Upcoming Trade Shows Köln, Germany for Marketing

In addition to the exciting world of film and IT, the marketing industry has entrenched itself in Cologne in no small part to DMEXCO - a defining event for the advertising and digital economy. Each edition revolves around a theme for 2024, the theme was “Prompting the Future.” The conference brought together more than 850 global speakers, 680 exhibitors, and thousands of attendees eager to explore the latest trends in digital marketing. Key themes ranged from artificial intelligence and sustainability to retail media and programmatic advertising. Artificial intelligence was the dominant force at this year’s event. Brendon Kraham, Google’s Vice President of Search & Commerce Global Ads Solutions, opened the event with a keynote speech on AI’s transformative potential. According to Kraham, AI is revolutionising the way companies connect with consumers and is fundamentally reshaping online advertising and search as we speak. Cologne’s marketing industry has already felt the deep impact on day-to-day tasks and workflow. One of the standout innovations this year was the inaugural CMO Summit, a forum designed to bring together high-level marketing leaders from global companies. Here, executives such as Dr. Christian Hahn of Deutsche Telekom AG and Elisa Gregori from Nestlé shared insights into pressing challenges facing modern marketing. Hahn highlighted how data-driven branding and AI are becoming vital tools for understanding consumer behaviour, while Kerstin Köder, CMO of SAP SE for Middle & Eastern Europe, stressed on the necessity of continuous transformation in corporate culture. The Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) Summit also stood out as a must-attend feature at DMEXCO, as this advertising segment is rapidly expanding, utilising the digital industry’s technological backbone. DOOH enables marketers to deliver tailored, real-time advertisements across various public platforms, from billboards to urban screens, allowing brands to reach targeted audiences with precision. Björn Kaspring of Ströer Media Solutions emphasised the potential for mixed-format campaigns to combine reach with data-driven targeting.