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Nothing quite signals the new year like conference-floor carpeting and stale oxygen. Viva Las Vegas!
This week, CES, an annual business-slash-tech-slash-future-of-everything conference, kicks off, bringing together executives from major brands along with a heck of a lot of marketers who will comingle and discuss their priorities for the year.
Our intrepid reporter Jasmine Sheena will be writing dispatches from the conference, trying to make sense of topics ranging from continued growth in CTV and streaming to AI being added to just about everything.
Ahead of the party, here’s a refresher of what to look forward to.
Who’s who: Keynote speakers this year include the leather-jacket enthusiast and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Delta CEO Ed Bastian, who will deliver his presentation from inside the Las Vegas Sphere, and X CEO Linda Yaccarino, who is still working to win advertisers back to the beleaguered platform.
Exhibitors this year include Walmart, Netflix, Google, TikTok, Meta, Reddit, Snap, and Microsoft, so if you’ve ever wanted Silicon Valley swag, now’s your chance.
Stars like Stevie Wonder, Terry Crews, and Martha Stewart are expected to be on the ground in some capacity, according to a press release from the conference, and Lenny Kravitz and Meghan Trainor are among the artists slated to perform.
AI 🤝 ads: While just about every business will boast of AI bona fides this week, actual AI companies like OpenAI and Perplexity, looking to expand their revenue streams, have begun dabbling in advertising—so expect ad executives to have their ears open for opportunities while in Vegas.
Streaming supply: Last year, streamers like Amazon Prime Video spent CES pitching their ad-supported tiers, and the availability of streaming impressions during the upfronts was up considerably. This year, Roku, Netflix, and Peacock are among the streaming companies that will descend upon Sin City.
Elephant in the room: By the end of the month, there’s going to be a new president—and a new regulatory outlook for the US. Experts expect consolidation, and many of the deals that we might hear about in May could very well begin as conversations this week. Meanwhile, executives from Omnicom and IPG might find themselves answering questions related to the megamerger between the two ad giants announced just before the holidays.
Most importantly, though, we’re wondering which tech company has the budget to rent out Sphere for an afterparty. And if so, can Jasmine get a ticket?