Top Takeaways from CES 2023

Product launches, major company announcements, and the latest advancements and innovations across AI, automotive and mobility, home entertainment, and consumer technology stole the show at CES 2023 in Las Vegas last week. Conference attendance topped 115,000 people, surpassing initial estimates at more than double last year’s figures. Over 3,200 exhibitors comprised the CES show floor throughout more than ten official venues, with exhibitions by BMW, John Deere, Google, Kohler, LG, Samsung, Sony, and Stellantis drawing some of the biggest crowds of the show. 

Across automotive, smart home innovations, home entertainment, and lifestyle technology, there was a greater emphasis on interoperability and how technology can improve—rather than complicate—people’s lives. Leading brands like Kohler, LG, and Samsung showcased products and services that empowered more sustainable living and personalized convenience that could offer a greater sense of calmness in an increasingly connected world. Many of these advancements in mobility, digital health, and software are developing into a new economy, best described as “screen as a service.” Nearly every screen for the car, for our homes, and at our fingertips can now offer consumer value for a monthly subscription fee, enabling new business models for companies like Amazon and John Deere that also uplevel the user experience with advanced technology. 

Despite the impact of recessionary forces on the larger tech industry, tech optimism and the importance of keeping innovation at the forefront of business operations were consistent themes this year. Keynote speakers from John Deere to NASA spoke optimistically about the year ahead, addressing how the latest innovations in agriculture, human health, infrastructure, and mobility tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges.

Top Takeaways for Advertisers

The C Space in the ARIA Resort & Casino at Tech South was bustling with advertising leaders and media experts as they discussed the latest in brand marketing, social and streaming platforms, and entertainment. Across speaker panels and partner events, a few prominent trends and key themes emerged. 

Shoppable commerce growth shows no signs of slowing down: At the Variety Entertainment Summit, Roku’s vice president of ad revenue and marketing solutions said that viewer adoption of Roku’s new shoppable ads and content discovery features is growing by the day, in a promising trend for industry-wide shoppable commerce adoption in the U.S. At our meetings with partners like Roku and TikTok, new shoppable TV and social commerce features consistently appeared across 2023 product roadmaps.

CTV and FAST platforms continue to disrupt legacy ad models: Streaming TV and social video now sit at the intersection of commerce and entertainment, as the digitization of video disrupts the upfronts market and expands consumer choice, all while making advertising “work harder” for brands, as summarized by John Halley, president of advertising at Paramount during the Variety Entertainment Summit. Leaders from NBCUniversal, Pinterest, and Microsoft outlined their expectations for the year ahead throughout several keynote sessions and industry panels, with many predicting that 2023 will see new FAST platforms emerge, CTV and streaming growth will continue to overtake linear TV, and more streaming TV bundles will collapse as consolidation continues to redefine the TV and media landscape. 

New cross-platform measurement solutions made their debut: Both Nielsen and The Trade Desk made headlines at CES after announcing the launch of Nielsen ONE Ads and Galileo, their respective cross-platform, privacy-first measurement solutions. These announcements bolstered ongoing conversations at CES 2023 on the state of measurement and how brands can improve attribution amid the deprecation of cookie-based advertising and growing media fragmentation across the advertising landscape. 

Data clean room technology becomes a core offering for most partners: Advancements in data clean room technology were consistently touted in our partner meetings with Amazon, Disney, and Roku, to name a few, as adopting privacy-first measurement solutions remains a top priority for advertisers in 2023. 

Search behavior is changing: More consumers than ever before are using a broad array of platforms, beyond search engines like Google, Safari, and Bing, to find inspiration, learn new information, and discover new products and services online. Social platforms like Pinterest, Reddit, and TikTok are eager to rise to the challenge in capturing search demand, and are improving curation algorithms, search results pages, targeting capabilities and discovery tools. 

Gaming is the new frontier for advertising and storytelling: Several conference sessions were dedicated to discussing gaming and emerging technology like metaverse, AR, and VR in the entertainment industry. From these conversations, it’s clear that the narrative around gaming—and what constitutes a gamer—is rapidly changing, with games like Roblox and Fortnite providing endless storytelling opportunities and valuable ways for brands to engage with players.

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CES 2023 delivered fresh insight, inspiration, and a first-hand look at the latest innovations and technological breakthroughs that are creating a better, more equitable, and accessible future for us all. Already, 2023 is shaking out to be a year marked by agility and continued acceleration, as CES featured only the beginning of what’s to come in the months ahead.