CES may be about seeing the most cutting edge consumer tech, but Consumer Technology Association CEO, Gary Shapiro, wants attendees to see the personal connections, too. “Technology and humanity intersect,” he stressed at an early press meeting. “AI, autonomous vehicles, mobility, quantum, and sustainable technology aren’t just changing industries; they’re solving some of the world’s biggest problems. CES 2025 isn’t just about the products and services on the shelf. It’s also a forum for conversations that move that tech world forward.”
Of course, it’s hard to not observe the tech replacements for humans or human friends at scores of convention center displays: from robotic baristas to carbon fiber “dogs.” Still, the second full day of CES was already building on the momentum of yesterday’s “techtainment” – my take on the convergence of tech, content and media, and the scores of marketers at the ready to promote it. “The buzz here is all about how AI is reshaping the marketing technology landscape. From what I’ve seen, martech innovators are pushing the boundaries of how AI can optimize every stage of the marketing funnel – from decoding customer signals to delivering hyper-personalized content at scale. Looking ahead, it’s clear that the future of martech will be defined by those who harness AI to drive more efficiency and gain a competitive edge,” observed Ryan Nelsen, Chief Marketing Officer at StackAdapt.
Or, as simply put by strategy advisor Lou Paskalis, “Marketing is an art that is informed by ever improving science.” And improvements we have seen this week. News was made around improvements in tech that are helping reshape fundamental business models, from the explosive growth of retail media networks to the evolution of news delivery and measurement.
Research Reimagined
In a demonstration of how data is reshaping content discovery, Gracenote, Nielsen’s content data business unit, showcased innovations at their Cosmopolitan Hotel ballroom installation. Their new On Sports solution tackles a growing consumer pain point: finding and watching live sports across streaming and linear services. The hands-on demonstration illustrated how enriched sports data and unified scheduling can create more engaging viewer experiences. The timing seems particularly relevant with the appointment of Bill Michels, veteran of The Trade Desk and Moloco, as Gracenote’s new Chief Product Officer.
This focus on enhanced measurement and analytics reflects a broader transformation in research methodology across the media landscape. AI is democratizing access to advanced analytics, with several CES exhibitors showcasing platforms that put sophisticated insights within reach of companies regardless of size. The shift from descriptive to prescriptive analytics promises to accelerate decision-making, enabling businesses to pivot strategies in real time based on actual consumer behavior rather than historical data.
Disney Advertising is back for its fifth annual Global Tech & Data Showcase (and the second in-person version at CES), which is scheduled for 4p PT today and is expected to reveal additional solutions for brands across its portfolio of linear, digital, social, and audio streaming businesses. At a compelling session livestreamed yesterday from the Female Quotient lounge, Rita Ferro, President of Global Advertising, spoke with Known agency head, Ross Martin, and teased the Showcase reveals: expect to hear more in the way of AI-driven capabilities and opportunities enabled by streamlined discovery, especially given the addition of ESPN on Disney+, and, per yesterday’s news, their majority stake taken in Fubo.
Ferro is proud of enabling smaller marketers to more easily build a plan and buy and measure through an SSO. With so many sources of data, she notes, it can be hard to plan, but Ferro is set on tapping tech – and the human help of a fleshed out team, including new CTO Adam Smith, to further the Disney mission of “ease of use” for all advertisers. “When you have Brand Disney you have higher expectations,” she noted. Their goal, as a result, is to ensure everyone knows what worked and why. “Whether you have $100M or $100 to spend, you have the chance to leverage the data segments and the data infrastructure that we’ve built to power your business across our platform.”
Ferro’s promise for the Showcase is also that they will share more about next phase of their data offering, including fresh insights from a new global edition of their “Generation Stream,” a unique study around connected TV, with insights to complement previous versions focused on sports and family viewing. We’ll be eager to also learn of their advances in contextual advertising. (Think ‘AI’?)
Retail Media’s Rapid Rise
With retail and media representing techtainment blurred lines, e-commerce is getting redefined as “entertainment commerce,” and hardware companies are building in content. So, it’s no surprise to see in the Central Hall major brands like LG showing its bullishness for shoppable TV with its webOS “one-stop shopping” tech, while Sony features its PlayStation XR technology offering even greater immersive gaming.
LG further upped the game with a CES Innovation Award winner – OLED gaming monitors with a first-of-its-kind display that transforms from flat to curved at the touch of a button. In a nod to the growing convergence of gaming and streaming entertainment, they touted the ultra-high resolution screens and webOS-powered smart entertainment capabilities as “doubling as a smart entertainment hub – allowing users to stream content without requiring a PC or set-top box.”
Aside from introducing “Smart AI Haven,” to make homes smarter and more energy-efficient, Samsung’s inclusion of AI in a new line of smart displays means brands will benefit from real-time analytics to better dynamically revise in-store advertising based on customer interactions.
Melanie Babcock, VP, Orange Apron Media and Monetization for The Home Depot shared this: “The interconnected shopping experience has heightened customer expectations. Today’s consumers demand personalized experiences, a variety of delivery options, and hassle-free returns. AI has the potential to further elevate these expectations and transform the retail landscape by streamlining processes like project planning and home management. This will ultimately raise the bar for both customer experience and operational efficiency.
“In 2025, I’m predicting retail media networks will differentiate themselves with expanded in-store network capabilities, continued focus on CTV partnerships and offerings and AI-based content tools to aid advertisers with quick campaign content development.”
And, for selling, say, oranges, Albertsons Media Collective announced the launch of an API designed to enable advertisers to integrate Albertsons Cos. campaign performance data into their own measurement models for analysis. Given the fragmented ecosystem, this solves for brands increasingly looking for campaign measurement to compare performance across retailers and channels.
Complementing these efforts, Albertsons Media Collective is partnering with TransUnion to offer its advertisers TruAudience® marketing mix modeling (MMM) measurement to unlock greater ease and efficiency in comparing performance across retailers and channels. Albertsons Media Collective will provide campaign data to TransUnion’s TruAudience solution, supporting a brand’s MMM capabilities to better measure campaign effectiveness.
Albertsons Media Collective also appointed a new VP of Measurement and Media, Liz Roche. Having worked with companies like LinkedIn, Groupon, Epsilon and Meta, Liz brings expansive experience in data science and digital transformation and will focus on driving impact for clients and partners.
Seeing It All
Havas programmed floor tours, but are also keeping everyone informed via their Havas CES Super-Stream – a fully curated, “live” virtual tour of CES featuring additional “exclusives” with CMOs and execs.
Throughout the week Brand Innovators will also continue to draw media folks, like Ad Sales Presidents Jeffrey Collins of Fox and Alison Levin of NBCUniversal to chat with agency leaders from Kargo to dentsu, and brand marketers from PepsiCo to NFL, for its takeover of the Wynn ballroom.
Taking Flight
Yesterday’s history-making keynote by Delta was over the top with stars like Viola Davis and NFL legend-turned-team-owner-turned-content creator for Delta in flight channels, Tom Brady. But the well-executed and visually stimulating presentation had the 10,000 attendees buying in to the airline’s promise that while “AI is shaping our future, we’re not tech for techs sake. We call it innovating with heart.”
CEO Ed Bastian broke news of an exclusive with Uber to “ensure the first mile and last mile” of trips are just as good as the flight, and touting their “165,000 screens flying every day” announced an exclusive with YouTube.
Ironically, getting back from the Sphere was an uber challenge as we jockeyed for position to find and grab our rideshare vehicles in chill winds. Though hearts were breaking as the buzz around what is happening windswept fires in the Los Angeles area sobered us all.
In another serious moment, senior executives were gathered by Stagwell Chairman and CEO, Mark Penn for a luncheon to discuss the Future of News. Speaking with executives from The New York Times, New York Post and The Guardian, to data and tech companies, Penn posed the facts from recent custom research about the reduced funding to news media, despite the strong “ROAS” that puts passionate consumers of news. Or, as Paskalis put it, around cutbacks, layoffs and spending: “There’s a war on news and we have effectively reduced by half the people fighting that war.”
“Television remains a valuable medium for brands to reach audiences. The last election cycle saw unprecedented political ad spend, almost $11 billion, and twice as many voters tuned in via TV than on social media,” said Penn. “News junkies – folks who check the news at least five times a day – are a highly desirable audience, and a majority trust broadcast, cable, and local TV news more than other types of media. Investing in quality news and TV news allows advertisers to engage with them.”
Technology Meets Transaction
Bright spots remain at CES, and deals are getting done. Ken Lagana, all of 12 weeks in as Global CRO of media.net, shared news of the launch of a partnership with Symitri – which is aiming to transform real time performance marketing. And in what’s old is new again, more traditional media has been enjoying bright spots as well, thanks to martech and adtech innovations. While Net Neutrality may be gasping for breath, ATSC 3.0 is breathing new life into television. Sinclair showed off a new NEXTGEN TV gaming channel powered by ATSC 3.0, for example.
Adding a lifeline to radio, artist will.i.am explained his vision of the (not far off) future of radio+AI as RAiDio. Audio overall had major presence in general at the show. While one would rightfully expect zillions of innovations around headphones to hearing aids on display, podcasting took its place as the latest in media royalty, securing one of the coveted spotlight keynotes as SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz took the stage with the highly entertaining host-turned-podcast mogul, Ashley Flowers, of “Crime Junkie” fame. This drew many to attend from the audio world including a bona fide “professor of podcasting” Steve Goldstein, who teaches at NYU while heading up Amplifi, and CEO of Triton Digital, John Rosso, to name a few.
And it makes sense that another sidebar event was curated by DPAA for members, brands and agencies including United Airlines, Lenovo, Omnicom and others. The overall industry has reason to celebrate, given the recent groupM End-of-Year Global Advertising Forecast reporting OOH advertising “has maintained its share of the global advertising industry, largely due to the strong performance of its digital counterpart, DOOH” and the “unskippable nature” of the medium. That is a rare claim among media vendors these days.
“CES is always especially significant for the OOH industry,” noted OAAA CEO Anna Bager, “given that Las Vegas is a major OOH market, attracting millions of tourists annually and with thousands of ad units throughout the city [including] the innovative Sphere. It exemplifies the power of OOH to elevate and amplify a brand’s presence.”
The takeaway from CES2025? Make plans to attend CES 2026! This is a world of knowledge, networking and inspiration, from the world over!
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