The Changing Face of DMEXCO

As long-time visitors to DMEXCO - Digital Marketing Expo & Conference , we wanted to see if the event was still worth attending.

So, we went to Cologne to find out—and we were pleasantly surprised.

Key Takeaways:

• DMEXCO is quieter than it has been in the past. Yet it is still important if you’re doing business in Germany’s digital economy or the European programmatic advertising.
• Many attendees met or exceeded their meeting goals and expect a positive return on investment (ROI) from attending.
• The event has expanded to cover three halls, with more content and presentations integrated into the show floor.
• Fringe events, like parties and meetups, are more creative and popular, with the official party still drawing big crowds.

Attendance & Major Brands

Though the event feels smaller, it’s actively trying to reinvent itself. ?It suffers from the loss of some key booth real estate spenders. In the past Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising would take a quarter of a hall. Yet Amazon Ads also do not need to sell themselves and could settle for a smaller booth. Consolidation aside, big names like Snap Inc. , and Pinterest were present. As were those introducing ad-funded tiers in the last year. Hello Netflix and Disney Advertising .

Social media companies were underrepresented compared to ad spend in social. For instance, X were absent, TikTok hosted a session but didn’t have a booth, and Meta , a Bronze sponsor in 2023?was notably without a booth. Meta’s absence impacted its business partners, who typically would attend to connect with the company. But, these companies, (i.e., Sprinklr , SCHEMA M GmbH , Making Science , Spacedome Media GmbH , and CROSSMEDIA Deutschland ) failed to promote their services to activate on Meta’s inventory.

Missing Programmatic Vendors

Some important brands in programmatic advertising, like The Trade Desk and Azerion , didn’t have stands. Nexxen and NextRoll were missing too. In emerging areas like audio, brands like Spotify Advertising were also missing from the show floor. In the Connected TV space, companies like LG Ad Solutions and Samsung Ads only hosted highly educational Masterclass sessions. They didn’t have stands to showcase their devices and ad products.

Expanded Content Agenda

While the layout of the halls hasn’t changed much, the number of content stages within the halls has grown significantly. There were 471 sessions across 18 stages over two days. This makes DMEXCO one of the largest digital marketing learning events of the year. Yet, many attendees I spoke to admitted they had never attended a session this year or in the past. Even though the content presentations are open to all attendees and do not cost extra.

The talks I attended ranged from short 10-minute pitches from Start-Up Village attendees to 45-minute MasterClass sessions. Most were panel discussions, lectures, or case studies. Each session was held in German or English without translations. Content sessions could be bookmarked in the DMEXCO app for an agenda and reminders.

The app also offered a map and messaging features. I have been told that all content sessions will be ‘available after the show’, but no date or confirmation on translation has been provided.

Hall Overview

Hall 8 – World of Agencies and Media: As always, this is the home of key German sales houses such as United Internet and Axel Springer, TV Broadcasters, ad agencies, DOOH platforms, retail media networks and a strategically positioned stand from Teads. There were five stages including the Collective Stage.

Hall 7- World of e-commerce: This is the home of e-commerce such as Shopify, Start Up Village, VR exhibitors and an oversize Food court. There were six stages including the E-Commerce and Start up Stage.

Hall 6 - World of Tech: This is the home of Adtech. You will find SSPs, DSPs, Software development companies using OpenRTB or Header Bidding, Salesforce, data vendors, verification vendors and others in the room. There were five stages including the Centre stage and Google Masterclasses.

In-between the halls, a fairground ride had been added to the food and drink stands. These spaces were very well utilized as the weather was a warm and sunny 22-25C.

Unlike previous years, there was no other event taking place simultaneously at Koln Messe. This can increase the pressure on local accommodation and entertainment venues. Foot traffic walking past Halls 1-5 and 9-11 towards the South Entrance facing the railway station at K?ln Messe/Deutz

Walking the halls now looks like this. Sometimes, like this one (Agencies stage, Hall 6), they were open and within the crowd. This wasn’t as problematic as you may first believe.

One resourceful booth owner opposite one of these stages told me how they managed to avoid their client chats from being overpowered by the volume of event content. Within the opening hour, the stage manager was location. The difficulty to speak with guests on the stand was shared and an invitation was delivered. When possible, the booth owner proposed, come over for a coffee and a spot of breakfast on me. Upon arrival a few minutes later, the stage manager learnt the hospitality offer has been extended to any other direct reports. Some swag may have also been produced. It was during this short refuelling session that the stage manager proposed to correct the stage volume.

Suggested Improvements:

1. Ladies’ Bathroom Queues: Excessive lines need to be addressed. Events should welcome all attendees. If there is an imbalance between allocation and attendee volume, prepare for it.
2. Ticket Pricing: The variable cost of tickets makes it hard to plan attendance. Lowering prices could attract more people.
3. Eco Footprint: The app contains free public transport for show days. Could this be expanded to cover local travel before and after the event too?

Separately, Train travel costs from the UK, Netherlands, and Austria are prohibitively high. It pushes people to fly. DMEXCO could work with train operators Deutsche Bahn / Eurostar / NS / ?BB to offer discounts or a flat fee for attendees.

Fringe Events

Fringe events, such as parties and meetups outside the official show, continue to be valuable networking opportunities. For visitors to Germany, the trip is often 2 days + and with no BidSwitch Express to call upon from London, or 汉莎航空 Flying Lab to board from New York City, the post-covid fringe agenda at DMEXCO changed.

Some events, like VideoWeek 's conference, which was excellent on Tuesday 17th September, have become must-attend gatherings for those in the video advertising sector. Top billing went to presentations and panels covering market trends for TV being programmativised into CTV. Yet, inviting a lawyer to explain the legal cases in adtech helped many understand the context of the DOJ vs Google base in the trade news now. To see Fringe events embraced and promoted in the app was excellent. A wine tasting, climbing wall event, a run, brewery tour and of course several happy hours. Competition for your time is intense Tuesday and Wednesday, however no one hosted any event on Thursday evening which presents an opportunity for next year.

Swag of the Year 2024 Winner: TripleLift

There may have been swag of higher value to its recipient or greater cost. The winner in my view was the bag issues by Triplelift. Despite a crowded show floor, this colourful little bag is attention-stealing and was EVERYWHERE!

Conclusion

DMEXCO - Digital Marketing Expo & Conference may be smaller than its pre-COVID days, but it’s still a great place to connect with partners, find new business, and explore vendor solutions. Most attendees expect a good return on their investment, and the show is making positive changes with its focus on content and fringe events. Upon arrival home, I created a poll in the The Adtech Chat Community DMEXCO 2024 group. The results were unanimous. None of the thirty-six poll respondents (>5% sample of the group size) expect their visit to be a waste of time, money or energy for their business.

However, to bring back more attendees, DMexco needs to attract bigger players like Amazon, Meta, and TikTok to make investments that match their ad sales footprint. In addition, it needs to continue to improve its content offerings, advertise them and bring loyal, new and returning attendees into the content sessions.

In short, Dmexco is far from dead, but it remains short of its five-room peak. If DMEXCO will continue to innovate, the room for improvement will diminish. At that point, DMEXCO is a must-attend for the majority of European ad professionals again.

Did you attend DMexco 2024? Do you agree with our thoughts? Did you get ROI from taking time out of the office? Will you be returning next year? Please add your comments to this article and if you liked it, share it please!

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DigiCake are an independent AdTech consultancy. We help a variety of clients with ad strategy, activation planning and go-to-market. ?We specialize in OpenRTB formats of programmatic display, mobile app and Connected TV. We understand how the end-to-end processes work. We design and set them up for some, we fix them for others. Buying or Selling. This is why we are an approved specialist in AdTech antitrust cases, our other specialism.

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