Lost In Translation At CES


After spending a few hours walking around the seemly endless showroom floor at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, I came away feeling like I’d gone a couple rounds with an MMA fighter who had just found out his girlfriend was cheating on him with his best friend.

I can’t describe the CES experience as anything less than a physical assault. It’s beyond overwhelming, and it’s as much a test of endurance and physical stamina for exhibitors and attendees, as it is a chance to tell your brand’s story to the 150,000 gathered buyers, journalists, bloggers, analysts and other industry influencers.

For many companies, there’s a lot at stake at CES, so despite the hardship, they spend huge chunks of their marketing budget to put their best foot forward in Sin City.

Frankly, very little caught my attention as I jostled my way through the chaos. There was just too much there competing for my very limited attention, and I was only able to cover about half the exhibit space in the couple hours I had to wander the floor around our client’s booth. The most innovative stuff coming out of CES is well documented by now, so I don’t have much to add there.

What I’ll do instead is highlight the one booth that caused me to pull out my iPhone and snap a picture. Not because the exhibitor’s products were so innovative. Or because their booth design was so arresting. I’d never heard of the company, and frankly, I still have no idea what they sell. What caused me to take notice of Changhong’s massive booth was the company’s tagline, which was splashed in more than a dozen places throughout.

For me, something in Changhong’s huge investment in CES was lost in the translation.

Changhong at CES