At CES, the volume of product announcements and business news is endless – on top of that, brands are eager to stir up some in-person engagement with their products and leaders. This means every brand is faced with one common challenge: how do you break through the noise and stand out in a way that drives business impact?
At Hotwire, our consumer tech team has been busy at work, analyzing learnings from past CES events alongside today’s fast-changing media landscape to help clients make a splash in 2023. Year over year, we identify the right strategy to ensure news doesn’t get lost in the clutter, and we’ve found brands that diversify activities across a few main tried and true methods have strong results. The right mix of earned, owned and paid amplifications.
- Earned: a multi-phased media program is crucial for a successful CES. Pitching and securing earned coverage remains the priority and primary way of achieving impactful media attention. By securing coverage in top tier publications that align with your target audience, you’ll be able to increase brand awareness, drive readers to your site and become a more top-of-mind option when it comes to consumers’ purchasing decisions. With all the changes we’ve experienced in recent years, traditional earned media coverage has never lost its value, and it will continue to be a big part of achieving success before, during and after CES.
- Owned: planning a steady stream of owned content is a guaranteed way to ensure your industry presence during CES. From publishing company-owned blog posts, to having top executives post across their social media pages – owned content is an excellent way to control your brand’s messaging and reinforce your voice in the space without relying on any other entities. Owned material also helps to build an archive of content, which serves to establish your brand’s dominance over time.
- Paid: with paid amplifications, you can guarantee that your brand’s optimal messaging will show up in front of its ideal audiences. Further, paid activity does not have to be expensive. There are many options – such as a Satellite Media Tour, MAT Release or submitting for awards opportunities – which span a wide range of price points. Awards opportunities in particular can cost as little as a few hundred dollars, while offering significant ROI. For example, winning a CES Innovation Awards or a “Best of CES” award hosted by top media outlets will signal to consumers that your product is the best of the best in your specific category. CES also provides and opportunity to show up at sub-events like Pepcom and Unvieled where that additional paid activity delivers on increased engagement with media and influencers.
CES 2023 is sure to bring another round of exciting announcements, new connections and innovative tech advancements from older and younger brands alike. We’re excited to see what brands stand out, and we can’t wait to see you there!
Still on the fence about attending this year’s event? Don’t have a booth but still want to maximize the moment with CES? Drop us a line and we’re happy to put you in touch with our experts who will be on-site at CES 2023.