By Tara Chiarell and Marcel Goldstein
Each year, Allison sends dozens of employees to CES in Las Vegas on behalf of our clients – from Fortune 500 companies with some of the largest footprints to startups looking to make a splash. As our team just closed CES client speaker submissions and gets ready to put down our pencils for hundreds of submissions for the CES Innovation Awards, our Washington, D.C. team took time out to sit down with the Consumer Technology Association and preview some major trends we can expect to see at CES 2025.
What’s been fun about CES the last few years is we can never predict exactly what will make the most noise. Remember when Impossible launched a burger at CES? Allison took them there. Or last year when Bird Buddy, the AI powered bird feeder became the hottest gift-giving item after debuting at CES? Also, one of our CES success stories. The wildcards are what make it fun!
Here’s a few trends CTA thinks will drive the show in 2025:
- Gen Z Driving Tech Spend – With Gen Z now making up around 25% of the global population, their spending power rapidly increases. Almost 33% of U.S. consumer tech spend now goes toward software, services and subscriptions like Netflix. An area to watch is whether Gen Z shifts more spend toward hardware like TVs as they gain financial independence.
- Health/Wellness Tech Innovations – The health/wellness tech space sees major innovations, with an emphasis on personalization, accessibility and AI-powered intelligence. Expect to see advances like AI skin analysis tools, wheelchair-friendly fitness tracking and drugs that can better treat conditions like obesity. Biotech companies may have a bigger presence alongside traditional digital health exhibitors.
- Enterprise & B2B Growth – While CES is known for consumer tech, the B2B side has grown rapidly – it now makes up 43% of attendees. There will be a major enterprise/B2B focus across verticals like AI, robotics, smart cities, fintech, IoT and more. Even non-traditional companies like retailers and agricultural firms have boosted their CES presence.
- Sustainability Initiatives – Sustainability continues to be a priority, with CTA partnering with the UN on human security initiatives that include technology access. Expect to see more eco-friendly moves from CES itself at the event.
The show continues to expand far beyond just consumer electronics into an exhibition of society-shaping technologies across industries. It may be August, but our teams are already in the thick of CES planning. If you are too, get in touch!
Tara Chiarell, Partner + Chief Client Experience Officer, works with B2C and B2B companies to help shape narratives, reach new audiences and show up in unexpected places.
Marcel Goldstein, Managing Director, Corporate, specializes in working with large, complex enterprises across multiple industry sectors looking to establish, grow, and protect their brands.
