Better Late Than Ever, Final Takes From CES 2024
by Nick Coston, OOH, DOOH, pDOOH Professional; Industry Writer
Greetings and apologies. I have been living out of a suitcase and occasionally inside one, too, since the first week of the month. So, this is a catch-up with thoughts about CES 2024. I’ll be back in the middle of the week with my regular post.
A Tale of Two Cities
Las Vegas and Baltimore are entirely different markets. Polar opposites. Climate, surroundings, demographics, proximity to a beach. One has blue crabs; one must import them.
However, as seen on my recent trip west to the Consumer Electronics Show, they each have fantastic airport media. Upon arrival in Las Vegas, you are greeted by new digital signage everywhere: high-def LED screens with full-motion video and animation, bright backlit signs, charging stations, banners, wraps, and exterior wallscapes. And there are digital spectaculars throughout baggage claim.
With over 51 million passengers passing through each year, the displays are managed by Lamar Airport Advertising. The airport is a terrific precursor to the lights and signage you’ll be overwhelmed by once you head into the Vegas Strip area. Gourmet restaurants, Broadway-style shows, plush hotels and an array of cannabis stores dot the landscape. “They have everything here,” Jake Blues tells his brother Elwood in the Blues Brothers film while they barrel through an indoor mall in their retired cop car.
Vegas, babies.
Upon heading back east, a late-night landing at Baltimore-Washington International brought me to Southwest Airlines’ Terminal 1 claim area. It was around 1 a.m. as I approached and assumed there would be the older, more staid look of the usual BWI airport signage. Instead, the entire area was covered with assorted static and digital signage, all bought by the University of Maryland. There were no other advertisers, and the university had complete area domination. Signature red was everywhere. Carousal signage surrounded all locations. Two-sided digital screens hung above the baggage chutes, and tall columns were wrapped in UM’s signature red logos. For an OOH enthusiast, it was ad display nirvana—all being Clear Channel airport products.
Over 23 million passengers travel through BWI yearly. It’s not quite Las Vegas numbers, but it’s ranked the No. 10 airport in the U.S., and while you can’t play slots as you wait to board your plane, you can have a freshly made crab cake and Natty Bo beer at Obrycki’s in Concourse B.
One city is known for its glitz, the other is known for great universities and attracts eyeballs right there with them. Different markets, different products, same results.
With this kind of captive audiences, in-your-face OOH displays including long dwell times, it’s a travesty why OOH here in the U.S. cannot break that 5 percent share of the overall ad budget ceiling we are stuck on. There is no excuse when we can execute outstanding visuals like these.
Best OOH Display at CES?
Among flying cars, smart homes, big screens, see-through TVs, and conversational robots, a few OOH/DOOH-related products got my attention. But one display stood out—Kuori, the Finnish-based tech company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and delivering mass-customized digital displays with bright screens, lower running costs, and increased reliability.
This outdoor “totem” was a two-sided, digital LCD panel design with smart sensors that minimize energy impact while automating brightness adjustments and cutting power consumption by up to 30 percent compared to the main industry products. For us OOH/DOOH geeks always looking for the next big thing, this display solution stuck out on the big stage that is CES. A highly versatile OOH product for U.S. companies, Kouri will be displayed again this week at ISE in Barcelona. It’s worth visiting if you are attending.
Most Interesting Interview
Bar none, a 30-minute-plus live chat with Sarah Collinson, the magnetic new CEO of Havas New York, moderated by DPAA chief Barry Frey during DPAA’s private group session on Tuesday of CES week. While discussing the new era of creativity in digital OOH, developments in augmented reality, extended reality, and “fake” OOH, Ms. Collinson’s energetic personality becomes contagious. Most of what she says is quote-worthy, and we took note of this line when discussing unique ways to make our ads stand out while employing a more personable and human feel:
“When it comes to creativity, out of home is truly the most exciting! And in a world where perhaps 15 percent of people block ads, you can’t pay to avoid it.”
We like it when we hear this directly from an accomplished agency CEO. Ms. Collinson also mentioned she recently participated in a polar bear-type plunge, making her our new favorite and impressive CEO. Incredible interview that the agency professionally captured on film. I hope they release the footage. It’s worth watching.
Finally, Best Dinner at CES
An old-school Asian joint, Ping Pang Pong is hiding inside an even older-school Vegas landmark, the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino. With big family-style round tables with the rotating Lazy Susan turntable in the middle, this place reminds you of the Chinese dinner scene in “A Christmas Story.” Our unofficial CES emcee, Joel Martin of Charge-Fuze, recommended this place and got our eight starving convention-goers a prime table. We were served tasty, freshly made traditional dishes served swiftly by a swarming staff. The final bill for eight was probably less than a drive-up haul to the In-N-Out Burger up the road, which we would have considered if we had a car. We were that starved.
But have no fear. Unlike “A Christmas Story,” there was no lopping off a duck’s head at the tableside.
Nick Coston has been in the advertising industry for over 35 years. He’s worked at newspapers, magazines, OOH/DOOH companies, programmatic platforms, and ground-breaking ad tech companies, including Washingtonian, Washington Times, New Republic, USA Today Weekend, Clear Channel Outdoor, The Neuron, and Hypercell. Currently SVP media sales/strategy at Smartify Media, Nick also spent 10 years buying OOH for a top 10 national advertiser. He resides with his family in Dayton, Maryland, and has been musing about the Outdoor Media industry for over five years.