What does Web3 mean for marketing?
Our Chief Digital and Commercial Officer Conny Braams shares her views on how we must unite to ensure the next iteration of the internet is a safer place for people to shop, stream, work and play.
Unilever GlobalChange location
There are some trade shows that innovators just can’t miss. And the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is one of them.
The annual January showcase has been called the most influential tech event in the world, and this year more than 100,000 attendees and 3,200 exhibitors turned up to prove it.
We asked three Unilever leaders who attended the event to tell us which tech trends and innovations caught their eye and will shape their business thinking in 2023.
CES is a true cornucopia of next-level innovation. While there is so much to see, absorb and be inspired by, I left with three points that will remain my guiding focus for the year ahead.
Tech picksWearables for wellness.
The convergence of industries as they move into new white spaces will continue to grow this year. Wellness is crossing over into beauty, health and devices, which is opening a world of new and exciting opportunities.
For example, once wearables were simply devices to monitor your step count, but thanks to AI and sensors that can activity track, they are increasingly capable of using data to give actionable suggestions to improve people’s overall wellbeing.
I loved finding out about Movano Health’s Evie smart ring tracker which is optimised for women’s health. It measures heart rate and blood oxygen levels that can help users understand patterns in sleep and even menstruation. Another timely development was the Nowatch, which doesn’t use time to keep you on schedule but instead delivers gentle vibrations based on readings of heart rate, sweat, physical movement and sleep patterns to improve a wearer’s mood and stress levels.
It was a great inspiration to attend CES 2023 with the Unilever team. For me, three key observations were:
Tech picksSustainable in-home and portable energy solutions, plus toilet tech that provides health scans.
Schneider Electric unveiled its Schneider Home Energy Tracking Solution which allows home-owners to monitor energy consumption by individual appliance and decide where to prioritise power during an outage via an app. Out-of-home Californian firm Jackery showcased a selection of portable devices that make generating renewable energy easy and possible for individuals. Its Air-W is a portable mini wind turbine that can produce 200W of power, while LightCycle-S1 is a wheeled battery that can store up to 3,500Wh of electricity and offer 3,500W of power.
In the personalised healthcare space, a Wi-Fi-enabled toilet from Withings caused quite a stir at the show. It has two types of replaceable cartridges to track different functions such as menstrual cycles and ovulation or nutrition and hydration and uses a ‘stream ID’ to identify different people. When the test is done, data goes to a companion app where you can go through all its findings.
I love this phase just after my return from CES 2023 when I get to go through all my notes and start considering what it all means and how you can action it. This year, the three stand-out themes for me were…
Tech picksImmersive gaming tech and sustainable food solutions to cut back on waste.
Dolby.io is a new developer platform by Dolby Labs that puts Dolby sight and sound technology into hands of developers. I was impressed by the quality and sensory elements of the virtual experiences that can be created.
It was also great to see Sony showcase Project Leonardo and improve accessibility in the gaming space through its adaptable controller for the PlayStation which allows users with limited motor control “to craft their own play experience”.
In the food tech space, I really loved Kaltech’s ‘Food Fresh Keeper’. This smart preservation box prevents bread and fruit from getting mouldy or rotten outside a refrigerator and could play huge role in eliminating food waste.
Our Chief Digital and Commercial Officer Conny Braams shares her views on how we must unite to ensure the next iteration of the internet is a safer place for people to shop, stream, work and play.
With people increasingly turning to vitamins, minerals and supplements for a more holistic approach to their health and wellbeing, we explore why this represents a significant opportunity for Unilever.
Jon Hague, Head of Clean Future, Science and Technology for Home Care, explains how chemical innovation is reducing the carbon footprint of our cleaning products.