Not just biz processes, entire economy becoming digitised: dmexco Directors

The countdown for dmexco has started, as digital marketing experts from around the world will gather in Cologne, Germany from September 16-17, 2015. Christian Muche, Director Business Development, Strategy & International dmexco, and Frank Schneider, Director Marketing, Sales & Operations dmexco talk about the outlook for this year’s event.

The expo this year will use a fourth hall this year as the three previous halls no longer offer sufficient space. Speaking about what is new this year at the expo, Mr Muche and Mr Schneider say, “Our Start-up Village will feature many new and interesting startups such as calovo, zoobax, Favendo, pixx.io, pag.es, Maloon, EYEVIDO, Jinni, and Sprinkle. dmexco has also become more international and now boasts many new exhibitors. In addition, the area of the joint stands for exhibitors from Austria, Switzerland, and France has been doubled. The top-notch dmexco Conference Program with distinguished speakers such as Sir Martin Sorrell, Yannick Bolloré, Kate Kui, and Adam Bain will present to visitors a huge array of new ideas, innovations, technologies, and topics related to the global digiconomy.”

This year the exhibition has more than 850 exhibitors from Germany and abroad and is expected to welcome more than 32,000 trade visitors from all over the world. Speaking about the growth expected this year, Mr Muche and Mr Schneider say, “We’re well on our way to setting new records. All indications point to us growing in 2015 at a rate similar to what we’ve seen over the past five years, and we therefore expect exhibitor and visitor numbers to increase by ten to 15 per cent. This means that dmexco will be packed this year — even with the fourth hall that we’re using for the first time. Still, growth in terms of quantity is not our only goal, as we also of course do everything we can to continually improve the quality of the event.”

The event this year seeks to ‘build bridges to the digiconomy’. Explaining the buzzword ‘digiconomy’, Mr Muche and Mr Schneider say, “Unstoppable, interactive, and complex digital forces are now impacting the entire global economy — and not just in specific markets. The digitisation of all aspects of life and the tremendous technological advances we’re seeing are not only leading to the creation of new business models; they are also changing the established predominant economic structures, and even economic legislation. These changes are of a fundamental nature in many cases. It’s not just business processes that are becoming digitised; it’s the entire economy. The term digiconomy as a combination of digital and economy perfectly describes this situation. Disdainfully referring to it as a buzzword flies in the face of reality.”

“The digiconomy has created a situation in which companies with the greatest amount of physical capital are not necessarily the only organizations that are successful. The value created by the digital economy is based to a significant extent on a wide variety of mindsets — models that are often disruptive and that generate amazing new economic potential. dmexco is where this new economy becomes visible in the exposition and conference, where trends become recognizable, and where visitors from around the world are provided with helpful orientation and relevant information on the digital business models,” they added.

Speaking about its motto ‘Bridging Worlds’, the Directors say, “The motto describes very well the type of networking that is becoming more and more important as the digital transformation of the global economy proceeds. To bridge those distances that still exist, be they spatial, ideological, commercial, or personal, dmexco establishes key connections between the relevant worlds: Between brand companies, media, agencies, technology suppliers, and startups. Between all continents and markets. Between consumer worlds and cultures. Between established business models of the old economy and innovations of the new economy.”

The Directors feel that the event acts as a key bridge for usefully connecting and bringing together the ever broadening economic sectors and successfully assisting them as they move into the digiconomy era.

“In our view, dmexco is about much more than just the Internet; we’re talking about the digitisation of the entire economy here. Since no one — no individual, company, business model, economic sector, or market — can escape the digital transformation, the marketing and communication companies that come to dmexco do so in order to learn about what are additional and in some cases completely new possibilities for making contact with consumers and people in general. We believe that only a small number of such possibilities have yet been exploited. This is because many companies are still coming to terms with the inevitable transformation process, and some technological developments are also just now becoming suitable for large-scale use. A good example of this is offered by the Internet of Things, which because of what I’ve been talking about we also like to refer to as the Internet of Marketing Things,” Mr Muche and Mr Schneider added.

The conference will be focussing on the transformation of the global economy into a digital economy. Mr Muche and Mr Schneider explain, “dmexco is where this new economy becomes visible in the exposition and conference, where visitors from around the world are provided with helpful orientation and relevant information for the digital business models. Further key topics and trends include broadcasting & video, connected life & connected home, content marketing & creativity / storytelling, data, e-commerce & retail, Internet of Things, marketing automation, mobile & mobility, and programmatic. The dmexco exhibitor search feature and, of course, the Conference Program offer a very good overview of the variety of topics highlighted at dmexco.”

Speaking about their next satellite list, after the events organised in Asia and North America, Mr Muche and Mr Schneider say, “dmexco is now well positioned in North America, and we’ve taken initial steps in Asia. The satellites are and will remain important building blocks; there’s still a great deal of development potential in Asia especially — for example, in China and Japan. In other words, we have plenty of options for additional satellite events. Just about every relevant company in the German-speaking world is represented at dmexco as an exhibitor, which means that further growth potential is to be found in greater internationalisation. This year, we have noticed a significant increase in interest in dmexco among companies from the U.S. and Israel. However, we also have several exhibitors from smaller markets such as Estonia, Finland, Malta, Ukraine, and Uruguay. This consistent development of dmexco as a leading international event for the global digiconomy is what continues to bring more trade visitors to Cologne.”

Via Digital Market Asia

Copenhagen INK

Lars is the owner of Copenhagen INK and is an experienced and passionate marketer with a proven track record of driving business impact through innovative commercial marketing initiatives.

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