CES Tuesday: Tech's Outlook Under Biden, How The Pandemic Changed Things, And Ryan Seacrest, Dua Lipa, And Billie Eilish Show Up

Busy Tuesday

By PERRY MICHAEL SIMON in LOS ANGELES: On TUESDAY (1/12), the virtual version of CES 2021 offered a typically wide range of celebrities, opening with MICROSOFT CEO SATYA NADELLA guesting in the opening trend preview session and GENERAL MOTORS CEO MARY BARRA's keynote, leading to a scheduled session with RYAN SEACREST interviewing DUA LIPA, and BILLIE EILISH performing for iHEARTMEDIA's presentation.

CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION Pres./CEO GARY SHAPIRO interviewed NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL Director-Designate BRIAN DEESE on the outlook for technology under the BIDEN administration. With regulation, DEESE offered, being guided by "what's good for the economy" and favoring partnerships with the private sector. DEESE outlined the "Build Back Better" plans of the incoming administration, with the idea of addressing structural and racial inequities with investment and greater access to capital. As for measuring the success of the initiatives, DEESE suggested moving past macro numbers and looking at whether "wealth is being broadly shared."

BARRA's keynote reviewed GM's reaction to the pandemic -- safety protocols, assistance to dealers for online sales, producing critical-care ventilators and face masks for frontline workers -- and support for improving inclusion in the wake of the BLACK LIVES MATTER protests. The company plans to ultimately move to an all-electric vehicle lineup with a "vehicle intelligence platform" (VIP) as the foundation for the next generation of vehicles. The presentation offered a look at concepts for new GM electric vehicles, including visual and sound enhancements, and unveiled the company's BRIGHTDROP zero-emissions connected vehicle and logistics platform for delivery services.

THE HARRIS POLL CEO JOHN GERZEMA and MASTERCARD WORLDWIDE's CHERYL GUERIN discussed how the pandemic affected consumer behavior, with examples of how spending was affected by increased saving and the rise of "revenge spending" as consumers plan to splurge when the pandemic eases (travel being one of the major categories with pent-up demand). In the second part of the same session, a panel addressed changes in society like the need to be understanding about co-workers' mental health during the pandemic (BANK OF AMERICA's LOU PASKALIS commented that "Empathy is the new black"), the difficulty of lockdowns and remote work (TIKTOK's KATIE RICCIO PURIS noting about ZOOM conferences, "When have you ever looked at yourself so much?"), and what panelists don't want to see continue after the pandemic eases (UBER's DYSHAUN MUHAMMAD warning of a "culture of fear" after cocooning for so long; PASKALIS bemoaning the loss of in-person networking).

Another panel of marketing experts addressed the same issue -- how things have changed in the pandemic, as well as in the wake of the CAPITOL riot --  with DENTSU's JACKI KELLEY citing "the homebody economy" prompting her agency to create a "chefbot" for client KROGER to address the public's embrace of home cooking, NIELSEN's JAMIE MOLDAFSKY pointing to the vast increase in TV and streaming viewing as consumers seek connection as well as trusted sources, and HORIZON MEDIA's BILL KOENIGSBERG touting "conscious commerce" (consumers seeking to do business with companies possessing a conscience). MEDIALINK's MICHAEL KASSAN, addressing the latter, raised the issue of "cancel culture," which prompted the panel to discuss advising clients playing things safe ("it's so easy to light a fuse these days," KOENIGSBERG noted). Moderator JOSH GOLDEN of AD AGE added that companies can be "cancelled for their non-action" if they try to stay on the sidelines of a cultural battle.

RYAN SEACREST kicked off iHEARTMEDIA's session by chatting with TOM POLEMAN and JOHN SYKES on how the company dealt with the impact of the pandemic, putting together virtual events with top artists, with Rock WCHI (ROCK 95.5)/CHICAGO morning host ANGI TAYLOR reviewing the company's successes online. The discussion was followed by SEACREST interviewing DUA LIPA on how she was able to record during the pandemic, and a preview of new music by BILLIE EILISH.

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