The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the Roman Coliseum of trade shows. In 2023, thousands of "gladiators" – exhibitors – competed against each other for the attention of 115,000 attendees, who gave them a thumbs up or thumbs down, expressed in everything from foot traffic to sales leads, from media mentions to memorability. For John Deere, a Deere & Co. brand, it was the company's opportunity to emerge as not just a manufacturer of giant farm machines but as a brand every bit as powered by technology as a SpaceX or an Apple. To see how John Deere did it, we caught up with public-relations manager Franklin Peitz for a conversation that ranged from agriculture technology to autonomous driving.

Exhibitor Magazine: Going into the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), what were your top objectives?
Franklin Peitz: John Deere's top two objectives were to own the purpose-driven tech story and solidify the perception of agriculture as tech-forward. Before Deere participated at CES, most attendees and media didn't consider agriculture a tech-forward industry. Few CES headlines ever mentioned agriculture and if agtech was mentioned, it was usually within a broader context, such as the internet of things (loT), 5G, drones, or autonomous driving. However, as Deere's presence at the show grew over time, so did awareness of the important role of technology in agriculture. At CES 2023, we wanted to bring Deere's story to the keynote main stage and then also offer an engaging booth experience to emphasize that agriculture and Deere were leaders in technology.

EM: From what you say, your approach evolved in order to make the CES audience's perception evolve as well. How did your participation at CES 2023 differ from your previous CES appearances?
FP: The most exciting way our participation at CES 2023 differed from past years was our keynote presentation. As the first-ever agriculture company to take the keynote stage, we wanted to do our industry proud. We had a dynamic speaker line-up to reiterate that Deere serves industries that affect our daily lives and explain how technology keeps our world fed, clothed, and connected. We included real stories from real farmers using Deere's technology in fields today. Travis Senter Jr., Bill Bridgeforth, Meryl Kennedy, and a few other farmers explained their love of farming, how technology supports their daily operations, and why everyone should care about making farming more efficient, productive, and sustainable. For these individuals, farming is more than just a job. It's a way of life. And to bring the story to life even more, we brought Travis, Bill, Meryl, and their families from across the country out to the show, and they sat in the front row during the keynote. Travis, Bill and Meryl spoke with media and attendees at our booth.

From the first morning of the show, we made it clear that Deere wasn't just at CES to show off far-reaching technology for its own sake. Everything shared, from the keynote stage to the booth, had a real purpose that benefited everyone at the show and around the world.

EM: Everyone wants to stand out on the show floor. But CES had roughly 3,200 exhibitors fighting over the attention of 115,000 attendees, with companies like Canon USA Inc., who partnered with M. Night Shyamalan to recreate the setting from his new movie "Knock at the Cabin," and Reddit Inc., who placed a giant interactive crystal ball. What were a couple of specific strategies/tactics you executed to ensure your exhibit was memorable?
FP: We designed Deere's booth to highlight a theme of real purpose, real tech, and real impact. The booth displayed all the technology showcased in the keynote, including ExactShot – a planting technology that reduces fertilizer use by 60 percent – a fully electric excavator, and See & Spray Ultimate, a sprayer using cameras and robotics to automate the spraying process. While these machines are eye-catching and a great photo op, we knew that most attendees wouldn't know why farmers and construction workers need these technologies. So, we made the booth experience as engaging as possible. We had subject matter experts (SMEs) at every station ready to answer questions and continue the story of real purpose, real tech, and real impact. We also incorporated visual and interactive elements to help attendees understand how these massive machines work on the farm or construction site. Since we couldn't move a 120-foot-wide sprayer into the Las Vegas Convention Center, we had a screen display that demoed how the sprayer identifies and sprays only weeds while moving up to 12 mph in a field. We also put on a live demo of the ExactShot technology to show how it saves farmers time, money, and fertilizer. On top of that, we even had toy tables with a mock farm and construction site to help attendees understand how these machines contribute to the bigger picture of these critical industries.

EM: But isn't there a danger visitors would see your exhibit as nothing more than a product showcase? What steps did you take to make your exhibit a true experience?
FP: That was a key challenge. Everything at Deere's booth focused on what matters most: our customers and how their work affects our daily lives. Three farmers featured in the keynote attended the show to bring the story of tech on the farm to life in the booth. We knew that it's one thing to hear about agtech but another thing entirely to listen directly to farmers whose livelihoods depend on it. We created a "farmer's office" in the booth with a desk, computer, and large mock-up phone with real maps, tracking, and data from one of our farmer's operations. At this "farmer's office," Travis, Bill, and Meryl could tell their story, give attendees an inside look into the daily life of a farmer, and hear first-hand why precision agriculture technology matters. This helped attendees understand Deere's machines are making these real peoples' day-to-day more efficient, economical, and sustainable.

There was also a "Thank a Farmer" wall that featured products their labor gives us, ranging from batteries to T-shirts, and eyeglass frames to baseballs, and phone cases to postage stamps. This helped attendees understand that farmers have a hand in many products we interact with on a daily basis but never realize it.

We also had what we called the "Food (for Thought) Truck" located outside the Las Vegas Convention Center, where we handed out rice crispy treats. With every rice crispy treat given out, we made a donation to the Three Square Food Bank, which is Southern Nevada's only food bank. Overall, Deere donated $200,000 to the food bank, providing 600,000 meals for families in the Las Vegas area.

EM: With so many moving parts, what, in your opinion, was the best or most successful part of your exhibit? Or to put it another way, what tactic/strategy contributed most to your success?
FP: The best part of our exhibit was seeing our story of real tech, real purpose, and real impact resonate with attendees. That's all thanks to our team in the booth, the farmers who attended, and all those who supported our efforts leading up to CES to bring this story to life. While people may have come to our booth to sit in the cab of a sprayer and excavator or to get an iconic green Deere hat, they left more knowledgeable about the work that farmers, road builders, and construction workers do every day and how technology plays a vital role for them. Deere's booth showed attendees how advanced technology is already at work in these essential industries and how it impacts every single one of us. At a show like CES, that stands out against the conceptual or futuristic technology displayed at many of the other booths. E