For the last 50 years, CES has been the global stage for innovation. The very first CES was held in New York City in 1967. In the early days of CES, the trade show was held twice a year; once in the winter and once in the summer. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) bounced around between various cities before they decided in 1998 to cut down to one show a year and call Las Vegas home. gap intelligence CEO Gary Peterson first began attending CES in 1996. In January 2018 we had sixteen gappers in attendance. Next year’s CES begins January 8, 2019, and believe it or not even though it’s summer we are already starting to plan for it. So much more goes into our trip than packing a suitcase.
On the Ground
For our Research Group, CES has always been about connecting with other industry citizens and learning about our markets. Learning about innovative products and building relationships is critical to our success. We think of our Analysts and Data Specialists as an extension of our clients' research teams. Being on the ground and in the trenches for the tradeshow is so important to making this happen. Exploring the booths gives our Research Team an edge and they look forward to reporting comprehensive coverage on what’s groundbreaking in their industries.
Building Relationships
Client relationships are deeply important to gappers. Going that extra mile to meet our clients face-to-face at CES is who we are as a company. Emails and spreadsheets only take us so far. Regardless of the category that our Analysts and Data Specialists cover, having a personal connection with our clients is still the best way to engage in productive collaboration. Nurturing strong relationships with our clients builds trust. We are more than just experts; we’re real life humans (naturally, pairing our meeting with some great food is always preferred, of course). Our team spends hours setting up face-to-face meetings that are meticulously tracked to maximize everyone’s valuable time.
Tapping our Expertise
Major press coverage comes from CES. It dominates social media channels and Twitter, in particular, explodes with nonstop coverage of the hottest tech. Our Analysts' expertise was cited in eight publications for CES 2018. Press publications look to us to gain insight on the 4Ps (products, pricing, placements, and promotions). Our GFD (great freakin’ data) elevates articles. gap intelligence’s overall services include more than 25 industry segments including home appliances, wearables, smartphones, tablets, notebooks, cameras, televisions, and printing. Our Research Group is always happy to support the press anyway we can (and if you are reading this now and hoping to get in touch, just email ehartman@gapintelligence.com and I will happily connect the dots).
While CES is only four days long, it takes the CTA two and a half weeks total to execute CES between set up, show, and break down. Planning on gap intelligence's end takes months but the juice is worth the squeeze. We are ready to Do Great at CES 2019. It’s what it means #tobeagapper.
Would you like to connect at CES 2019 or have our team of experts support CES press coverage? If so email ehartman@gapintelligence.com for all inquiries.
