More companies than ever are hitching their brand to the stars
If this year's Consumer Electronics Show is any indication, geek is officially chic. At the world's biggest celebration of what's hot in the often insular world of cutting edge consumer technology, celebrities have emerged as a new kind of industry currency. While low profile celeb attendees might very well be slinking around Las Vegas Convention Center's labyrinthine show floors, the most illustrious stars can be found promoting everything from dancing mini robots to speakers crafted from hemp and bamboo.This year in Las Vegas, more stars popped out of the marketing woodwork than ever. Early in the week, Sony and Microsoft marched cheerful celebs out during their presentations, infusing the technology show's?two biggest keynotes with a little star power.?Last year, Sony tooled Seth Rogen out on a revolving stage with the tricked-out Chrysler Imperial from the The Green Hornet. Upping its game, this year the company enlisted both American Idol starlet Kelly Clarkson and actor Will Smith to make a marketing splash. Over at?Microsoft, a rather sedate version of former Idol host Ryan Seacrest shot the breeze with CEO Steve Ballmer as the company rolled out its much buzzed about new Windows phone, the Nokia Lumia 900.
Seacrest and Ballmer
Outside of the major pressers, celebrities dotted vendor booths, sometimes popping up where you'd least expect them. Justin Bieber stirred up a pop culture feeding frenzy for little-known robotics brand Tosy, and if only for the moment, the brand's otherwise unremarkable dancing robot was hoisted to star status on the show floor. But robots weren't the only new tech coasting on celebrity coattails: this year, Bob Marley's son was back again promoting reggae-friendly eco audio gear,?rapper 50 Cent was sporting some slick headphones to rival Dr. Dre and Monster's Beats line, and Snooki ??Jersey Shore's infamous pint-sized party animal ? was on hand to endorse iHip's flashy new bling-encrusted cans. Even Justin Timberlake made a cameo to announce the launch of the perhaps ill-fated MySpace TV in partnership with Panasonic.
Kelly Clarkson
At last year's Consumer Electronics Show, Lady Gaga and Polaroid teamed up to roll out a line of futuristic?high fashion sunglasses that snap photos and project them on dual OLED screens built right into the lens. And rapper T-Pain was lurking around to publicize the "I AM T-Pain" mic, which auto-tunes your own amateur vocal freestylings so you can sound just like the oft digitally distorted artist.The bleeding edge innovations on parade this week are a natural magnet for industry vets, early adopters, and bleary-eyed reporters alike, but brands are increasingly hitching their products to a star ? and perhaps to mainstream consumer success ? during the biggest tech event of the year.
This article originally appeared on Tecca
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