LAS VEGAS—Amid the teeming mass of months-old technologies here at CES is one that's more than 5,000 years old. And without it, so many modern-day marvels would be useless.
Glass is still not commonly thought of as a tech product, even though you touch it every time you swipe a phone, and look through it every time you get behind the wheel of a car.
But Corning, the 166-year-old glass maker, based in the town of the same name in western New York state, has been changing that perception in recent years with a fascinating marketing campaign pitching the 21st century as "The Glass Age."
Corning's Gorilla Glass is the market leader in mobile-device cover glass. And the company came to CES with grand plans for expanding that technology into one of the hottest tech sectors at the show—automotive.
Yes, Corning brought its own concept car to CES. And it's a fascinating machine indeed. It comes with a Gorilla Glass hybrid windshield that's lightweight to improve fuel efficiency and also has augmented reality capabilities; a seamless, flowing Gorilla Glass dashboard offering fully integrated connectivity; and Gorilla Glass hybrid sunroof and backlites.
Adweek visited the Corning booth at CES on Friday and spoke with Jeff Evenson, the company's chief strategic officer, about the concept car—including who it's aimed at—as well as Corning's "Glass Age" marketing more generally. He also discusses some home-based glass technologies that Corning is also pioneering.
Check out that video above.
And for more about Corning's past marketing triumphs, check out 2011's "A Day Made of Glass" (at 26 million views, it's one of the most viral corporate B2B videos ever made), 2013's weird and wonderful "Brokeface" ads, and 2014's fun glass demo videos with the Mythbusters guys.
