All Together Now: The CES Effect - Michael Kassan - MediaBizBloggers

When MediaLink was launched in 2004 the buzz at that yearamp8217s CES then still frequently referred to as the amp8220Consumer Electronics Showamp8221 revolved around exotica like WiFi for home entertainment and DVRs then in a mere 32 million American homes HewlettPackard CEO Carly Fiorina gave a keynote addressIf any nontechnology marketers attended CES 2004 nobody noticedAt this yearamp8217s CES the chatter was dominated by smart TVs tablets and 3D everything DVRs now are in well over 30 million households Former California gubernatorial candidate Carly Fiorina did not give a keynote addressBut nontechnology marketers did attend CES 2011 and everybody noticedIn Las Vegas last week we organized and moderated a panel that included Joe Tripodi CMO of CocaCola who brought his entire marketing team the leaders of two of the top four holding companies WPPamp8217s Martin Sorrell and Interpublicamp8217s Michael Roth David Kenny president of Akami and Mich Mathews senior vice president of Microsoftamp8217s Central Marketing Group The first three are not people youamp8217d normally associate with a highdesert geekathon and although Mich and David work at technology companies they didnamp8217t join us to talk gizmos gadgets and software but to share their perspectives as marketing thought leadersA few days prior we hosted an intimate gathering of 900 friends clients media and technology executives at our CES kickoff party and it was fascinating to see the ease with which such a diverse group of technology entertainment marketing and media players comingled Another client News Corpamp8217s Rupert Murdoch raised a glass to toast the fact that media enterprises like his now routinely work with technology companies early on in the product development processIt began with clients coming to Cannes Then they set up shot at Hollywood and Vine But the takeaway from the highprofile presence of marketers and media companies at CES 2011 I think is even more indicative This is the turning point we have been working towards with our clients for more than half a decade The moment when we stop talking about blurring the lines between media marketing and entertainment because there are no more linesIn 2004 we knew the silos everyone complained about had to fall That the boundaries separating buyer from seller creator from distributor client from agency and all from the consumer would disappear We knew that technology then so strange and frightening would eventually become just different albeit unimaginably more powerful tools And that what we called the nexus back then would soon morph into justamp8230businessThe forces turning the marketplace into an ecosystem would not recede They would in fact accelerate Everything had to be reengineered relationships with vendors partners competitors and customers organizational structures content creation and distribution skill sets and core competenciesWe were all working towards the moment when the transformation would be complete and everybody just got on with it Thatamp8217s what CES 2011 signaled Thatamp8217s why such seemingly disparate players from so many apparently different sectors connected so effortlessly And why shouldnamp8217t theyWeamp8217re all in the same business after allMuch work remains before us as technology media marketing and entertainment continues to evolve to meet the demands of the 21st Century If thereamp8217s anything weamp8217ve learned from life in the digital age itamp8217s that the only constant is changeAfter all nobody at CES 2004 knew that a mere one month after the show a kid at Harvard named Mark Zuckerberg would launch something he called thefacebookcomMichael E Kassan is Chairman and CEO of MediaLink LLC a leading Los Angeles and New York Citybased advisory and business development firm that provides critical counsel and direction on issues of marketing advertising media entertainment and digital technology Michael can be reached at michaelmedialinkllccomRead all Michael39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Media LinkedCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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All Together Now: The CES Effect - Michael Kassan - MediaBizBloggers

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