PANASONIC AT CES

Because of our expertise in branding and overall theme development, we have been working with Panasonic on their Consumer Electronics Show (CES) campaigns every year. The following details one of the largest CES campaigns we’ve ever created, and what has been developed for CES in subsequent years. 2008 was a big year for Panasonic as they were giving the Opening Keynote Address, sponsoring the Olympic Games and unveiling big products like the world’s largest plasma. We created the core theme and dictated how it should be carried out across all materials. Then we developed a print advertising campaign, large format signage and billboards, digital signage, the official website, Keynote presentation and email blasts to promote the power of the brand and drive record attendance to their booth and all events.

OVERARCHING THEME

The theme we developed was called “The Flame” and it provided overall branding and synergy for all things Panasonic at CES. It captured their initiatives for that year – their Olympic partnership, their leadership role in the industry “lighting the way” into the future, and bringing back family time around what they called a “digital hearth.”

We created style guidelines for the entire Panasonic Booth, which was the size of two football fields. They detailed proper usage of the flame, messaging and graphic hierarchies, a typographic system and unique photography style. These guidelines were distributed to all divisions at Panasonic, and to all third-party vendors involved with the massive booth.

SIGNAGE TEMPLATES

Digital signage, product placard and “messaging band” templates were developed to ensure that all materials, no matter which party created them, would be cohesive and on-brand.

VIERA PRINT CAMPAIGN

We developed a print advertising campaign for Panasonic’s VIERA HD flat screen TVs which introduced their “See it in VIERA” messaging, and incorporated the flame theme as well. It featured powerful photography of children gazing up in awe of the screen’s beauty and wonder. And whimsical elements like bubbles and aquariums were utilized to drive home the immersive and almost magical experience of watching a VIERA TV.

LARGE FORMAT SIGNAGE

Huge vinyl banners were created and placed in the Las Vegas Convention Center and McCarran International Airport to promote the campaign and build intrigue around Panasonic’s booth at CES. All signage incorporated the flame and theme, introduced the new VIERA plasma which ushered in a ‘new visual era’ of television viewing, and brought in some Olympic elements as well.

We also created mobile billboards that were driven all over Las Vegas before and during the CES show.

OPENING KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

We created a template system for the Opening Keynote Presentation, which was shown on three giant screens behind the presenters. Many templates were developed, including title, brand, sponsor, product info, and lifestyle – all adhering to the CES style and Panasonic brand – that supported and punctuated the excitement around the event.

WEBSITE

A website was created to showcase all things CES, and to bring the excitement to those who couldn’t experience it first-hand. We integrated video shot on the floor into the site every day of the show, and digital ads drove traffic to the site. Click below to see the site in action:

EMAIL BLASTS

CES-themed email blasts were also created to invite people to the Press Conference and Opening Keynote Address, and to drive traffic to the website.

ANNUAL CES CAMPAIGNS

Due to the overwhelming success of 2008, we have been heavily involved in every Panasonic CES campaign since. This is the Archway from 2013, a giant back-lit display at the entrance of CES which everyone passes through.

We continue to develop new overall themes each year, and create the majority of the large format signage for the booth and convention center. This shot of the main hallway shows the Archway, as well as some of the large banners we developed.

For the 2015 CES booth, we created a series of giant digital signage which was placed above each section, calling out its products’ main messaging and objectives, and getting people to “Join the Conversation” on social media.

Panasonic always secures the coveted gatefold ad in TWICE Magazine, the official publication of CES, and they always ask us to create it. It is the first spread, and has a flap that opens up to make it a three pager. This ad helps set the tone for all Panasonic CES materials, and is seen by virtually everyone who attends. Above are ads from 2014 through 2017.

When a global company is involved in a trade show of this scale, a massive amount of scheduling, communication and coordination is required. To save Panasonic weeks of headaches, we created this fully responsive CES Employee Guide, which was their information hub for the show. It was used to communicate with 25 different Panasonic divisions across the globe coordinating schedules, setup/breakdown requirements, graphic specs, show events and more. It was fully responsive, so that it could be accessed on any device, and was a huge hit with the on-the-go trade show staff.

MY ROLE

For the 2008 CES Campaign, I helped develop “The Flame” theme and overall look and feel for the booth and all materials, created the style guidelines & signage templates, conceptualized and designed the VIERA print campaign, managed the design teams as they created all of the banners and signage, worked with the client to storyboard and design the Opening Keynote Presentation templates, conceptualized, designed and managed development of the CES website, and coordinated editing and posting of video from the floor every day of the CES trade show. I have been the lead on every CES campaign since 2008, developing the overall theme and look and feel for all materials, and managing all creative teams to ensure that bar-raising, cohesive materials are consistently produced.