I will be meeting the biggest visionaries, techies and creative thinkers of the world at the largest global digital marketing event of the year — dmexco 2016. I am eager to see the latest tech innovations, smart strategies and news for the business this year. Wearable gadgets, m-commerce, virtual reality, self-driven cars, the internet of things, programmatic and ad blockers among hundreds of other trends have all grown massively into our digital business this year, leading up to this year’s motto: “Digital is everything – not everything is digital”, a tribute to the influence that digitization is having on business and consumers.
Globally, digital marketing is constantly spreading like wildfire, and this trade fair is a boom of international collaboration and competition. As products and communication are increasingly digitally driven, innovation has become at the heart of the business. The content of the conference will reveal what is happening in our industry today. We used to talk about display and targeting, now we are talking about a significant digital marketing ecosystem, content and automation. We are currently at a new tipping point with challenges such as ad fraud and viewability on the one side, and relevance and budget considerations on the other. How do we unlock the full potential of media buying across this ecosystem?
For most people in my position, a platform like dmexco is a way to further expand my knowledge in this extremely fast-moving and dynamic industry, and understanding our next steps as marketers, and the importance of adaptation in the day-to-day operations. Take virtual reality for example. This has to be the most important platform for content creators and marketers to emerge over the next decade. Today’s consumer is placing more value on emotion and experience. How are brands going to embrace VR and help define the marketplace as it develops in real-time? What are the newest ways to engage them?
As I gear up for the forum, I would say I am mostly interested in discovering the latest developments in mobile and tech and how we are moving forward in this mobile first world, as brands and as consumers. I am looking forward to discussions with different professionals in the industry, from across markets, and to get their views on the current opportunities and challenges we are coming to face with this year.
Finally, I am looking forward to some of the speakers that the forum has invited this year. The line-up is intriguing, with international world-class individuals on one stage, providing us with their most exciting thoughts.
