CES 2021: The Only Constant is Change
In a year relatively light on major announcements, CES 2021 reminds us that to reject change is to embrace failure.
The first all-virtual CES is in the books. Compared to recent years, the 2021 event was relatively light on major, industry-changing announcements. Take General Motors, which had the most prominent presence of any automaker, for example. While they unveiled many cool concepts (like its Halo self-driving car concept) and an increased electric vehicle portfolio, its biggest news seemed to be its new logo.
But about that new logo: No company, especially one of GM’s size, takes that type of rebranding lightly. This logo redesign is only the fifth in GM’s 113-year history. And they did it not to freshen their logo up, but to have it underscore its commitment to the future: developing, producing, and selling electric vehicles.
GM says the new blue gradient is meant to reflect “the clean skies of a zero-emissions future,” and the negative space around the (lowercase!) “m” is even meant to resemble a plug. While the logo itself has been the subject of some creative criticism, the fact it exists is a way for GM to say, “We’re very serious about our commitment to embracing the change necessary to be successful in this changing world.”
So yes, CES 2021 felt more about evolutions of existing technologies and products than launching groundbreaking new ones (especially those that specifically impact broadcasters). But even its virtual execution was an example of how the big-picture evolutions in the ways we develop, distribute, and monetize content are very much here, and not going anywhere. The disruptions that began in March 2020 have tremendously hastened the digital-driven sea changes that have been coming to the broadcast industry for years.
So many of those changes have to do with delivering the right content to the right people at the right time.
Let’s talk broadcast sales. As noted in our recent piece “The 7 Trends You Need to Know About to Grow Your Revenue in 2021”, while radio and TV are incredible mass-reach mediums, broadcasters can no longer rely solely on impressions to get the buy. Broadcast brands need to develop and deliver stories about how they can reach a targeted audience well-matched to a brand’s goals to secure new revenue.
From a content perspective, when people have endless options to get content specifically tailored to their preferences, it’s never been riskier to simply go with your gut on what your audience wants to see and hear. Pairing your seasoned eyes and ears with the right technology to identity exactly what topics and angles your audience will respond to is necessary to grow an engaged audience.
More and more broadcasters are acting on what they may have known in their gut for years: to reject change, especially when it’s inevitable, is to embrace failure. GM’s rebranding announcement was a statement to their world about how they’re embracing change. And embracing change is a big part of the reason that Futuri’s audience engagement and sales intelligence technology, designed to equip broadcasters with the tools necessary to evolve their relationship with their audiences and advertisers successfully, saw record growth in 2020.
In the latest episode of the podcast Innovation19 with Daniel Anstandig, our CEO breaks down trends related to audience engagement, content, and revenue for broadcast media from CES 2021, capped off with a lightning round of the fun gears and gadgets that always come out of CES (ultra-premium bathtub with mood lighting, aroma, and fog? We’re in!). Take a listen, and as you do, think about how these things all roll up to the importance of change. And remember — at Futuri, we’re always here to have a discussion about how we can help you embrace and navigate change to grow your content, grow your audience, and grow your revenue.
Listen to Innovation19 with Daniel Anstandig
