Jan. 9: Marketing Insights From The CES Show Floor

Demos that rock, data collection that delivers and experiences that are truly one of a kind.  Meet the superstars of South Halls Three and Four.

Qualcomm. Our early bird special award goes to Qualcomm for kick-starting day one with the intoxicating aroma of free coffee. While other exhibitors were still wrangling cords and unpacking exhibitory, the Big Q was drawing a sizeable line of attendees with its full-service espresso bar. Besides a massive dose of free caffeine, Qualcomm delivered on another CES rarity: a sense of calm. Tall bamboo shoots set in rock-filled planters serve as airy backdrops for demo stations covered with silk-screened awnings. Tree leaf, branch and other natural element silhouettes featured on the illuminated blue two-story back wall structure and awnings tie in the natural theme. Weary gadget heads can grab some “me” time at one of four massage chairs. Lest the whole thing be too Zen (as in sleepy) friendly staffers toss mini footballs around and invite passersby to grab some free java. —Booth 30320

Creative Labs. Creative’s “Are you smarter than a technophobe?” game expertly taps into attendees’ insatiable desire to know it all by challenging them on their technology mojo. One attendee is invited up to play a game that’s part The Price is Right and part Jeopardy. An emcee trades barbs with a sassy female co-host while a third guy manning the on-screen action disperses brand information. This lively presentation delivers product features and benefits by deftly breaking them down into bits and bites the audience can absorb. By 9:30 a.m., crowds on day one packed the booth’s nine benches and spilled out into the aisles. —Booth 30651

SanDisk. If you’re a CES regular, you’ll recognize SanDisk’s perennial presenter and magician, Scott Tokar. His show expertly blends improv comedy, impressive magic tricks, audience participation, product points and an easygoing, everyman appeal into a seamless 30-minute shot of entertainment. New this year, SanDisk is mixing Tokar’s act with an Ultimate Rock Band 2 contest, further increasing audience participation. The on-stage fun ties into SanDisk’s main product push for 2009—preloaded slotMusic and slotRadio cards that store tunes and Rock Band Games. —Booth 30659

BlackBerry. In the battle of the glossy white booths, BlackBerry gets our best-of vote. The company is utilizing RFID to turn an eyecatching booth into a killer data collection machine. Attendees swipe CES cards at reg and are issued branded RFID cards. They’re then invited to hold the cards up to any of 44 access points throughout the booth if they’d like to get more information from any of BlackBerry’s partners. At the end of the day, visitors get emails from just the partners that piqued their interest. The strategy puts attendees in control, delivers leads to partners without any backend data sorting and gives BlackBerry rich information about who attended, when and for how long. —Booth 36206

HP. Visitors coming in for some quality time at the HP booth can sign up to direct their own stop-motion movie by arranging figurines in various poses on a mini studio set, complete with a two-foot stage and red velvet curtains. An artist runs the camera and attendees take home the vid on a flash drive. At a digital makeover photo station, attendees can sit for a headshot and have their images transformed by a professional artist. Choices include an aging version of you, Benjamin Button-style, or you as an animal, a la the cowardly lion. The final images are finished in sepia tone to give them a unique, vintage effect, and are printed out side by side on a HP printer for guests to take home. The overall experience is leveraging the skills of artists featured in Engine Room, a global online series co-created with MTV, on which international teams of designers are challenged in a reality TV setting. Booth 31112