January is almost tomorrow, at least on the scale of CES, the disproportionate show that invests Las Vegas, in the United States, every year, at the beginning of January. At the start of the year, Consumer Electronics 2021 turned its back on the pandemic, settling for a 100% virtual edition which took away a lot of its flavor. From January 5 to 8, 2022, thanks to the vaccination which is gaining ground and the virus which seems to be receding, the event should therefore resume its marks in Nevada with real stands and real visitors, while retaining the benefit of the virtual for those who will not be able to make the trip. And the French?
The CES is a bit like the Olympic Games of innovation. And on the medal table, France promises to be very well placed in two months. Each year, the Consumer Electronics Show awards rewards – the CES Innovation Awards – which represent an important marketing challenge for brands. Gary Shapiro, the organizer of CES in Las Vegas, was in Paris this week and he lifted a corner of the veil for us: at CES 2022, “France is the country in Europe that will win the greatest number of innovation trophies. This shows the importance of French innovation ”.
We have a very strong expectation for the products that we are going to launch: to capture the reaction to these announcements and to measure the enthusiasm. A successful CES can change the fate of a business
Eric Careell, founder of Withingsto franceinfo
The founder of the French brand Withings knows the value of these rewards. Since 2015, Eric Careell has won at least one, each year at CES, with his connected objects focused on health and well-being. To say that 10 years ago, Withings, which was only a start-up at the time, presented its 1st connected bathroom scale on a corner of the table at CES. In two months, Eric Careell will send nearly 25 employees to Las Vegas to accompany announcements that he has been preparing, some of them, for two years: “What is quite wonderful about CES is that it is a global event. . Most of the time, when we have the idea of a product in mind, we often think: the launch will be at CES. When we make an announcement, if it is well prepared, if it has meaning for the public and for potential buyers, it is widely relayed. And so, we have a very, very strong expectation for the products that we are going to launch: to capture the reaction to these announcements and to measure the enthusiasm. A successful CES can change the fate of a business “.
One of the conditions for a successful CES is therefore to prepare for it and not to start the day before departure but at least six months in advance, say those who are used to it. It is also necessary to make appointments with the best interlocutors without waiting to arrive on site: each visitor to the CES takes part, on average, in 33 meetings over the four days that the show lasts.
Xavier Dalloz, consultant and president of Xavier Dalloz Consultant, has been supporting CAC40 companies at CES for 20 years. According to him, the event deserves a preparation worthy of a high-level athlete on the part of large companies as start-ups: “going to CES with your hands in your pockets is no use. As bizarre as it may seem, France presents itself very badly at CES if we compare ourselves to the Netherlands, Israel or Singapore which give the feeling of a real unity. The French are each in their corner and it is a mistake “.
When you go to CES, you shake hands with a market that weighs 6,000 billion dollars, more than twice the GDP of France
Xavier Dalloz consultant and presidentto franceinfo
And yet, the stakes are enormous: “France is sitting on a pile of gold. We have the engineers, we have the research and development. And the French are good, with things to show. You have to learn to work together and to hunt in a pack. But the basis is there, and that’s what makes me very confident “.
And there will be a blow to play in two months, with the virtual absence of the Chinese, prevented by the quarantine linked to Covid-19 and with the appearance of new categories in which France has strengths: health, space , food and NFTs, in other words virtual digital objects. New features that will undoubtedly attract new visitors. But will they be enough to compete with attendance at CES 2020, knowing that the number of exhibitors may be divided by three? Two years ago, the Las Vegas show attracted 171,268 visitors, including around 10,000 French (estimate).