CES 2024—from AI to Walmart and the Las Vegas Sphere, everything marketers need to know

The advertising world is headed to CES, where the surest bet is that artificial intelligence will dominate the tech showcase. While the technology became a part of nearly every marketers’ toolkit in the past year, at CES there will be futuristic applications of generative AI and robotics. L’Oréal, for one, will discuss AI, data and technology in the beauty industry. AI is expected to be such a big part of the confab that CES’ website has plastered AI-made images across its pages to promote the annual trade show. “The more we say ‘AI,’ the more it resonates with our customers and the more it will be adopted,” Franklin Peitz, tech and innovation PR manager for John Deere, said ahead of the event. Part of John Deere’s exhibition will demonstrate computer vision-based AI, which it installs on tractors to enhance crop management. This also is the first year that advertisers will meet at CES in Las Vegas under the glow of the Sphere, the monolithic, high-tech marketing edifice that is a social media star in its own right. CES won’t have an official partnership with the Sphere, because it was too pricey to procure, Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Technology Association, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Sphere is known for its high advertising rates for brands to take over its exterior. And it will certainly be a destination for advertisers and brands to visit. Read more about the Sphere here But ultimately CES is still a place for marketing and tech leaders to tackle heavy topics. There are pressing issues in the marketing world, with global conflicts, a fractured digital media landscape and some pessimism about the economy, even though ad spending forecasts for 2024 seem strong. The annual tech confab, which will take place from Jan. 9 to Jan. 12, will have some intrigue, too, as ad power brokers meet to discuss what’s next in media, entertainment and technology. Google, Amazon, Meta, TikTok, Reddit, Snap and Pinterest will all have a presence. And X, formerly Twitter, is sending CEO Linda Yaccarino to the conference. Last month, X announced a collaboration with CES to stream CEO keynote addresses and other content around the show. At the same time, Las Vegas will host its first Super Bowl in February, making the setting even more relevant for ad platforms to compete for brands’ attention ahead of the high-profile commercial event. CES is not fully back to pre-pandemic levels, but it’s as close as ever to a full return. Over 130,000 attendees are expected this year—roughly 115,000 attended last year—and the event has formally expanded into The Cosmopolitan hotel for the first time, according to Brian Comiskey, director of thematic programs for CTA. Here’s what you need to know about the massive tech confab. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs CES stakes “People are looking positively toward CES, and negatively toward the world,” said Michael Kassan, chief executive of MediaLink. There will be celebrations at CES, but there also is some unease ahead of the event, according to Kassan. MediaLink will host its yearly CES kick-off party and run C Space, a sub-conference devoted to marketing and technology. Kassan said there are lingering concerns about the economy. “People are going into this year equally concerned about the economy as last year,” Kassan said. In October, when Ad Age looked at the top 100 global advertisers, ad spend was up a meager 2.3% in 2022 compared to 2021. (Full 2023 data is not yet in.) Dentsu, one of the top ad agency holding companies, recently predicted a 4.6% increase in total ad spending in 2024 over 2023. And overall the U.S. economy grew up to 5.2% in the third quarter, compared to last year, according to the latest GDP figures, while the unemployment rate was recently pegged at a decades-low 3.7%. Still, last year, Google, Meta, Spotify, Microsoft, X, Reddit, Amazon and Snap all had mass layoffs as they restructured to run more leanly. There are still wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and a highly consequential presidential election in the U.S. this year. Marketers also are paying even closer attention to online platforms and their policies, as economic, political and social issues create an unsettling atmosphere for brand marketers. Brands are worried about entering into online culture clashes when they participate in social media marketing. Especially since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, social media apps, including X, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch and YouTube, have become virtual conflict zones. Brands are always concerned about how platforms address public safety, Kassan said, pointing to persistent issues on X and TikTok. These issues also affect how brands allocate ad dollars. Marketers have been worried about a resurgence of extremism and disinformation on the web, which has implications on how they spend money. In November, X owner Elon Musk and his platform got into a public feud with some advertisers, after major brands pulled ad money from the platform over concerns about content. Yaccarino’s presence at CES could represent X’s best chance to establish a new footing with advertisers, following reports that the platform fell short of its ad revenue goals in 2023. Yaccarino is set to talk with noted technologist Shelly Palmer at a breakfast hosted by Brand Innovators at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Streaming TV talks Tech stalwarts, including Google TV and Amazon Prime Video will take part in one-on-one conversations at C Space that will touch on how the two giants are viewing the TV advertising landscape going into 2024. This is set to be another big year for streaming TV, with the launch of Amazon Prime Video’s ad tier and Netflix’s continued push into advertising. Read more: Revisiting Netflix’s first ad-supported year Netflix has been heavily promoting sports programming with shows around golf and Formula 1. The streaming giant will be at the Aria for client meetings and will transform Easy’s Cocktail Lounge into a Netflix-themed speakeasy, according to a source familiar with the situation. The streaming giant will also display an immersive experience on the show floor tied to its new sci-fi drama series “3 Body Problem.” Netflix’s appearance at CES follows a recent shakeup in ad leadership, which saw the departure of Jeremi Gorman as president of advertising in October. Disney is hosting its Tech and Data Showcase at CES on Jan. 10. Social media companies including TikTok, Reddit and Pinterest will also take part in one-on-one conversations at C Space. Pinterest chief product officer Sabrina Ellis is set to discuss the company’s interest in AI and how the technology may not be optimal for addressing problems with representation (sorry, Levi’s). An uproar is growing against Levi’s following the brand’s announcement last week that it would be using artificial intelligence to create models of more diverse body types and skin tones to increase its diverse representation. https://t.co/mzXgEVy6km— Ad Age (@adage) March 28, 2023 Evan Spiegel, Snap’s CEO, will host a keynote conversation with MediaLink’s Kassan on Jan. 9 about how Snap contends with changing market demands. Snap’s ad business, like so many apps, has faced challenges in the past few years as a result of Apple’s internet tracking changes, which altered the face of marketing technology. Snap seems to have figured it out, with the company returning to revenue growth in the third quarter of 2023. Also read: Snap to let entertainment brands track whether ads increase viewership Uber, General Mills and the Las Vegas Raiders will also attend C Space, the latter of which could offer a particularly interesting conversation on NFL marketing as the league grows in advertising potential with an aggressive streaming TV push in the past two years. Also the Raiders’ home, Allegiant Stadium, will host the Super Bowl. All the AI Automakers and other vehicle innovators will display electric vehicles and other tech, and they will focus on AI. John Deere, the nearly 200-year-old farming equipment brand, has become an unlikely technological star at CES, where it will exhibit self-driving tractors in the cavernous jet hangar that is the Las Vegas Convention Center. One such vehicle will run in a field in Austin, Texas, while it’s remotely controlled from John Deere’s booth in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. John Deere will highlight its crop-management AI, which it has called “see and spray” technology. It uses machine learning to optimize camera vision on tractors. The AI can identify sickly weeds from healthy plants, which helps minimize pesticide spraying with a more accurate strategy for eliminating crop stress. AI’s prominent position at CES 2024 is a testament to its ubiquity in nearly every industry, especially advertising. Creative ad agencies have adopted generative AI to assist in conceiving ads, and media holding companies have been working with all the tech companies to introduce brands to AI-powered tools to help manage ad campaigns. At CES, these ad agencies will be looking for the next big advances in AI, said Brian Yamada, chief innovation officer for VML. Major brands are interested in practical solutions for the present, so they’ll mostly be searching for AI partnerships with exhibitors that can build for scale, Yamada said. Siemens, the industrial tech behemoth, will showcase how its digital twin software uses AI to create accurate virtual representations of physical goods. CES attendees won’t be able to stop talking about AI without talking about advances in the making of chips, which power the computing. Chip giant Qualcomm is hosting a keynote conversation on Jan. 10, which will discuss how AI will affect devices from phones to tablets to laptops. Intel’s keynote is happening the night before, when it will speak to the role that silicon and software play in the development of AI technology. Purpose-driven tech Outside of AI, sustainability and accessibility are two prominent subjects at this year’s conference, according to CTA’s Comiskey. L’Oréal will showcase how it’s intersecting sustainability, accessibility and technology to innovate in the beauty industry. The cosmetics giant will deliver a keynote on Jan. 9, which will serve as a preamble to the innovations it will exhibit during the conference, Comiskey said. Last year, L’Oréal displayed Brow Magic, which uses augmented reality to simulate different brow looks. More recently, L’Oréal paired with Microsoft Teams to launch the Maybelline Beauty App—an AI tool that applies virtual makeup to people appearing on camera during meetings. Comiskey also highlighted how auto brands will address sustainability through their electric vehicles. Hyundai, Kia and Mercedes-Benz will exhibit in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where they traditionally mount massive displays showcasing new vehicles. While car-makers have typically shown up in force at CES, some plans were affected this year by the months-long labor battle with United Auto Workers. In October, Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, announced it would not attend this year, citing the UAW negotiations as a factor in its decision. Stellantis and the UAW have reached a tentative deal. Walmart keys in on drones, retail media While the world’s largest retailer, Walmart, is not a traditional tech giant, the company is all about showcasing transformation at CES this year. Walmart will host its largest-ever appearance with a two-story, 10,000 square-foot booth, said Allyson Park, Walmart's chief communications officer. In a keynote, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon will discuss the company’s fledgling use of drone technology to deliver goods to customers. The retailer struck a partnership in August with drone delivery service Wing, which is owned by Google parent, Alphabet. McMillon will also touch on the ways that Walmart is using generative AI, both in consumer-facing services, such as through virtual simulation of products, and internally in its operations, such as replacing some of the more mundane office tasks. Also, McMillon is expected to discuss Walmart’s growing retail media network, Walmart Connect, which competes with Amazon and others in applying sales intelligence with digital advertising, a growing business for the retailer. Walmart traditionally attends CES as a brand that needs ad services, but last year it started making its own ad offerings a core component of its tech future. McMillon will have plenty to talk about this year given the various expansions made by Walmart Connect in 2023. The platform integrated new ad products around its in-store radio network and struck deals with five creative agency partners for its self-service advertising tools. Walmart has also stepped into so-called “t-commerce,” in which smart TVs double as marketing channels. But the company’s TV-related efforts will not be a primary emphasis at this year's conference, said Park. Other retail media networks will be at CES this year, too. Amazon Ads and Kroger will have presences at the Aria, and Best Buy is holding a keynote on Jan. 10. Sphere factor One of the most anticipated attractions at CES 2024 is the Sphere, the multi-purpose venue just off the Strip, which opened in September with intense virality and visual capabilities. Verizon and ad agency Media.Monks are taking clients for tours dubbed “The Sphere Experience.” The tours include one-hour visits through the venue’s atrium, which consists of holographic art installations and interactive robots, among other features. The experience’s second hour is a viewing of “Postcard From Earth,” a film by director Darren Aronofsky specially made for the Sphere’s 16K resolution wraparound screen. The Sphere is not part of CES’s official marketing literature, but attendees expect it to loom large, MediaLink’s Kassan said. The Sphere will almost certainly be leveraged by advertisers hoping to draw off interest in the conference, Kassan added. The venue’s outer shell, dubbed “Exosphere,” is made up of 1.2 million programmable, hockey puck-sized LED lights, making it a practically unmissable digital-out-of-home placement. Brands that have previously advertised on the Sphere include YouTube and Heineken, the latter of which turned the shell into a disco ball during a Formula One race in Las Vegas. But it takes a pretty penny to get in on the action: A four-hour, 50% share-of-voice buy reportedly costs as much as $450,000. No information on CES-timed takeovers of Exosphere has been disclosed, and a spokesperson for the venue declined to provide any hints. One agency source predicted that Big Tech players would activate the mountainous billboard, though no specific companies were confirmed.

CES 2024—from AI to Walmart and the Las Vegas Sphere, everything marketers need to know

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