With three towers rising 27 feet above a convention center floor, 3M is aiming to make a big splash at CES, the huge electronics expo in Las Vegas next week.
Amid a crowded exhibit hall alongside many of the world's biggest brands in personal tech, 3M hopes to draw customers and consumers who might know the company only as the Post-it people — or worse as those PFAS folks.
"It's a reintroduction," said Collin Hummel, 3M's senior manager of brand sponsorships. "We're answering the question, 'Why is 3M at CES?' And once you explain it, it makes complete sense because so much of what they see there, we play a part in."
Maplewood-based 3M is a major player in electronics — it was a $3.3 billion business in 2022 — but many of its products are components used by other well-known brands, limiting consumer awareness.
With one tower coated in greenery, another in reflective road materials and another decorated with various films used in TV screens, cellphones and electric vehicles, the focus will be on sparking conversations to re-frame how people think about 3M.
"We stand out, literally, when you walk in," Hummel said. "And this isn't us just rehashing products that we've talked about at CES in the past. This is an all-new focus."
CES is often a launchpad for new products that set the tone for the year to come in tech. 3M will be unveiling a communications headset that uses indoor or outdoor light to charge — the first of its kind in the world, which will be "a real game-changer," said Peter Berghamn, business director of 3M's Peltor brand of headsets.
Made in collaboration with Swedish firm Exeger, the "light-harvesting" headsets contain all the other modern features for worksite communications gear, like Bluetooth, noise canceling, glove-friendly buttons and ambient microphones to hear surroundings without taking off the headphones.
