Four CES Themes That Show What Every Savvy CMO Needs To Do Next -- Alchemy, Acceleration, Ambition and Advocacy

Through all the buzzy press releases and exciting unveilings, four themes emerged that marketing leaders need to pay attention to: ambition, advocacy, alchemy, and acceleration. In Part 1 of this series, we looked at ambition and advocacy. Now, let's turn our attention to the alchemy and acceleration.

Alchemy

Alchemy is often used to describe that magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value. Technology can be seen as that modern-day magic elixir that can transform mundane tasks like vacuuming your home into the gift of time, thanks to your Roomba (or Roborock).

When applied to business, the CMO often must play the role of alchemist, identifying low-performing parts of the business and designing the right components of talent, process, data, tech and creative to transform and elevate performance.

At CES, we observed this transformation process through forward-thinking partnerships that propelled us into new multi-sensory realities, like the immersive and at times disturbing, Knock at the Cabin experience created by filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and Canon.

The appearance of the legendary filmmaker was one of the biggest surprises of the show. His highly apocalyptic thriller, premieres in theaters on February 3.

As CMOs think about moving beyond products to experiences, there are several lessons from this dark horror fictional experience.

First, think of your story arc, as Shyamalan said in aForbes article: "My marketing brothers and sisters start telling the story first, and then I finish the story in the movie theater. And then in the best movies, the story continues in your head after you leave the theater. So, this is one continuum, and this immersive trailer is meant to be a deeper version of the setup."

Secondly, marketing leaders need to create a "weird injection of wow" to delight and surprise customers. How do you boldly try new storylines, new creators, new influencers, and new tech to create more memorable experiences? Here are a couple of ideas to think about:

Another place where we see alchemy in action is in the automotive category at CES, which in many ways has become the biggest auto show in the U.S.

Delegates marveled at the intersection of engineering, design, technology, media and entertainment as commercial and concept EVs from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota and Ford showcased efforts to commercialize autonomous vehicles, sustainability initiatives and in-car entertainment innovation.

Perhaps the quintessential example of alchemy was BMW's flashy concept car called i Vision Dee (Dee stands for "Digital Emotional Experience") featuring a color-changing exterior. Working with company E Ink, BMW brings color, story and audio together where the car can be transformed into 32 available hues, controlled by a smartphone. Dee, the new voice assistant, acts like an artificial reality bot.

Another example of great synergistic mash-up was the merging of modern with retro, during the unveiling of the all-electric 1969 Ford Bronco, a custom-built EV costing about $350,000.

CMOs can take on the role of the ultimate alchemist -- with design, data, technology, creative and pure imagination all within their arsenal. The goal for 2023 will be to create alchemy through intention and serendipity by ensuring stronger collaboration across C-suite functions and a learning muscle that rewards risk, failure and resilience.

Acceleration

When a new artificial intelligence (AI) launch causes one of the world's dominant tech players (Google) to issue a "code red," we know that the industry is facing a point of extreme disruption.

The code red pertains to the experimental chat bot called ChatGPT that made its debut November 30, 2022 and garnered over 1 million users in a month. CES provided the perfect backdrop to unleash the full might of AI and machine learning (ML), with a particular focus on generative AI, including DALL-E 2 (generates images/art on demand) and ChatGPT (generates smart answers on demand).

For CMOs, the upside opportunity is substantial: advancements in AI and automation are making it increasingly possible to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks and workflows, which should free up time to focus on more strategic marketing initiatives. Importantly key tools are enhanced by AI capability -- from streamlining personalization, to predictive analysis of trends in rapidly changing markets, to ensuring that marketing remains privacy compliant.

Data governance needs to sit on every CMO's growth agenda, and it was evident during CES that AI and ML will play the role of accelerator as increasingly more and more data will be collected and generated by brands. That deluge of data will need to be curated carefully through policies that diligently protect the identity of customers.

At CES, there were hundreds of consumer products such as smartphones, smart refrigerators, thermostats, fitness wearables and even smart toothbrushes that are all capable of generating information to make our lives easier by anticipating, predicting and curating our needs.

We saw some extreme and novel examples of data and connectivity at play. From new technology examining the health of your urine (Withing's U-Scan) to sleep masks tracking your REM sleep (SomaSleep Mask) to examining your heart health from the comfort of your home (CONNEQT Pulse).

CMOs need to identify the right type of Internet of Things (ioT)  activations that will amplify unique brand-customer connections for their business and map out how it could create a seismic shift in customer engagement at a manageable level of investment.

As the 115,000 delegates headed back home from CES, perhaps the most memorable innovations may not be the most technologically advanced but the weirdest and wackiest.

As CMOs embrace 2023 and smartly navigate inflationary pressure, supply chain and talent headwinds, they can rely on some of these wackiest innovations showcased at CES to keep them energized and focused -- from the robotic fufuly pillow that breathes with you to putting your face on a 3-D printed Power Ranger courtesy of Hasbro.

No matter which adventure CMOs choose, the winning formula for success in 2023 will involve savvy ambition, consequential advocacy, ingenious alchemy, rapid acceleration and above all, a special brand of human optimism.

Read Part 1 of this article here.

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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet.