CES 2025: Marketers Hunt for Competitive-Edge Tech

Since 1998, when the exciting new innovations were DVDs and alarm clocks with nature sounds, CES has kicked off the year for the tech industry.

The conference itself has been around since 1967, but didn’t settle into its once-a-year, early January cadence until the late 1990s.

For the marketing industry, it’s an opportunity to scope out the new technology (and competition) and foster relationships between advertisers, platforms, publishers, tech vendors, and agencies.

As we prep to head to Sin City ourselves, ADWEEK asked six marketing professionals what they’re looking forward to at CES 2025 and what makes it worth attending.

Finding tech partners to beat the competition

With nearly 140,000 attendees and 4,300 exhibitors, CES is truly massive. But for marketers, it’s an opportunity to get a sense of what new tech innovations might give them an edge, and which investments or partnerships would best serve their needs throughout the year.

“What’s great about the timing of CES is that it’s in January at the beginning of the year,” Devrie DeMarco, managing director at MediaLink, told ADWEEK. “Everybody’s trying to figure out where they want to make investments and where they want to innovate.”

While there’s a lot of inspiration in Eureka Park, tightening budgets mean it’s more important than ever that attendees get tangible business leads out of the show.

As CES often falls on the first week of the fiscal year, “I need to come up with a plan of how I’m going to achieve my objectives by year end,” said Donna Sharp, managing director at MediaLink.

In addition to excitement and competitive envy, she also wants practical takeaways. That could mean products to test, co-development opportunities, or a connection to a creator who can help tell stories in a new way.

“What’s fascinating this year is the simultaneous media and agency consolidations contrasting with the audience fragmentation, which is creating chaos,” said Jason Damata, founder and CEO of Fabric Media. “The answer, [in my opinion], for marketers is through data and measurement.”

A practical tech renaissance

CES has lost some of its star power as major brands like Apple created their own stages for big technological announcements. And while the innovation at CES is always impressive, the central spectacles have been more removed from practical consumer applications of technology in recent years, said Jon Judah, senior vice president and head of markets at Dept.

“Are they finally going to bring more user-centric AI into their products, versus gratuitous tech?” Judah asked. “I’m kind of hopeful this year is like a bit of a renaissance of practical, interesting things.”

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