If you’ve followed our blog for a little while, you may have noticed that the last few installments looked at consumer technology and what it means for experiential marketing professionals.
We continue our conversation with David Paull – founder of Dialsmith, Lillian Labs, and Engagious – at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2020. If you missed the first half, you can find it here.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Consumer Tech
As the world continues to change, technology is no exception. At CES 2020, the footprint of major companies is everpresent in deployable technologies. From flights to phones, a lot of the emerging tech is focused on the experience these products are designed to give consumers.
That experience is part of what drives our belief that every market researcher or experiential marketing professional should consider spending some time at conventions like to Consumer Electronics Show.
(You can listen to the full episode of the podcast below.)
The Future of Travel
Travel and tourism have experienced two extremely tough years. Airlines, in particular, had to ground entire fleets for months. Once the airlines could fly again, Covid-19-related restrictions meant the customer experience had to be compromised.
However, as virus-related restrictions are becoming less, airlines are picking up where they left off before the pandemic. Delta airlines are not only one of the biggest names in aviation in the United States, but the airline is also at the forefront of creating an unparalleled consumer experience.
Rather than focusing on airports or the onboard experience alone, Delta’s teams are looking at the entire journey of the customer. Their goal is to create a seamless door-to-door journey. At this point, the airline is considering picking up travelers’ luggage at their homes and delivering it straight to their destination. The idea? Taking the chaos out of travel.
Customers benefit but so do Delta’s crews, including airport staff and baggage handlers. Making it easier to run the business is only one goal of Delta’s use of technology. The company is also exploring the potential of data and other aspects of tech to help them make business nicer.
The Future of Television
Almost every household in the United States has at least one television set. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a clear trend towards bigger, higher-resolution screens that can be recessed into a wall or a cabinet.
TVs may not seem like the most exciting piece of consumer electronics to consider. But dismissing them would be shortsighted. Consider the extreme, technologically driven improvements TVs have seen even over the past decade. How good can sound systems get? And is there a limit to replicating the exact experience of, say, a live concert on TV?
How can electronic gadgets like TVs and speakers replicate the exact experience an artist intended? Will there be a TV set that delivers the artist’s or the director’s vision more precisely than we can right now?
And what about developments like folding screens? Many of us will remember flip phones, so how amazing would it be if we could combine the power of a smartphone with the convenience of a flip phone?
If you feel that we are asking more questions than we are answering, you would be correct. But starting conversations is one of the main incentives of conventions. More about that in the second part of this blog.
David Paull is the founder of Dialsmith, Lillian Labs, and Engagious. For more information, visit David’s LinkedIn profile here or visit davidpaull.com.
Additional Resources
FOR EXPERIENTIAL MARKETERS
- Experiential Measurement Blueprint
- Event Impression Calculator
- Experiential ROI Benchmarking Reports
- Event Measurement Video Tutorials