5 Predictions for CES 2015 by O&M Chief Digital Officer, WW, Brandon Berger

1. 5PREDICTIONS
FORCES2015B Y B R A N D O N B E R G E RC H I E F D I G I TA LO F F I C E R , W O R L D W I D E ,O G I LV Y & M AT H E R@ B R A N D O N B E R G E R

2. THE CLOUD IS about to overtake the
importance of platform. From a media device
perspective, access to sharing of data will
be prevalent, as content is on the verge of
becoming device-agnostic. Soon, all devices
will be able to access the data stored in
your cloud. Disney is a living example, as
the company has broken some ground in
their ability to get both Apple and Android
to partner together, allowing consumers to
watch Disney content they’ve purchased and
stored in their cloud on any platform of their
choosing. This will give consumers a bit more
power, since the focus will shift to the data and
content they own and away from what devices
they need to purchase to access it. This trend
fits in lockstep with our next prediction, as
all of our devices are soon to be connected
to the internet. Additionally, it’s not just data
that’s in the cloud; gaming companies and
utilities will be built in the cloud, which will
take less power off of mobile devices. The
cloud-driven sea change is coming, and will
be on display prominently at CES 2015.
1
CLOUD
EVERYWHERE

3. EVENTUALLY, everything will be connected to the
internet, and will be tapping into our personal cloud
of data. At CES, we’ll see more and more devices that
are connected. Wearables and household appliances
are the first frontier, and more traditionally
unconnected products will follow. While some
traditionalist consumers may see no need to digitize
everything, we’re already seeing the positive effects
of connectivity. While hailing and paying a cab driver
digitally might not feel like it’s saved us a lot of time,
imagine how many other processes can be made
more efficient, and how much it can add up? If our
lights can turn on or off when we enter or leave our
house automatically, and if our air conditioning can
recognize when we’re close to our house and fix the
temperature accordingly, a lot of mundane tasks will
be eliminated from our daily routine, giving us more
time to ourselves. This is also a welcome development
for marketers. The more devices that are connected
to the internet and tapping into the cloud, the more
datasets marketers will have access to. This will
allow marketers to be smarter and more targeted,
creating compelling offers, value, and incentives.
However, the amount of data that’s being created is
worth monitoring, as it will be taxing on the cloud.
THEINTERNET
OFTHINGS:MOREANDMOREINTERNETCONNECTEDDEVICES
2

4. MORE TECHNOLOGY will be context aware,
understanding the world around consumers. Paying
for gas may soon be automatic, as your connected
devices will recognize that you’ve pulled into a
gas station and will automatically process your
payment as you’ve filled your tank. Context aware
technology, however, goes far beyond location, which
is already extremely prevalent (but is sure to improve).
Connected devices are about to be aware of moods,
surroundings, and behaviors, which will lead to
innumerable possibilities. Hotels are an industry which
could take advantage of context-aware technology
in a big way. If technology can learn, say, someone’s
sleep patterns and recognize the environment in
which they get their best sleep, hotels can use this
data to create personalized experiences upon folks
checking in. Of course, the big issue here will be
privacy concerns. We’ve seen that modern consumers
are willing to allow access to some personal
information provided there is value in return. But as
context aware technology becomes more prevalent,
will consumer moods shift? There will be a line that
has to be drawn so that personalized experiences
don’t become too big brother. This is an important
conversation that will continue to take place.
3
CONTEXT
AWARE
TECHNOLOGY

5. EXPECT SMART WATCHES to be one of the most
prominent products at this year’s show. Expect
tons of them, as seemingly every company
will have one on display. The questions will
be: what is the feature set? And what will be
the behavior that consumers want and expect
from a smart watch? It isn’t likely that people
will want the full suite of mobile services,
but there will be a critical area of expected
behavior that will emerge, and it could happen
at this year’s conference. Don’t expect there
to be one killer app for smart watches that
emerges this year, but payments will be
prominent, as well as smart watches being able
to unlock doors and be a place for secondary
identification security systems. An interesting
thing to look out for will be how smart watches
have evolved from a fashion perspective.
Many consumers want a watch to look nice
before they worry about its interconnectivity,
so we’ll see how many companies have
began to better blend the two functions.
4
SMART
WATCHES

6. CONTENT WILL BE A HUGE THEME.
Content is, and will continue tobe, everywhere. It’s real-time, andlocation aware. In addition, we’regoing to continue to see an influxof over-the-top content offerings,
allowing people to stream content on
any device, anywhere and at any time.
A few big names have taken this step,
with the WWE Network and HBO Go
offering their content to consumers
directly, and more should be on the
horizon. Is there too much content
out there? Many believe there is, but
this means that we will start to see
more niche-focused type of content.
And in addition, the mass amount of
content that’s out there is creating
a need for tools that help consumers
sort and discover content that isrelevant to them. It will be interesting
to see what emerges on this front.
5
CONTENT
EVERYWHERE