Welcome to CES 2022! Yes, it looks a bit different this year as many cannot be there in person, but don't worry, GroupM has you covered.

We've teamed up with Vox Media to bring all the trends and biggest announcements from the show floor directly to you, wherever you are. Vox Media experts, partnered with our very own Global Chief Innovation Officer, Krystal Olivieri, will translate what we’re seeing at CES into what this means for marketers.

THE METAVERSE

NFTs & CRYPTO

SUSTAINABILITY & REPAIRABILITY

AUTOMOTIVE

WELLNESS & HOME

KICK-OFF VIDEO

2022 TECH TRENDS THROUGH THE LENS OF CES

By: Whitney Fishman, Innovation & Consumer Technology at Wavemaker

Whether you tuned in via video or walked the floors masked up and in person, this year provided a glimpse of the devices we may be using in the coming years and provided plenty of inspiration as to how the tech trends ​of the coming year may play out. Our Tech Trends 2022 Through The Lens Of CES covers the emerging tech-driven trends impacting marketers this year, how we saw them come to life at CES, and what it means for marketers.

HOW LEADING TRAVEL COMPANIES ARE LEVERAGING TECH AND DATA TO MODERNIZE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

By: Charlene Cai, Director, Audience Strategy at MediaCom

Travel industry is unarguably one of the industries that were the hardest hit by the pandemic in the last two years. While most categories have seen a rebound in sales and revenue as consumers and businesses adjust to the new normal, travel and leisure category continues to see significantly reduced spend going into 2022. There is good news however, as Stephanie Linnartz, president of Marriott International recounted to Yahoo! News in her interview, “from a big picture perspective, 2021 was a much better year than 2020. 

PANDEMIC ACCELERATES TECH ADOPTION AMONG CONSUMERS: HOW RETAILERS ARE KEEPING UP

By: Charlene Cai, Director, Audience Strategy at MediaCom

Metaverse, NFT, AI, VR, crypto, these once seemingly farfetched tech concept are ubiquitous in this year’s CES, taking place in Vegas and attended by thousands of attendees all over the world from the comfort of their homes. If you are still skeptical about virtual reality, this is your cue to take a moment and realize, you are already in it. Unsurprisingly, these new buzzwords have found their way to almost every conversation/keynote speech we have heard in the past three days, across all verticals. Retail/E-tail is no exception here. But are they more than just jargons? 

TV COMPETITION ENSURES BRANDS ARE THE REAL WINNERS

By: Marissa Jimenez, President of Finecast US

The future of TV and the content that keeps it in business have been at the forefront of innovative conversations for as long as either has existed. From the days of selling a full year’s slate of advertisements at the TV Upfronts all the way to 2021 – when Discovery+ fought their way onto the streaming war battlefield – each evolution of the wheel is simply a new opportunity for marketers to ask, “What is next and how should it be leveraged?”. CES is no different – both this year and in years past. 2020 discussed the means to keep streaming content relevant while 2021 marked the new era of streaming and its staying power. 

SHIFTING PRIORITIES FROM TECH TO CONSUMERS

By: Jaime Martin, Group Director, Shopper at Mindshare

Content and commerce - two buzz words of the pandemic. And rightfully so as they are both at the heart of consumers favorite activities, shopping and entertaining content. As you would expect, the core piece of the discussion at the CES Content to Commerce: How Technology Flipped the Customer Experience was around how technology fits into our world without disrupting the consumer commerce experience. No small feat, to say the least When we begin to think about technology within the realm of content and commerce, we immediately jump to peoples' experience. 

IS THE FUTURE OF AUTO ALL ELECTRIC?

By: Daniel Geiger, Group Director at Mindshare

There is no mystery to how the auto industry is evolving. The consistent theme across manufacturers and exhibiters is an all-electric future with features that offer enhanced capability, autonomous driving options, and address climate change concerns and emissions. Not surprisingly, most of the concepts are from some of the industry’s most recognizable brands including Chevrolet, Mercedes, and Chrysler. But there is also a significant amount of attention to new manufacturers like Fisker and Sony, who have announced electric concepts. Here's an overview of some of the highlights.

WHAT DOES THE RESPONSIBILY DESIGNED METAVERSE INCLUDE? 

By: Rachel Lowenstein, Global Managing Director, Inclusive Innovation at Mindshare

I know – CES has barely begun and your tolerance for hearing another person talking about the metaverse is already waning. And while there’s sure to be a lot of noise about a concept that many technologists can’t agree on exactly what it means, the most critical aspect of web 3.0 might be less of what it actually is and more how it’s actually being designed. Meaning, how is the next wave of the internet being created when the current one has so many exclusionary, harmful problems?

GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, is today releasing its second annual survey on consumer attitudes toward technology in the U.S. The results reveal increased concern about sharing personal data, declining interest in buying the latest tech products sooner rather than later, and greater numbers of people confused by technology and its promises overall. Conducted by GroupM’s Audience Origin (formerly LivePanel) in December 2021, this proprietary research surveyed one thousand U.S. consumers on their attitudes toward technology across six general categories: attitudes toward technology, information sharing and privacy, virtual reality-based devices and services, smart appliances, mobile devices and digital services, such as visual search, streaming audio and streaming video.  

Survey respondents indicated some material shifts in sentiments around privacy, with greater numbers of people concerned about the use of their data online, fewer willing to share data associated with health trackers or allow smart appliances to automatically refill consumables. Fewer households now believe it is important that they are equipped with the latest technology and greater numbers profess to being confused by new technologies – which we can see in responses to questions regarding VR and AR device access or 5G access – with more saying they will wait until technology becomes cheaper before purchasing devices. Of more direct importance for the advertising industry, a shrinking majority of respondents (73%) said that they would accept having to watch commercials in order to maintain a lower monthly bill for streaming video services versus 76% in last year’s survey.  Read more...