Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
According to Gary Shapiro, CES president and CEO, CES is a “beacon of hope and optimism” that starts the new year on a positive note. “Be in it” was the theme of 2023, and radio was there.
Continue reading “Radio Was In It”Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
If you are like most people, your home and those that live in it became more tech savvy and “smarter” in the past few years. People realized the importance of cellphones, fast internet and other tech type things. People became “tele-everything.” This is potentially the dawn of a tele-everything world, but this world is dependent on the internet, technology and of course, the devices needed in this new world.
Continue reading “Heavy Radio Listeners Stay Connected”Author: Jeff Schmidt, SVP/Professional Development, RAB
Dr. Everett Rogers, a communications studies professor at Ohio State University, popularized the theory of diffusion of innovation. According to Rogers, there are four key groups or mindsets when it comes to new technology, new ideas and new concepts. At the front end are Innovators, the people who are constantly looking forward and searching for what’s next. At the back end are Laggards, who are constantly looking back and wondering what happened and how the world around them changed.
Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
During RAB’s CES coverage, RAB, along with guests, discussed not only the change with CES from in-person to virtual, but also the changes in products and efforts by various tech companies. Shawn DuBravac, futurist and president of Avrio Institute, suggests when hearing about the products presented during CES, to zoom out of the individual product announcements and “look at the bigger picture.” DuBravac continues, “Push more broadly around products tying into their bigger goals and bigger desires… this is really going to disrupt the advertising market.”
Continue reading “It’s About the Bigger Picture – Insights into CES 2021”
Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
Once viewed as an event for techies, CES has radically evolved. CES 2020 was not about consumer electronics, it was about the consumer experience. Technology is shifting everything. It is driving brand transformation and enhancing the experience for consumers, while also having an impact on everything they do – banking, cooking, shopping and raising families.
Author: Annette Malave, SVP/Insights, RAB
We are transitioning from the digital age into a new era that some are calling the data age. The importance of learning and understanding technology, as well as how it affects brands, the consumer experience, and ultimately radio advertisers and listeners was underscored during RAB’s attendance at CES 2019.
Throughout CES 2019, content, consumers and transformation were some of the words that were used as part of product descriptions but also within panel discussions. And while CES may have once been considered a tech conference, Shawn DuBravac, futurist and trendcaster, believes it should be viewed as a business conference. Technology is infused in everything as businesses – ranging from automotive to consumer product goods and even agriculture – tap into it.
The overarching theme behind all of the products showcased during CES® 2017 centered on providing a positive experience to the consumer.
The RAB team hit the road (in this case the convention center) to get an inside look at how the IoT and specifically, AI is changing our future. According to Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist and Sr. Director of Research for the Consumer Technology Association, there are five key trends:
That list may perplex some but we are all experiencing them already today in some form or fashion. The voice that was frequently referenced throughout CES was that of Alexa. While Alexa, the voice of Amazon Echo, is not new, how Alexa currently uses the consumer’s voice to interface with other devices is quickly expanding, and Ford displayed how their partnership with Amazon’s Alexa Voice System can work. Artificial or Augmented Intelligence is on the verge of making a consumer’s experience better – even easier – by either automatically adjusting a refrigerator’s most efficient temperature to potentially playing a podcast automatically while driving. And speaking of driving, self-parking or automatic braking systems already exist, but the opportunity to provide the passenger of a driverless vehicle with endless entertainment options are in our future.
With Alexa Voice System technology being integrated into literally everything it can, there is a great possibility that voice activation will replace the graphical user interface (mouse, keyboard, touch screen, etc.) in the not too distant future, according to DuBravac. Therefore, the implications and opportunity for “branding” radio stations and their call letters to help a listener tune the dial are enormous.
So what does this mean for radio? Like the numerous products and innovations in technology displayed at CES, at the center of it all is the consumer – providing them with the best possible experience – and that is what radio continues to do. Just this past week, CBS Radio News and iHeartRadio each announced their integration into some of these devices. CBS Radio News will now be available on Amazon’s Alexa service. iHeartMedia announced iHeartRadio’s integration across connected devices and tech.
Radio will always be there to deliver content to their listeners – with either the push of a button, the touch of an app or even through the use of their voice.
If you’d like to see some what our team experienced, visit RAB.com, scroll down the homepage and go into the CES section of our video wall.
