fell into the third category on the merits of the brand or a key technology. To be sure, there were some standouts at CES—most notably Palm’s new operating system, Sony’s flexible OLED screens, and various TVs with Internet connectivity widgets. Still, there was a staggering sameness in much of CES, with messages, brands and products that all blur together into a mishmash of marketing buzz words. And that’s what we as marketers have to overcome. How do you stand out when products and services are so similar?
Ironically, some of what stands out is who wasn’t at CES: Major players like Apple, Dell, AMD and Seagate didn’t have booths on the show floor. That’s not to say that they suspended their marketing efforts. For example, Apple didn’t attend CES, electing instead to focus on the Apple-dedicated show, MacWorld. AMD avoided the bustle of the show floor by (among other things) hosting a much blogged-about event where they broke the world record for over clocking. By avoiding the crush of the CES floor, both companies had the opportunity to convey their messages without distraction.
I always like to comment that “sometimes the box is there for a reason.” But out-of-the-box thinking can bear dividends, especially in a moribund economy. Running against the herd isn’t always possible—and there is risk involved. But when confronted with a crowded market, sometimes the best way to rise above the clutter is to be where the clutter isn’t.
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Thursday, January 5th 2012 at 2:32 am |