The big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas just wrapped up. Yep, CES 2014 was another year of dazzling technological advances on display, from curved and bendable TVs, to washing machines you can control with a text message. (LOL = Laundry Out Loud)
Everything you never realized you’d need or want was all under one, glowing, buzzing, beeping, Wi-Fi exploding roof.
CES is of course, the ultimate annual showcase for electronics companies to unveil their new gear for the upcoming year. But it’s also much more than that to Samsung, Sony, LG, and the like. It’s also jam-packed with content marketing, especially when it comes to those products that shock and amaze—even if no one will ever see them again after the show.
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The Vaporware Factor
Vaporware is a defined as “a term for a computer-related product that has been widely advertised but has not and may never become available.” It’s a big term in the world of gaming and whatnot, but it also applies here. We’re not saying that Samsung’s 105-inch TV isn’t real, but will you or 99% of the world ever be able to afford, let alone have the space to house this thing? Of course not. Will anyone really ever ask about its availability at Best Buy? Stop.
http://youtu.be/s_jJ3zPftcM
Samsung isn’t showing off the 4K Ultra HD goodness in hopes of luring you to buy one; they’re making a PR splash with a wow-worthy product. “Wow, Samsung has a curved TV that’s bigger than Grandma! That company is amazing! Tell you what; gimme two of those Galaxy S4s!” That’s how they see it going, more or less.
A Chance to Shine
CES is also a great place for the spunky, lesser-known tech companies to market themselves. Getting the attention of hundreds of members of the press individually can be downright impossible in the real world, but at CES, they’ll all be walking past your booth—you’ve got a fighting shot. This is not a time for vaporware.
Shai Goitein’s PowerUp 3 is a powered paper airplane you control with your smartphone. It’s actually quite cool. Besides smashing his $50,000 Kickstarter goal with some $900,000 pledged, he was also marketing his invention at CES. We’re not sure if he was entertaining crowds there with demonstrations, but if he was, he was thoroughly engaged in content marketing. Without any vaporware.
Whether it’s a Lamborghini with a $50,000 sound system, or a nifty way to get some vertical with a paper airplane, there’s always a fascinating mix of content marketing happening in Las Vegas. It’s just that sometimes, as they say, it stays there.