Watch: CES Asia 2016 highlights

The following interviewees appear in the video report:

• Tim Andree, executive vice president, member of the board, Dentsu Inc, and executive chairman, Dentsu Aegis Network
• Motohiro Yamagishi, ‎China CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network 
• Jimmy Kuo, general manager for business and strategy development, ‎Amplifi China
• Francis Lam, chief innovation and technology officer, Isobar Shanghai's Nowlab
• Jason Perry, director of operations, Heli Media Group and IMON Network Limited

Campaign's takeaways:

Both agencies couldn't confirm how many clients are jumping into the bandwagon after three days of show-and-tell this year. Even for last year's tech showcases, most of them remain in the conceptual stage—no CMOs we know are wearing social-ticker watches, for example. Overall, we feel there is an oversupply of smart devices of all kinds (with too many still under prototyping), and not enough actual utility that provokes behaviourial change to accelerate any competitive advantage for brands.

We noticed more interest from investors rather than marketers, with one keen observer from Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG), the venture capital arm of Lenovo, pledging to plough cash into DAN's Smile Explorer (a smart baby stroller) to speed up the invention's go-to-market process into China.

Also, word on the ground was Publicis Media sponsored the venue's wireless internet access, a curious move that we couldn't find mentioned anywhere. Access to wi-fi was through standard-fare SSID names relating to 'CES Asia' and even the Publicis media spokesperson had no idea. Go figure.

Editor's note: DAN approached Campaign after publication to add further comments:

Innovation is a long-term investment. Nobody can expect all new technologies to be applied overnight. It is impossible to convert to client sales immediately. We do receive positive feedback from clients and generate leads though. Out of last year’s tech showcases, POPCON (launched by Carat) has been deployed by multiple clients both in China and other Asia-Pacific markets and been incorporated in some of China’s popular TV shows including Daddy, Where Are We Going, I Am A Singer and Happy Camp. As a consequence of POPCON, Carat has seen a 201% increase in the spending in OTV advertising over the past 12 months, reflecting a fundamental shift in the way people consume TV.