Every January, my hometown turns into the center of the business universe. The Strip fills with lanyards, the monorail fills with engineers and founders, and every coffee shop within a mile of the Las Vegas Convention Center becomes an impromptu meeting room.

That is CES. And CES 2027 returns to Las Vegas January 6 to 9.

The scale is hard to picture until you see the numbers. According to the Consumer Technology Association's audit, CES 2026 drew 148,392 participants, more than 4,100 exhibitors, and attendees from 141 countries, regions, and territories. Most important for anyone thinking about PR, it brought in 7,037 media professionals, content creators, and analysts.

Read that last number again. More than seven thousand people whose job is to find stories, all in one city, all in the same four days.

I have spent years building relationships across healthcare technology, international business, and professional networking groups. In all that time, I have never seen another room where the density of opportunity is this high. The question for your brand is not whether CES matters. It is how you plan to show up, whether you are on the show floor or not.

Why Being Present at CES Is So Important

The media comes to you

Most of the year, getting in front of a journalist means competing with hundreds of pitches in a crowded inbox. At CES, the dynamic flips. Reporters, editors, producers, and creators travel to Las Vegas specifically to discover what is new. They walk the aisles looking for stories. They book meetings in advance. They are, for a few days, actively hunting for exactly what you might have.

That does not mean coverage happens by accident. It means the door is more open than at any other time of year, if you have done the work to be on their calendar.

Credibility by association

When a product appears at CES, it borrows some of the event's authority. Being able to say "as seen at CES" in your sales deck, on your website, and in your investor conversations signals that your brand belongs in the conversation about where technology is headed. For medical aesthetics and wellness brands especially, that kind of third-party validation helps build the trust that patients and providers look for.

Relationships happen face to face

When I lived and worked in Japan as a researcher at Nagoya University, I learned how much weight the business card exchange carries. The meishi is offered with two hands, read carefully, and treated with respect, because it represents the person. The relationship begins in that moment, in person.

CES works on the same principle. A firm handshake, a real conversation at the booth, and a coffee between sessions create something an email never can. The people you meet in Las Vegas in January become the distributors, partners, investors, and media contacts who carry your brand through the rest of the year.

What Types of Companies Need to Be Represented at CES

CES is no longer just about televisions and smartphones. The show has grown into a showcase for how technology touches every part of daily life, including the industries we serve at JNR Communications.

Medical aesthetics and device companies. The Venetian Expo hosts digital health, wearables, and connected wellness, and that is where clinic-grade and at-home aesthetic technology increasingly lives. If your device uses light, energy, or AI-driven diagnostics, CES puts you in front of consumer tech reporters who rarely attend medical aesthetics conferences.

Beauty tech brands. At CES 2026, major beauty companies including L'Oréal and Amorepacific brought skin and hair technology to the show, with L'Oréal unveiling infrared light innovations. When global beauty leaders treat CES as a launch pad, it tells you exactly where beauty editors will be looking for trends.

Wellness, fitness, and sleep companies. Wearables, recovery tools, and sleep technology are some of the most heavily covered categories at the show, because they connect directly to how readers feel every day.

Healthcare technology companies. My own background is in healthcare technology education, and I can tell you that CES has become one of the most important places to introduce remote monitoring, patient engagement, and AI tools to a broader audience.

Startups and emerging brands. Eureka Park hosted 1,200 startups at CES 2026. For a young company, it is one of the most efficient ways to meet media, investors, and potential partners in a single trip.

Consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, home, and travel brands. Smart kitchen products, connected home services, and travel technology all compete for attention at CES. Hospitality and travel brands also benefit simply from being in the room with the people who shape the consumer experience.

How JNR Communications Helps CES Exhibitors Drive Media

Here is the hard truth I have watched play out year after year. Many exhibitors invest tens of thousands of dollars in booth space, travel, and displays, and then hope the media wanders by. Hope is not a strategy. The brands that earn coverage start building relationships long before they unpack a single box.

At JNR Communications, we treat CES as a campaign, not a four-day event.

Before the show. We begin roughly eight weeks out. We identify the reporters, editors, producers, and creators who cover your category and reach out with a story angle that is genuinely useful to them, not just a product announcement. We prepare your press kit, product visuals, and spokesperson talking points, and we secure booth visits, interviews, and desk-side briefings so your calendar is full before you arrive.

During the show. We help coordinate media appointments, keep your social channels active with real-time content, and connect you with Las Vegas media who cover CES from a local angle. My partner Jennifer Rice brings nearly 30 years of media relationships to this work, and those relationships are what turn a cold pitch into a conversation.

After the show. This is where most exhibitors drop the ball. We follow up within 48 hours with every meaningful media contact, deliver assets reporters requested, and keep the conversation going so a single booth visit can turn into ongoing coverage throughout the year.

What If You Are Not Exhibiting at CES?

This is the part most businesses overlook. You do not need a booth to benefit from CES. When 7,000 media professionals gather around one set of trends, they need context, commentary, and outside voices to make sense of it all. Your brand can provide that from anywhere.

Offer expert commentary. Reporters covering beauty tech, wellness devices, and digital health need experts to explain what the trends mean for real people. A dermatologist, plastic surgeon, or med spa owner who can speak clearly about at-home devices versus in-office treatments is a valuable source during CES week.

Join the conversation thoughtfully. Tie your brand's expertise to the trends coming out of the show. A post or pitch titled "What CES Beauty Tech Means for Your Skin" is timely and helpful. Generic noise is not.

Engage online. Follow the show hashtag, comment on posts from journalists and attendees, and share helpful takeaways with your audience. Thoughtful engagement during CES week puts you in front of people who are paying close attention.

Meet the people who will be in town. Many decision makers fly into Las Vegas for CES even if their companies are not exhibiting. If you know a buyer, distributor, or referral partner will be here, set up a quiet coffee or dinner away from the crowds. Some of the most valuable relationships I have built started exactly this way.

Plan your post-CES story. In the weeks after the show, consumer and trade outlets publish trend roundups. Pitching your perspective then can earn coverage while the topic is still fresh.

Givers Gain, Even at the Biggest Show on Earth

The best networkers I know go into CES asking a simple question: how can I be helpful? Introduce a reporter to a source they need. Connect two founders who should know each other. Share a useful insight without asking for anything in return.

That generosity is what people remember. In a city full of pitches, being the person who gives first is how you build relationships that last long after the booths come down.

CES 2027 is less than three months away. The media calendars are already filling up. Whether you are exhibiting or staying home, now is the time to decide how your brand will show up.

Ready to make CES 2027 work for your brand? JNR Communications helps medical aesthetics, beauty, wellness, medical device companies & CPG brands build the media relationships that turn big moments into lasting visibility. Let's build your relationship infrastructure together.

✉️ Greg@JNRcommunications.com | 🌐 JNRcommunications.com