CES 2015: LG’s G Flex 2 Makes a Spalsh on YouTube

CES 2015 has come and gone, but its impact on actual consumers continues to take shape far beyond the convention halls of Las Vegas. Ask yourself – if I couldn’t attend CES in person, where would I go to best experience all the latest gadgetry featured at the event? Well, until Oculus Rift can figure out how to transport the world virtually in real time (and they should really hurry it up already), frequent readers of the ZEFR Insights blog already know where to turn first: YouTube.

While any number of well-written “best-of” lists may provide a good snapshot of what caught the attendees’ attention, YouTube is the place to actually see the newest tech in action for yourself. YouTubers not only provide in-depth video reviews of the most-hyped products, but they also “vlog” about the experience itself, bringing viewers even closer to the action.

Using ZEFR’s BrandID tech, we ran a search of all CES 2015 related videos uploaded to the platform to see which brands, keywords, and trends resonated the most among the YouTube community at this year’s event.

First, here is a look at the overall CES 2015 numbers:

And, when looking through all these videos, a clear, somewhat surprising favorite emerged.

LG’s G Flex 2, the clear fan favorite

At the end of last week (January 9, 2015), when looking at the top keywords for all CES related videos on YouTube, here is how the top 5 words ranked:

1. CES 2015


2. LG G Flex 2


3. Las Vegas


4. Tech


5. Consumer Electronics Show

Notice that the G Flex 2 is the only product to make the list! The love for LG is further supported by the list of top brands for all CES 2015 YouTube videos:

1. LG


2. Sony


3. Samsung


4. BMW


5. AUDI


6. Mercedes-Benz


7. Asus


8. Intel


9. Lenovo


10. Google

Of all the hyped wearables and “internet of things” displayed last week, the fact that the second version of a curved mobile phone grabbed the most attention says a lot about either the phone, or the culture of CES 2015 as a whole. Either way, the YouTube community clearly liked what the product offered. Here are the overall numbers (so far) for the G Flex 2 at CES:

As for specific video examples of the new Flex, one of the best moments came when Lewis from Unbox Therapy, the same creator who launched the viral “iPhone 6 bend test” sensation, decided to inflict similar trauma upon the G Flex:

There are over 1,0000 comments on that fan video alone. Compare that to LG’s official CES video for the new Flex, which, although it has more views, has only 63 comments, indicating that LG likely ran the video as a TrueView ad. Regardless, it’s a great reminder of the power of fan-generated social video that consistently delivers more engagements than most “official” content.

A great fan-review video of the G Flex 2 comes from The Verge, who were seemingly everywhere at CES this year with 77 videos on their CES 2015 playlist (clocking in over five hours of coverage). Here is their review:

And here are a few of the best comments from fans:

How social video engages consumers

Again, what the LG experience at CES has reinforced is the power of social video to engage consumers. Once the YouTube community got their hands on the G Flex 2, it emerged as a surprising favorite to some who were looking for the “next big thing” at CES. Instead of focusing on over-hyped wearables, fans seemed to appreciate the simple beauty of the curve. It represented a piece of tech that consumers could engage with immediately. Moreover, the social, authentic atmosphere generated on the YouTube platform makes LG’s success this year all the more impressive. It will be interesting to see how this buzz continues to build over the course of the year.

CES 2015: LG’s G Flex 2 Makes a Spalsh on YouTube