Launching a consumer electronics product is one of the most competitive assignments in public relations.

Technology journalists and product reviewers are inundated with new products. Review units need to reach the right people at the right time. Embargoes, exclusives, demonstrations, awards, buying guides, media briefings, and launch-day coverage all need to work together. And even a genuinely innovative product can disappear quickly without the right story and PR strategy behind it.

Launch at CES, and the challenge becomes even greater.

Thousands of brands are competing for attention during one of the busiest technology news cycles of the year. Simply exhibiting at CES, issuing a press release, or inviting journalists to a booth isn’t enough.

That’s why choosing the right consumer electronics PR agency can have an enormous impact on a product launch.

The best agency isn’t necessarily the biggest. It’s the agency with the right combination of consumer technology experience, product-launch expertise, media and reviewer relationships, strategic thinking, creativity, senior-level involvement, and a track record of delivering measurable results.

At BIG FISH PR, we’ve spent more than 25 years helping innovative consumer technology companies launch products, build brands, earn influential media coverage, secure product reviews, and establish leadership in their categories.

Based on that experience, here are the qualities we believe companies should look for when selecting a PR agency to launch a consumer electronics product—at CES or anywhere else.

Look for Deep Consumer Electronics Experience

There is a significant difference between being a general technology PR agency and having substantial experience launching physical consumer technology products.

Consumer electronics PR requires an understanding of how journalists, reviewers, consumers, and increasingly AI-powered discovery platforms evaluate products.

An experienced agency should understand product review programs, review units, embargoes, demonstrations, product specifications, awards, buying guides, commerce content, gift guides, industry events, and the unique editorial calendars of consumer technology media.

Just as importantly, the agency should understand the many different categories within consumer technology.

BIG FISH’s experience includes consumer electronics, smart home and connected devices, consumer AI, audio, wearables, robotics, IoT, home security, automotive technology and mobility, health and wellness technology, hardware, pet technology, and other emerging technologies.

That breadth matters because every category requires a different approach.

A smart-home security device shouldn’t be launched the same way as a pair of headphones, an AI-powered appliance, a health wearable, or a new robotics platform.

Look for a PR Agency With a Proven Product Launch Process

A successful consumer electronics launch begins long before the press release goes live.

The best product launch PR agencies start by asking fundamental questions:

• Why does this product matter?
• What makes it genuinely different?
• Why should anyone care about it now?
• Who are the most important audiences?
• Which journalists and reviewers can influence those audiences?
• What story will make the product stand out from dozens, or hundreds, of competing announcements?

From there, the agency should build a detailed launch strategy covering positioning, messaging, media targets, timing, press materials, embargoes, exclusives, demonstrations, review units, executive interviews, awards, events, and follow-up.

At BIG FISH, we frequently begin media outreach weeks or months before a major consumer electronics launch. That allows journalists time to understand the product, experience it firsthand when appropriate, speak with company leadership, and prepare meaningful coverage for launch day.

Look for an Agency That Knows How to Get Products Covered and Reviewed

For consumer electronics brands, product reviews can be every bit as important as announcement coverage, and sometimes more important.

A launch story tells consumers that a product exists.

A trusted review can help convince them that it’s worth buying.

The best consumer electronics PR agencies should have established relationships with technology journalists, editors, product reviewers, commerce teams, and creators. They should understand who covers specific product categories, what those reviewers need, how far in advance they work, and how to manage review units professionally.

At BIG FISH, product review programs can include targeted reviewer outreach, product seeding, one-on-one demonstrations, briefings, review-unit logistics, follow-up, and continued outreach long after launch day.

This last point is critical.

Not every valuable review publishes during launch week. Some of the most influential opportunities develop over weeks or months as journalists test products, compare them with competitors, prepare buying guides, or revisit a category.

A strong agency keeps working after the initial launch excitement subsides.

If You’re Launching at CES, Look for Real CES PR Experience

CES deserves special consideration because it isn’t an ordinary product launch.

The competition for attention is enormous. Journalist schedules fill quickly. Award deadlines arrive well before the show. Embargoed briefings can begin months in advance. And waiting until January to start pitching is often far too late.

A strong CES PR agency should understand the entire show cycle:

• Pre-show strategy and positioning
• Embargoed media outreach
• Media appointment scheduling
• Product demonstrations
• Review units
• Press events
• Award submissions
• “Best of CES” opportunities
• On-site media relations
• Broadcast opportunities
• Daily follow-up
• And, critically, post-CES media relations

BIG FISH has represented technology brands at CES for more than two decades.

For TDM’s launch of Neo, premium headphones that transform into a portable Bluetooth speaker, BIG FISH began media outreach months before CES and coordinated more than 60 on-site media briefings.

The campaign generated 166 pieces of earned media coverage, nearly four billion potential impressions and 11 CES awards.

Coverage included The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Verge, Digital Trends, Fox News, Mashable, Yahoo Tech, and TechRadar.

Those results weren’t created during four days in Las Vegas.

They were the result of months of strategy, preparation, outreach, relationship building, and execution.

Look for National Media Relationships Across Multiple Categories

Consumer electronics products rarely fit neatly into one media category.

A compelling launch might have opportunities across:

• Technology media
• National consumer media
• Business publications
• Lifestyle outlets
• Broadcast television
• Trade media
• Product-review sites
• Commerce and shopping editors
• Podcasts
• Newsletters
• Creators and influencers

The best consumer electronics PR agency should understand how to tell different versions of the same story to different audiences without losing the core brand message.

BIG FISH has spent decades developing relationships across national technology, consumer, business, broadcast, and trade media.

That enables us to think beyond the obvious technology outlets and identify the broader cultural, business, lifestyle, and consumer stories that can dramatically expand a product’s reach.

Look for an Agency That Can Find the Story Beyond the Specifications

Consumer electronics companies naturally focus on their technology.

Journalists don’t always care.

Faster processors, longer battery life, better resolution, smaller dimensions, more sensors, and new features may be important—but specifications alone rarely create a great story.

Strong consumer electronics PR identifies the bigger idea.

• What problem does the product solve?
• What behavior is changing?
• Why does this technology matter now?
• Does the product represent a larger societal or consumer trend?
• Is there an interesting founder story?
• Is the company challenging an established category?
• Is the product doing something consumers didn’t previously know was possible?

The job of the PR agency is to translate technology into a story people want to hear.

At BIG FISH, we often describe that challenge simply:

Make your story impossible to ignore.

Look for Creativity, Not Just Media Lists

A great media list isn’t a PR strategy.

When hundreds of brands are pitching similar products to the same journalists, creativity matters.

The best agencies look for unexpected ways to create news and make products relevant. That can include original research, cultural trends, creative demonstrations, strategic partnerships, experiential campaigns, executive thought leadership, data, seasonal hooks, stunts, awards, and stories that connect the technology to larger conversations.

This becomes particularly important after launch.

Once the initial product announcement is over, an agency needs to continually find new reasons for journalists—and consumers—to care.

Look for Evidence of Outcomes, Not Just Capabilities

Almost every PR agency website promises strategic thinking, media relationships, storytelling, and great service.

Ask what those capabilities have actually produced.

Look for specific case studies and measurable outcomes.

BIG FISH’s work with Ring, for example, began with the company’s early video doorbell and continued through product launches, product reviews, funding announcements, business stories, and national media campaigns as Ring grew into a smart-home category leader.

Over the course of the relationship, BIG FISH generated more than 30,000 press hits and tens of billions of potential media impressions for Ring.

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff described the relationship this way:

“The BIG FISH PR team exceeds our expectations with every bit of news we throw at them and gets us press that creates long-term value for Ring.”

That’s the standard companies should apply when evaluating an agency.

Don’t simply ask what an agency says it can do.

Ask what it has actually accomplished for brands facing challenges similar to yours.

Look for Senior-Level Attention

One of the most important considerations when hiring a PR agency is often overlooked during the pitch process:

Who will actually work on your account?

The people presenting the agency’s capabilities aren’t always the people executing the campaign.

For a major consumer electronics launch, senior involvement can matter enormously. Messaging decisions, launch timing, media strategy, exclusives, embargoes, competitive positioning, and unexpected issues frequently require experienced judgment.

BIG FISH deliberately operates as an independent boutique agency.

That allows clients to work closely with experienced PR professionals while still benefiting from national media relationships and the capabilities expected from much larger firms.

For many companies, the ideal combination isn’t simply a large agency or a small agency.

It’s BIG agency outcomes with boutique agency service, which is what BIG FISH lives by.

Look for an Agency Focused on What Happens After Launch Day

A successful launch shouldn’t create three days of excitement followed by silence.

The best PR programs use launch day as the beginning of a longer communications campaign.

After the announcement, there should be additional opportunities:

• Product reviews.
• Buying guides.
• Product roundups.
• Awards.
• Gift guides.
• Customer stories.
• Executive thought leadership.
• Industry trends.
• Company milestones.
• Partnerships.
• Data and research.
• Seasonal opportunities.
• New product features and updates.

The objective is to turn initial awareness into sustained brand momentum.

This is especially important at CES.

CES can provide an extraordinary burst of visibility, but brands that treat the show as the entire PR strategy often miss much of its potential value.

CES is a moment. Building a brand takes a much longer time.

Look for an Agency That Understands How Product Discovery Is Changing

Consumers no longer discover products through one channel.

They move among journalism, product reviews, buying guides, social media, creators, search engines, Reddit, YouTube, word of mouth, and increasingly AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI experiences.

That makes credible third-party coverage increasingly valuable.

Earned media doesn’t simply reach the audience reading an article on publication day. It contributes to the broader body of authoritative information available online about a product, company, executive team, and brand.

That information can influence traditional search visibility as well as how brands and products are understood and surfaced by AI-powered discovery platforms.

The best consumer technology PR agencies should understand that connection among earned media, search visibility, authority, GEO, and AI discovery.

Ask the Right Questions Before Hiring a Consumer Electronics PR Agency

Before choosing an agency, ask:

• Does the agency have genuine consumer electronics experience?
• Can it show successful product launches and measurable outcomes?
• Does it have strong relationships with the journalists and reviewers who cover our category?
• Does it understand product reviews and review-unit programs?
• If we’re launching at CES, how many CES campaigns has the team actually managed?
• How early would the agency begin working before launch?
• Who will actually work on our account?
• How will success be measured?
• What happens after launch day?

And perhaps most importantly:

Does this agency understand what makes our product and our company genuinely interesting?

The Best Consumer Electronics PR Agency Should Help Build More Than a Launch

Launching a great consumer electronics product is difficult.

Building a great consumer technology brand is harder.

The right PR agency should be able to do both.

It should understand your technology deeply enough to identify what makes it different, understand journalists well enough to know what makes it newsworthy, understand consumers well enough to know what makes it relevant, and understand your business well enough to turn media attention into long-term value.

At BIG FISH PR, that’s what we’ve spent more than 25 years doing for innovative consumer technology companies. From early-stage disruptors launching their first products to established brands introducing their next generation of technology, our focus remains the same: Develop the right narrative. Get it in front of the right people. Deliver outstanding outcomes. And turn the momentum of a successful launch into lasting brand value.