January in Las Vegas has become a mecca of Consumer Electronic Connoisseur’s hoping to get their first peek at what’s new.  Consumer Electronic companies come from all around the world to display their newest + coolest technology at CES.   From celebrity appearances, cool robots, new innovations in television technology and a line of smart appliances that allow you to catalog your groceries; CES 2013 provided a little bit of everything.

Who doesn’t love a cool robot?

This is one cool car!

How cute are these mascot birds at the ViewSonic booth?!

Reality Television Stars wait in Taxi Lines too! (Seth from Hardcore Pawn)

Meeting Travis Barker @ the Pioneer Booth was pretty cool!

The Samsung booth was pretty cool for CES attendees.  They were giving away Samsung cell phone cases along with giving away printed mugs + T-shirts with your very own picture on it.  Pretty neat way to generate buzz around their booth!

Bringing efficiency into the consumer home was LG’s line of Smart Appliances using Smart Thinq Technologies.  This technology allows you to be able to catalog your groceries by simply scanning the receipt and or barcode.  The Smart Shopping feature allows you to create a shopping list by selecting from foods you have in your inventory.  Anything to help with making our every day lives a little bit easier.

Until CES 2014!

Debuting in NYC in 1967, CES is now in its 47^th year.  Technological breakthroughs of the past, many of which are nothing but historic relics today, helped pave the way for the current high-tech consumer electronics captivating us today.  Admittedly, my family and I have been very slow to adapt to the ever-changing technological landscape.  Nonetheless, inspired by this year’s CES show, I decided to take a look back at CES shows of the past and pay tribute to these trailblazing technologies (and how long it took for me and my family to accept them).

Back in its inaugural year, there were only 14 exhibitors (including Motorola, LG, and Philips) covering about 100,000 square feet of exhibit space.  17,500 attendees were on hand.  The main attractions…the biggest technological breakthroughs…were the latest pocket radios and TVs with integrated circuits!

Two years later, in 1969, the show was dominated by radio and television.  Attendees were introduced to Panasonic’s 1.5-inch screened TV (weighing only 2 pounds) as well as FM stereo headphones.

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The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) is less than one week away. Las Vegas is expecting over 150,000 people to attend and check out the latest technology trends and consumer products that will be displayed across 1.9 million square feet worth of floor space.

From Ultra HD TVs to more Android enabled tablets – Tech enthusiasts are excited to see what gadgets are in store for 2013.

Check out CNET’s predictions on what the top 5 features will be for CES 2013:

http://cnettv.cnet.com/predictions-ces-2013/9742-1_53-50137005.html

After much anticipation, our 2012 Holiday party went off without a hitch (thanks Laia)! Thanks to all our friends that were able to make it out and celebrate the Holiday season with us! Here is a quick recap of the festivities that took place:

  “I was humbled to get an invitation to the Just Media party”

 
“Do you like my hat?”

 “It’s a framer!”

 
“You’re fired!”

“You guys always have the best party in December and your team is my favorite – shhhhh – don’t tell anyone ”

The best part of the night, Just Media raffle prizes!  This year, the surprise prize was a date with not just one of our eligible bachelors, but two: Joel and Sebastien!  The lucky winner was none other than Katie Albang… congrats!

Thanks again to everyone that came out! We had a fabulous time and look forward to a wonderful 2013!

Cheers!

JM Crew

“The Future of Digital” presentation, artfully strung together by Business Insider’s CEO & EIC, Henry Blodget, is one of my favorite decks of the year. Despite the fact that Mr. Blodget’s name is the perfect combination of “blog” and “gadget,” his 137 slide presentation paints a cohesive picture on the global state of digital. He outlines the type of trends to which we all must pay close attention or else get left behind.

I highly recommend that every marketer take the time to peruse the presentation. However, knowing the crazy work/life this time of year, I thought I would share my Cliffs Notes version. BTW, on a very unrelated side note, see how Cliffs Notes have gone digital. Should have known.

•    The digital medium is only 20 years old: That’s nothing. Only 7,300 days to be precise. But in this short time, every other single medium – print, radio, broadcast, etc. – has fundamentally adjusted around digital. The name of the game is evolution. If you don’t evolve, you’ll quickly find yourself vying for the newspaper boy’s job. And trust me, that field of employment is quite scarce.

•    2+ Billion people are online: While a large number, that’s only 1/3 of the global population. The rest of the world is still scheduling parties via drum beats and smoke signals. I lost track of the all the holiday Evites already. Where there’s digital, there’s money.

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Consumers watch less live TV but still has critical reach

I recently read a white paper entitled “How To Spend The Minimal Effective Amount on Media” from Networked Insights. The conclusions, that it’s now possible to replace Network TV in media buys with alternatives solutions, are based on mining social media data and other conversations.

One of the case studies referenced pertains to an advertiser who was locked out of a multi-million dollar TV sponsorship of a major sporting event. Using social media data analysis, Networked Insights built an alternative strategy consisting of digital ads and video to drive online conversations. The alternative plan delivered equal reach and brand awareness compared to the traditional TV sponsorship, at a significantly reduced price.

There is no arguing that the fragmentation of audiences and multitasking has impacted traditional TV’s dominance and the way TV and video is now consumed. A recent report by Business Insider Intelligence showed that the share of live TV viewing in primetime has declined from 83% in 2008 to 64% in 2012. There is also no disputing that social marketing/media is now a basic brand building requirement. However, I am skeptical that the alternative media strategy utilized could in reality provide the scale necessary to deliver equal reach and brand awareness.

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