Each January the world’s technology industry meets to shake off its collective Christmas hangover at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Timing is important; consumer trends for the year are defined at CES with the launch of eagerly-anticipated products and surprising innovations.
Few cities are quite so well equipped to handle a week long invasion of hundreds of thousands of manufacturers, press and curious geeks, but if you want your product to stand out against Las Vegas’ glaring backdrop, your stand must first make the grade.
With CES taking place in the seemingly endless Convention Centre, with close to 3000 exhibitors, seeing everything on offer is virtually impossible.
Marketing your stand at CES is as crucial as the gadgets on display. People will head to stands they’ve pre-selected, but also those that look enticing or that have managed to create all-important buzz.
On preview day, the early press conferences were the first destination, with Intel causing something of a stampede.
Launching a 2nd Generation Core i5 Processor to eager technology journalists is one thing, however, it’s much harder to create excitement among the general public.
Intel managed to create its impact with a TV ad that encapsulated the performance of the processor in a novel chase film. Intel followed up its early presentation throughout the event, with unbranded volunteers handing out cryptic ‘’ Polaroids, directing people to the ad online.
It was Polaroid, the brand, however that pulled off the biggest marketing coup of CES producing Lady Gaga to launch the world’s first sunglasses that take pictures and shoot video, designed with her assistance in a distinctly Gaga-esque fashion.
Word of mouth worked a treat with rumours of her appearance spreading quickly among journalists and punters, who packed the Polaroid stand to see if they were true.
BlackBerry, making its play for "stand to be seen at", hosted a number of loosely tech-themed interviews with "pro celebrities" Adrian Grenier, Piers Morgan, Common and Olivia Wilde who ensured a constantly heaving stand.
Elsewhere, 50 Cent was in town to launch his own brand of headphones, in collaboration with US manufacturer Sleek Audio, while Will.I.Am showed up "unannounced" to hang out on the Intel stand.
One of the chief marketing ploys put to good use by the bigger brands at CES was to host a good old-fashioned party. The rules were simple: find a ludicrously over-the-top nightclub, come up with a theme, invite your employees and a few journalists, lay on a free bar and some pretentious canapés and cut loose.
Having managed to worm my way into a couple I witnessed, among other things, guest appearances by American Football stars, cello recitals, prize draws and manicured CEOs strutting their stuff.
If your budget didn’t stretch to multiplatinum selling pop star, though, all was not lost. Simple could also be effective.
With at least an 80% male audience, attractive girls with revealing clothes and friendly natures could still draw the crowds, though the cheerleading display that accompanied one Chinese telecoms firm’s big announcement was frankly bizarre.
And if you couldn’t stretch to a pretty face? Take the noisy approach. Music, dancing, speeches, demos – anything that made a sound louder than your neighbour. If last night’s cocktails weren’t giving you a headache, a quick wander round the central hall certainly would.
With invites to CES 2012 already flying around, its time for R&D labs to get down to some serious product development and marketing departments to start planning a stand that God just might turn up on. If I’ve finally got over this year by then, I will be there to see it.
Richard MacKichan is head of communications for Beta