TLDR: Dmexco drowns in its own success and falls back into the online ghetto in the process. Online marketing relies on automation, the black box is getting bigger.
1. the trade fair: Bigger, more international, flatter.
The number of international visitors grew strongly. The number of interesting discussions and, for all to see, the time spent at the stands shrank by the same factor.
2. diversity? Too much software, too little soft power.
What does it take for names like Salesforce, Oracle and SAP to become interesting splashes of color? A gray drumbeat of one-dimensional software solutions for the same old problem: digital automation, automation, automation...
3rd automation: Loud offers without inquiries.
The discussion was no longer "whether" algorithms should control the bulk of the digital marketing budget in real time, but only "when" it will finally be ready. It's all about cost reduction and returns on investment on the part of the providers - nothing else. Questions of meaning, e.g., about the actual added value of targeting offers, are no longer asked. Instead, a one-sided focus on real-time can be observed.
4th Media: Nothing New in the West.
On the media and marketer side, there was no new impetus on the critical topics of targeting or moving image currency, nor was there any other discernible program.
5. rare: Digital innovation.
Anyone who really wanted to see what was new in the digital filter bubble had to go where there was no more hype in sight, pure play e-commerce and e-dialog marketing, for example. Here, there was what really mattered: Innovation pressure and solutions for integrating offline/online.
Conclusion:
Dmexco is drowning in its own success and falling back into the online ghetto in the process. A leading trade fair for digital innovations in marketing (not sales meeting) cannot develop in this way. For this, Dmexco 14 offered too little holistic and thus forward-looking food for thought.
Alternative trade shows and formats therefore have a good chance in 2015. Above all, ideas, concepts and tools for better management decisions are in demand. Because these will be more in demand than ever in the future: