PRWeek TV: Consumer Electronics Show remains valuable for brands

Talking to PRWeek TV, Finn Partners managing director Chantal Bowman-Boyles, and W Communications head of consumer technology Nick Grange, agreed the annual show was still a landmark in the calendar.

Bowman-Boyles pointed to coverage of kick-starter and crowd-funded products such as the Pebble watch as evidence of how the event was not just about the big tech brands such as Microsoft, which chose not to exhibit at the event for the first time since 1995.

‘Real start-ups that are being crowd-funded are coming out of shows with incredible coverage and a great platform to launch and [which] hopefully go on to sell products,’ she said.

This demonstrated the evolving nature of the event, said Grange, who also pointed to Microsoft’s participation in Qualcomm’s keynote speech as a demonstration of how brands could still take advantage of the event’s reach, without having to make it the centre of product launch plans.

Grange said: ‘If you look at all the news in technology it was all CES. The bottom line is all the journalists are there and it’s an amazing opportunity to network and for you to show the press a product.’

View the video above to hear more on CES.