LAS VEGAS – Even if there’s no disruption at CES there’s always good reasons for media agencies and their clients to meet “on nice, neutral ground,” says OMD Worldwide CEO Mainardo de Nardis. This year is no exception.
“It’s all about innovation, even in years like this when there hasn’t been something terribly disruptive to the industry,” de Nardis says in an interview with Bee.TV. “I think innovation is the key word and that is what attracts so many of our clients to come here each and every year.”
Once again, 2017 is the year of virtual reality “because we’ve been saying it for the last three years,” de Nardis muses. “It hasn’t been yet,” with the exception of limited audiences for the emerging technology, he adds. “I don’t think we’ve yet arrived to the final consumers because of the lack of content and amazingly expensive cost of the hardware.”
He lists three things that he particularly appreciates this year, “even if they’re not new.” The first is driverless vehicle opportunities. “Every year it gets closer to where we need it to be. In comparison to just a couple of years ago, it’s absolutely fantastic,” de Nardis says.
He calls self-driving vehicle technology “a major revolution” because it has the potential to create time. “It’s good to give back 60, 90 minutes of time every day to people over the years. People doing it for pleasure or doing it for work,” he says.
Moreover, “It’s going to change the look, feel and organization of our cities.”
The second is evolution is the Internet of things, because every year it gets a bit closer to what every family needs at home. The end goal is to realize “amazing opportunities for us to connect the brands we represent with some specific moments and partnerships at the moment of consumption,” says de Nardis.
In third place in his rankings is the application of smart data, sensors and other technology in everyday products. He cites the example of L’Oreal’s “smart” hair brush, which counts strokes, analyzes the force used when brushing and recommends the company’s Kérastase products, as CNBC reports.
Such products show the promise of connectedness for a variety of daily activities, “Even the most banal one, brushing your hair,” de Nardis says. “There is a value out of it, even at 200 dollars. But eventually we go down to 50.”
This video was produced as part Beet.TV’s coverage of CES 2017 presented by 605. For more videos from the series, please visit this page.
