• by Jeff Tan , January 19, 2016

CES is a crystal ball into how our everyday life will look like in the near-future. Marketers would be wise to study these trends as historical CES product launches have shaped the way we now communicate with consumers: the VCR in 1970, XBox in 2001, tablets in 2010 and connected TVs in 2014 have all helped define the advertising industry of today. Here are five trends revealed at CES that marketers should pay attention to:

1. Consumers will be increasingly more empowered, more creative, more DIY. CES revealed a range of devices that enable creative empowerment. 3D printers can now easily create everything from toys, jewelry, chocolate and even complex moving-parts-within-moving parts. Low cost video recording devices such as the Polaroid Cube puts HD creative control in the hands of more content creators.

What this means for advertisers: We need to treat consumers with more intellectual and creative respect. Advertising should be more than just the right message, right time and right person. It should also be about the right intellectual connectivity that respects critical and creative thinking.

2. Consumers will expect better-quality experiences, no matter where they are. Ultra-High Definition TVs that offer much higher dynamic range and clarity will be in prevalent in living rooms across the country. Developments in VR/AR such as the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift allow consumers to be engulfed in rich, immersive experiences. Devices such as the Sony Short Throw Projector mean that AV experiences will be more portable.

What this means for advertisers: Advertisers need to re-learn and improve the art of storytelling. New visual platforms open up a whole world of immersive, rich opportunity.

3. Consumers will see smart objects as the norm. Advancements in fitness wearables such as smart BMX Bikes, snowboards, basketball shoes and smart-shirts will soon be as widespread as GPS watches. CES showcased a range of smartwatches released by high end brands including Swarovski, Tag Heuer and Fossil; as design quality goes up and costs go down, expect smartwatches to become the norm.

What this means for advertisers: One word: data. From insight-development, planning, targeting and measuring, a potential explosion of new data points is a marketer’s dream.

4. Consumers will tolerate robotics and automation in the home. Wealready have for decades, with alarm clocks and video recorders. The future will bring new joys for couch potatoes including the LG HOM-BOT that cleans any area of the house selected with a smartphone. High tech laundry machines will soon sort, wash, dry, fold and put away laundry.
What this means for advertisers: With more automation in the home, consumers will be more open to advertising automation and come to expect it e.g. hyper-personalized advertising.

5. Consumers will see digital screens as not just laptops, tablets, TVs and phones. Instead, consumers will expect digital screens to be everywhere. The Panasonic Interactive Mirror provides beauty suggestions and can digitally enhance your face. The Chevrolet Bolt’s rear view mirror provides a display for the car’s rear view cameras. Digital displays will be everywhere.

What this means for advertisers: Digital media will no longer be confined to desktop, mobile, TV and digital OOH. Expect a future where any flat surface can be turned into engaging content.

To stay relevant and effective, advertisers need to be future trend predictors. If the products launched at this year’s CES are a dipstick indication of how we will soon live, the advertising industry in the near future will continue to be a very exciting place.