For years, CES served as a January temperature check for the technology industry, spotlighting innovations likely to be hot in the months to come. Yet as technology publications dutifully published their lists of CES 2022's biggest themes – the metaverse, futuristic cars, new TVs, remote work solutions and NFTs – they conspicuously left one huge trend undiscussed: the growing incomprehensibility of this year's top innovations to mainstream consumers.
I knew CES would be extremely different than the many times I attended in the past. Leading up to the world’s largest technology show, companies and reporters shifted to virtual attendance in droves due to concerns over the COVID-19 Omicron variant. Flying out to Las Vegas on a full flight, I was not quite sure what to expect.
Businesses need to earn public trust, and it can easily be lost. How can communicators rally their companies or clients to address this new reality, and how will we know if we’re successful?
In the age of news at our fingertips 24/7, COVID-19 has and will continue to dominate the news cycle and engagement on social media while fueling the ongoing “war on truth.” However, what has not disappeared is the value of foundational media relations as an important cornerstone of healthcare storytelling.
So, what’s on the horizon for 2022 and what tools from the toolbox will help us effectively tell those stories?
Identifying technology and a technology brand or company used to be easy. There was really one question to ask: Does your primary product plug into a wall? If so, that was technology. In the late ‘90s, the question evolved a bit: Does your main product plug into a wall OR operate primarily on the internet? If so, that was technology.
Allison+Partners recently carried out a global survey on “Technology PR's Tug of War" on brand versus product. With 2021 synonymous with purpose, brand and authenticity, the research looked at whether B2B technology firms delivered to this agenda and kept up with their consumer counterparts.
Every company has a technology story. That’s a given, especially when tech underlies all that we do – from the ways we work to what we eat to how we communicate, learn and give back. Whether by circumstance or intention, tech is now our societal, emotional and operational backbone.
For more than seven years, Allison+Partners has worked with Partnership With Native Americans. During this time, we’ve collaborated on numerous media and digital campaigns, PSAs, and special event support. Agency Co-Founder Scott Pansky and his family have volunteered on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, and Scott wrote about this experience in a previous American Indian Heritage Month blog. This year, he interviews PWNA President and CEO Josh Arce about the real story of Thanksgiving and what people can do to help make a difference in the lives of Native Americans this holiday season and beyond.
