How our partners have shown up at OMR 2023

I was excited to attend OMR in Hamburg for the first time. Having gone to DMEXCO last year and not seeing a large partner presence there, I was curious about what to expect from OMR, a festival for movers and shakers from across the digital and marketing space. Well, let me say I was overwhelmed by the amount of energy and the “festival-like” atmosphere that OMR provided. Everything from the walk to the venue (a nice 20 minutes from my hotel), to the festival logistics (loved the wristband for entry and to pay for things), to the food and beverage stalls set up around the event, was well thought out. With over 73,000 people in attendance, it did feel crowded on the exhibition floor at peak times.  

The ability to see our partners (Reddit, Snap, Pinterest, Google, Meta, TikTok) all within a 5-minute walk made these two days very productive. The serendipity of running into a friend from a platform and having a 5-10 minute conversation was much more productive than expected. Much like Cannes, it felt like our partners were there to actually drive business forward. 

My 3 takeaways

• In the startup hall specifically, AI was predominant in most of the startups around digital (generative AI, AI music creation, etc.)
  • It is clear that there will be “AI” focused companies popping up all over the world.  The unique correlation between all of the segmented AI focused companies is that there still needs to be an input, regardless of category.  This is (a bit) reassuring for now, as AI will no doubt help augment and support our productivity, but not (not yet anyway) fully replace.
• The platforms are strong anchors to the festival. While some activations were very large (GLO, Audi, for instance), the platforms kept it modest (obvious given the budget constraints), but stayed true to themselves.
  • Meta for instance had a VR activation for visitors
  • TikTok had a place to make TikToks and publish to accounts
  • Reddit was steeped in awareness with a video activation where you could upvote or downvote subreddits
  • Snap had an AR shopping activation
• The split between German and English content was about 70/30 German to English, and in spite of not being a German speaker I was able to find a ton of value from the content. Sessions like “It’s Possible with Pinterest” with Pinterest Chief Content Officer, Malik Ducard, highlighted Pinterest as a place where consumers go with an open, discovery-oriented mindset and how Pinterest is able to push (gently) them through the funnel.   

OMR kicked off the event season for me; next up on my agenda are Advertising Week Europe where VidMob will be on stage with Kraft Heinz and the Cannes Lions Festival. Hope to reconnect with even more friends there!  In the meantime, I will be working on my German in advance of OMR 2024.