Event Marketing Firm Wants Consumers Included in Concept of Virtual CES

“It’s a tough time right now and we need to rethink how we go to market, COVID or not,” David Fekete, managing partner at event services company Circle TPR, told Consumer Electronics Daily. Circle had a dozen clients at CES 2020, handling services ranging from designing booths for exhibitors in Central Hall to arranging dinners. Like so many businesses that depend on the trade show industry, Circle is feeling the pain from CES 2021 shifting virtual due to the pandemic.

For Fekete, the current climate is a disruption to the norm that will have lasting impact on how business is done: “No one is going to take advantage of human interaction anymore. People are craving to get back to live events,” he said.

It will take a “long time to get back to some sort of normal” with live events, Fekete said, and “I don’t think we’ll ever get back to exactly the same way we did it before.” COVID-19 has taught everyone “that we’re vulnerable to different viruses and diseases; we know that there will be hygienic protocols and things we need to adhere to,” he said: “C’mon, let’s wash our hands, and shame on us for not doing it before.” A national event strategy is off the table for now, he noted: “It’s going to be state by state. New York is pretty much off the table for quite a while.”

Fekete remains a big CES cheerleader, citing the other shows it has spawned over the years including E3 and various wireless events. Though the 2021 CES requires a “pause” from usual activity, “that doesn’t mean we walk away from CES and that platform,” he said. “We feel strongly that clients need to support CES and engage in the virtual platform.”

The marketer was reluctant to tip his hand on how Circle is working to pivot clients for virtual CES 2021. Some ideas “are fairly out there,” he said, citing “anything from a drone race to a multiple city tour activating at one time." Its clients are trying to reposition for CES, "and we’re trying to bring some interesting ideas to them.” The company is planning a hybrid approach to trade shows that it expects to continue into the future.

Part of Circle’s vision is consumer-focused. CES is heavily business-to-business, but “when we look at a consumer electronics product, where does it go? It goes to a consumer. We are opening our strategy,” he said. “We’re not just looking at CES or how we push out to the business community or distribution channel. We’re actually looking at supporting the consumer. It's also seeking to support the distribution channel with a push to retail,” he said.

On press coverage, Fekete acknowledged it will be tough getting reporters to Las Vegas during a virtual CES. An alternative plan is to look at geographies with heavy media saturation “and still include them in our experience.”

CES has become so ingrained to the industry, previous attendees will feel a void not being at the January event, Fekete said; Circle is hoping to take advantage of calendars being reserved for it. “We want to take advantage of that time and do something special and include the people who can’t be part of the core experience here in Vegas.” He referenced a client that will use a Hollywood studio in Los Angeles for a CES production and others that will do simple streaming at the Zoom level.

When live shows do come back, booth design will take a different turn, said Fekete. “We’re going to have to manage our crowds differently,” which means managing expectations of booth traffic, he said. “It’s going to come down to that when we host audiences, that they feel healthy, secure and safe in our space. Right now we know that putting 1,000 people in a confined area isn’t necessarily comfortable for anybody these days," he said. "We have to figure out how to move people better and more efficiently through spaces.”

COVID-19 is delivering a hit to companies like Circle that are losing “big dollars” with the loss of show floor booth income. As a marketing company, it has other areas that can pick up business, Fekete said. “The bigger pain is the impact it has on the people of Vegas,” said Fekete, citing the cab drivers bartenders, waitresses and casino hosts “who rely on these types of events to feed their families.”