In what is typically a blur of similar products and similar messaging from exhibitors, I think the first day of CES this year makes one thing clear: CES 2011 is fulfilling the promises made at CES 2010.

Since last January, we’ve been seeing prototypes and hearing rumors of tablets other products that are on the market or coming soon this year. There are a TON of phenomenal products we’ve seen on the floor this year, including ones from Research in Motion (a long-time LEVEL client), General Electric (GE) and VIZIO.

The fulfilling of last year’s promise of converged devices means one major thing for brand marketers and strategists.

Prioritization is becoming more challenging.

Marketers often have the same budgets year-over-year, but more is being asked of them. They hear things like “Create a mobile strategy” or “Why don’t we have an iPad app?” Meanwhile, they have the same amount of resources (people and budget) as they did before smartphones, tablets, connected TVs and other potential customer touch points were part of the picture. From what I have seen thus far at the show, there are many brands taking the tiered approach and designing experiences (apps, optimized sites, etc.) on a product or platform bases. While that is a natural way to evolve a mobile strategy, brands will have to start viewing “mobile” as less of a channel and more of a horizontal practice that sits across all existing marketing initiatives. If they have a CRM or traditional ad strategy, mobile can be made an extension of both. In doing this, insights about the success of their existing campaigns can help to guide decisions about what kinds of devices or platforms should be made a part of the horizontal mobile strategy.

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