The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) isn't just the largest trade show in the United States by every measure; it also sets the bar for global exhibiting trends at the beginning of each calendar year. So when the Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES, announced last summer that its 2021 event would be held not in Las Vegas but rather online, it sent shockwaves through the face-to-face marketing industry. While CES 2020 featured more than 4,400 exhibits spread out across 2.9 million net square feet of show-floor space, the all-digital CES 2021 offered up nearly 2,000 companies – from well-known global brands to never-before-seen startups – all showcasing their wares in the digital show's exhibitor directory. The vast majority relied solely on text, visuals, and video demos, but a precious few upped the ante with immersive, memorable activations that ran the gamut from content-rich microsites and byte-based booths to augmented-reality activities and digitally delivered gamified experiences. After clicking through each and every one of them, the EXHIBITOR editorial team arrived at this list of the 10 most impressive virtual exhibits from CES 2021.



1. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
Topping our 2021 Best of CES list is the virtual exhibit for FCA US LLC. Designed and executed by George P. Johnson, a Project Worldwide agency, and Spinifex Group Inc., the space fused a familiar environment with rich media, tech-enabled experiences, a charismatic digital docent, and a choose-your-own-adventure approach to navigation. After viewing a flythrough preview of the property, guests were welcomed to FCA's space by a siliconized staffer who offered three unique ways in which to explore the exhibit. Attendees could choose a guided tour hosted by the aforementioned brand ambassador, a customized tour created based on their areas of interest, or a self-led trek where they could dig deeper into whichever displays caught their eyes. Those displays comprised a total of 12 vehicles presented in six branded spaces (representing Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Alpha Romeo, and Ram), each customized to suit the respective make's qualities and aesthetics yet cohesive enough to look perfectly at home alongside other FCA offerings. All of the virtual vehicles boasted clickable hot spots that activated everything from informational videos and product specs to footage from certain models' debut events and even a virtual showroom and augmented-reality experiences. Meanwhile, guests could interact with the Jeep Wrangler 4xe on their devices by scanning a Quick Response (QR) code, changing the vehicle's paint colors, and inspecting interior details before placing the personalized auto in their own driveways via AR. Those less interested with parking their cars than taking them off road could opt for a virtual-reality experience that put them in the passenger's seat where they enjoyed a 360-degree simulation as the trail-rated Jeep 4x4 easily navigated the rough terrain of Moab's Hell's Revenge Trail. Working within the inherent limitations of virtual environments, FCA managed to create a passable facsimile of the live experience while conveying key messages, enabling immersive experiences, and retaining the sense of exploration and discovery often absent from online exhibits.

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2. Procter & Gamble Co.
At a show practically devoid of human contact and creative exhibiting, The Procter and Gamble Co.'s LifeLab brought a spark of, well, life. Using a gaming platform, P&G Design, Bizzlogic GmbH, Lightborne Communications Inc., Intervideo Filmproduktion GmbH, and freelance user-experience designer Sara Vogl helped P&G create its immersive trade show exhibit that was populated by teams of live staffers via avatars. After visitors created their own personalized avatars, they wandered the 3-D experience where they initiated conversations with uniformed staffers simply by strolling up to them, pressing the spacebar on their keyboards, and speaking. And there was a lot to discuss and discover. Attendees could catch talks in the exhibit's theater, offer questions to reps, connect with company recruiters, and, of course, explore P&G's brands and products at various interactive stations. P&G even managed to work in a cause-marketing campaign with its 50-Liter Home Coalition Experience. The company donated 50 liters of clean drinking water to the P&G Children's Safe Drinking Water Program for each attendee that completed the activation showcasing how home products and innovations can help wring 500 liters worth of work from 50 liters of water consumption. It was the sort of exhibit you'd expect to find at an actual trade show, along with the kind of human interaction that helps brands build trust.

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3. Philips Electronics North America
Looking to highlight the role of health care in the home, Philips Electronics North America (a division of Koninklijke Philips N.V.) created a virtual healthy neighborhood, an interactive environment so wholesome you'd almost expect to find Mr. Rogers and Henrietta Pussycat. Throughout the community – a collaborative effort by Blondefish Ltd., Met Studio Design Ltd., Kingdom X Ltd., Brands at Work Ltd., and Alx Studio – visitors could bop into three neighborhood homes and explore how Philips' digital health technology was helping couples address common health-related challenges. In one home, Nikita and Daniel were expecting their first child; in another, Kenny was concerned about oral health while his husband Jonathan was working on controlling sleep apnea; and in the third, an elderly Audrey and George were remotely managing their health with connected technologies. Following a lighthearted welcome video from each couple, attendees explored rooms, listened to homeowners talk about specific products, and clicked on pulsating hotspots to access product information. Finally, the innovation gallery, a museum-like environment, housed all of the neighborhood's featured products in one showroom for visitors to click through and learn more.

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4. Canon USA Inc.
Realizing potential CES attendees had long been housebound, Canon USA Inc., working with experiential agency FCBX (an Interpublic Group company) and digital-production company MediaMonks B.V., constructed an interactive microsite that let them virtually travel to outer space and national parks. Greeting visitors to the site was a moon's-eye view of the Earth next to several menu choices, such as one that allowed guests to virtually accompany NASA astronaut Marsha Ivins to see how Canon's satellites make space imaging more accessible. Participants took their own high-altitude snapshots and then saved the images as backgrounds on their mobile devices. Once they returned to terra firma, attendees pursued wolves in Yellowstone National Park to test the EOS R5 camera with renowned wildlife photographer Charles Glatzer. While they closed in on the elusive wildlife, guests tried out advanced camera features such as animal detection, which can lock on to a creature in a dense landscape and from far distances. Yet another adventure allowed viewers to become Secret Agent Magnolia, where, ensconced in a CIA-like headquarters, they employed a virtual version of the company's upcoming AMLOS Camera System and its gesture-based technology. By clicking on interactive areas, users could get their 007 on and simulate swiping to send on-screen photos of suspected enemy agents to their cohorts in espionage and even guide a fellow spy to safely leap from a helicopter to the roof of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. Despite the lack of a physical booth where attendees could tangibly handle its wares, Canon still found a way to make its cameras' cutting-edge features come into focus.

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5. LG Electronics Inc.
Designed around the tagline "Life is On," LG Electronics Inc.'s microsite, produced by in-house agencies HS Ad North America and LG CNS, boasted four discrete sections offering a smorgasbord of engaging content. The Life is On TV page showcased dozens of live and on-demand videos of press conferences, product launches, demos, and more. In the Virtual Experience hub, visitors could explore LG's assortment of cutting-edge televisions, home appliances, smartphones, and other electronics in multiple dynamic environments featuring virtual docents, AR, and 360-degree product views. Scrolling through the LG Signature in Vegas experience revealed the parallels between LG products and Sin City – e.g., how a Signature washing machine's quiet spinning resembles the High Roller Ferris wheel – and served as an artful love letter to CES' longtime home. Finally, the Life's Good Studio wowed with music and films produced by and featuring young creatives around the world. If content is indeed king, then LG Electronics reigned supreme over CES.

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6. John Deere
What was John Deere doing at the "tech-stravaganza" that is CES? It was pretty much blowing the socks off of techies and farmers alike – and effortlessly outperforming bushels of high-tech firms in the process. Owned by Deere & Company, the brand crafted a compelling and multifaceted microsite experience that touted its advancements in precision agriculture, which include everything from artificial intelligence to robot-equipped planting machinery. While the microsite, which was created with the help of McCullough Creative Inc. and MC2, an MCH Company, offered a plethora of brand and product info along with a semi-addictive corn-planting game, its 360 Experience stole the show. The interactive journey transported viewers to a farm where they learned about the precision of Deere's planting equipment via four captivating encounters. In one, participants seemingly went underground to witness the benefits of Deere's high-tech planters, which drove over the top of them. With another, viewers hopped in a tractor cab and inspected the controls as it maneuvered a field. John Deere also enhanced the experience for journalists, sending them $299 Oculus Quest 2 goggles for a VR tech tour in the comfort of their homes. By betting the farm on its virtual booth, John Deere hit the jackpot without being in Vegas.

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7. LG Display
Comprising 11 virtual showrooms accessible via a map icon in a corner of users' screens, LG Display's richly rendered 3-D environments were as jaw-dropping for their luxe designs as they were for the high-tech monitors they showcased. Take the Rest room, which opened with a virtual docent extoling the OLED technology incorporated into a marble-clad master bedroom befitting Tony Stark. After clicking any of a trio of hot spots and learning more about LG's 77-inch monitor, transparent OLED smart bed, and its accompanying sound system via short films and product spec sheets, visitors could drop into other Architectural Digest-caliber spaces and find out more about the company's newest offerings for home theaters, public transit, workplaces, diehard gaming, and more. Each showroom offered more eye candy than the last and compelled visitors to explore every inch of the virtual stand.

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8. IBM Corp.
For IBM Corp., CES' move to digital might have been a blessing in disguise. While exhibits are the pinnacle of face-to-face marketing mediums, it's difficult to cram IBM's myriad solutions into a single footprint and still present in-depth data in a manner that attendees can easily navigate and digest. Enter a superb solution: IBM's Industry City, which was crafted by the company's Global Industries team along with The Mill Facility Ltd. Laid out as a virtual city, with distinct interactive scenes devoted to six key industries IBM serves, the concept allowed visitors to effortlessly navigate to the content best suited to their interests and quickly drill down via a host of hot spots. For example, clicking on the automotive industry tab revealed two scenes with seven hot spots, where visitors could learn how brands such as Honda, Audi, and Daimler are implementing IBM Hybrid Cloud and AI technologies. In addition to videos and PDFs, attendees could link to content on IBM's website as well as request info via a contact form. The makeshift metropolis proved that no matter your industry or the challenges you face, IBM has an answer.

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9. Intel Corp.
When it comes to virtual-event programming, no CES 2021 exhibit held a candle to Intel Corp. Executed by Intel, Intrepid Creative, Per4mance Marketing LLC, The Taylor Group, and Globacore Inc., Intel's online presence featured a pair of news conferences, a fireside chat, live "spotlight sessions," and a virtual performance of "Rise Up" by Andra Day with performers (and even Intel employees) from all over the world. Guests were also invited to take a virtual ride through the streets of Munich in a fully autonomous car, as well as explore Intel's City of Doers. Here, participants could explore five immersive environments. The stylized, interactive cityscape featured cutaway views of dollhouse-like spaces representing an apartment, office, studio, and more. For example, in the At Work space, attendees could access additional content on Intel's vPro platform, and in the At Home space, they could discover how the company is impacting sectors such as gaming and education. Those who scheduled private meetings with Intel reps were treated to product demos facilitated by live presenters – a smart addition that helped the company establish personal relationships. The combination of high-quality content and an intuitive user interface rendered Intel's CES activation a rabbit hole of engaging, inspirational, and educational programming that was both professionally produced and authentically approachable.

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10. AT&T Business
Designed by Impact XM, the space representing AT&T Inc.'s business brand offered a glimpse of how the Internet of Things (IoT) and high-speed 5G telecommunications will revolutionize health care. After a virtual host welcomed guests, visitors used an on-screen menu and designated interactive elements to follow a patient through a perilous medical journey. First, in a Connected Ambulance ride, clicking pulsating hot spots activated text and video explaining how IoT tech will zap patients' vitals to a hospital miles away where doctors can monitor them via a live feed. Next, at the Connected Hospital, clicking on more pulsing interactive buttons activated info on how super-fast 5G will transmit massive medical-image files in the blink of an eye. Finally, back at the Connected Patient's home, more online text and video probed how patients' statuses will be seamlessly monitored from afar by doctors with a high-tech version of the old-fashioned house call. While following the patient's journey offered a swift look at medicine's near horizon, an adjacent Digital Document section permitted a deeper dive via half a dozen videos looking into the imminent future of health care. The sequential experience and intriguing content, all delivered online, helped the telecom giant give a healthy account of the role it will play in the medicine of tomorrow.