New major event for the Zurich digital industry

Roger Baur, Managing Director IAB Switzerland (left) and Frank Schneider, Initiator Dmexco (right)

Once again, the world's largest digital event, Dmexco in Cologne, broke all organizer and visitor records. Switzerland was also present this year with an expanded pavilion of the industry association IAB Switzerland and numerous partner companies. There is great interest in the exchange of information. That's why the organizers of Dmexco, together with IAB Switzerland, are offering a "Dmexco Satellite" in Zurich on February 22, 2017. The Satellite is intended to become a meeting place for industry specialists.

Frank Schneider, you founded Dmexco eight years ago together with Christian Muche and managed to turn Cologne into a place of pilgrimage for the global digital industry within a few years in September. Can you now rest on your success?

Frank Schneider: We are very proud that Dmexco is now one of the leading global events for the digital economy. It is not without reason that it is now mentioned in the same breath as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the Cannes Lions as the most important events in the digital hemisphere. Nevertheless, Dmexco is not a foregone conclusion: Christian and I are regularly on tour for more than half a year and talk to the global players of the digital industry in order to sound out the central topics of the global digital economy. Behind the success of Dmexco is above all the motivation to create something big. And that from the very beginning: At a time when the digital industry was reinventing itself and marketing needed to be rethought, we launched Dmexco as a completely new combination of trade show and conference. I have already been active in the trade fair business since 1999 - and here in particular in the development, implementation and positioning of trade fairs in the field of the digital economy. But Dmexco will always remain something very special for me.

What is your résumé for this year's Dmexco? Given the size, is it still possible to find your way around the trade fair as an exhibitor or visitor and benefit from the countless panels?

Frank Schneider: Dmexco 2016 has surpassed everything the global digital economy has seen so far. With a new exhibitor record of 1013 exhibitors from all over the world, a visitor record of 50,700 visitors and more than 570 international top speakers, Dmexco has once again underlined its national and international leadership role for the digital economy. All the major brands and the leading top decision-makers from all sectors of the global economy gathered at Dmexco 2016 to translate the most important digital trends into real business. As far as the size of Dmexco is concerned: Our claim is to represent all the decisive trends of the global digital economy in just one place. So it is absolutely clear that it is hardly possible for an individual to visit all exhibitors and program items at Dmexco. Instead, every visitor receives a unique variety from which they can pick out the topics and minds that are relevant to them.

Roger Baur, you are the Managing Director of IAB Switzerland and are present at Dmexco with an increasingly large stand. As a small country, does Switzerland manage to get noticed at this global event?

Roger Baur: The Swiss Pavilion at Dmexco has continued to grow over the last three years and this year we had the most successful pavilion since the beginning with our stand of over 140 m2, where twelve partner companies were able to present themselves. All our partners were very satisfied and I had some conversations with Swiss companies that have never been to Dmexco before. They are now considering attending next year as well. I am very pleased about that and I am proud that we Swiss are also represented as a country at the trade fair. The presence at Dmexco helps our country to gain international attention. This year, we had many visitors from China, Israel, Russia and the USA who were looking for contact with Swiss companies.

On February 22, 2017, Dmexco will come to Zurich with its Satellite Event. What significance do these events have for the internationalization of Dmexco and what role do the local partners play in this?

Frank Schneider: Together with IAB Switzerland, we have decided to establish a new event in Zurich. Part of this event will be the Dmexco Satellite, which will represent the international share of the event. We are taking a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, we are building a new event for the entire market in partnership with IAB, and on the other hand, we want to fuel international exchange by establishing the Dmexco Satellite. We have had good experience in this regard, with the successful Dmexco Satellite events contributing to further expansion around the globe. In positioning our event globally, it was always important for us to work with a partner who knows the local market and players very well. With IAB Switzerland, we have the perfect partner at our side.

Can you already tell us details about the satellite event in Zurich?

Frank Schneider: Preparations for the Swiss dmexco Satellite in Zurich are already in full swing. However, the program planning has not yet been completed. Nevertheless, I can reveal it already now: Guests can once again expect an inspiring day with exclusive networking opportunities at the highest level and exciting talks and discussions about the most important global topics in the digital economy. You can look forward to it!

In recent years, the number of major events in the "digital" thematic area has also risen sharply in Switzerland. How will the Dmexco Satellite differ from the previous events? Which target group are you aiming at?

Frank Schneider: The new show brings together selected decision-makers from the Swiss - and international - digital economy for an exclusive event in a relaxed atmosphere. Our differentiation in the market is clear, because we are where business is initiated and concluded. We started Dmexco with this idea in mind, and after just 8 years we have been able to establish it as the world's leading event for the digiconomy. Focusing on business will also be a key part of the new event in Zurich. To this end, we have come up with business lounges that will offer our top partners the opportunity to do good business. By the way: if you still want to be there you have to hurry, there are only a few free places left.

The previous Digital Marketing Summit with the subsequent presentation of the "Digital Marketing Award" will be cancelled this year and merged into the new event. Will the awards ceremony take place in the usual setting?

Roger Baur: That's right - we have decided to merge the event and the award and present them as part of the new event, which will take place in February each year. The awards will also be redefined and more awards will be created in addition to the "Marketer of the Year" and the "Newcomer of the Year". I am looking forward to the new format and the new awards!

Where does the Swiss market stand in the field of digital marketing - where should it (ideally) develop?

Roger Baur: This is a question I hear every week from customers and members. In Switzerland, we have grown strongly in digital marketing in recent years, but unfortunately we are still far behind the global average. I wish we would be more courageous and try out new concepts. When I see how far our colleagues in Germany have come with programmatic advertising, I'm sure there are 2 years between them. I would like to see us get even more involved in digital marketing, dare more and break new ground!

What trend in digital marketing are you most concerned with at the moment?

Frank Schneider: From artificial intelligence to programmatic to virtual reality: the trend topics at Dmexco 2016 were broad and extremely diverse. We were able to experience two of the hottest trends in global digital business at dmexco in the specially designed Experience Hall and Motion Hall: The current developments and marketing opportunities of a new type of customer experience in the environment of forward-looking technologies, as well as the increasingly important area of original digital video will certainly keep the industry on its toes for quite some time.

Roger Baur: At the moment, for us it's definitely programmatic advertising with all its influences, such as data, visibility and fraud. These are all topics that require a lot of clarification and close cooperation between all parties within programmatic advertising. It is the customers, agencies as well as the publishers who have to look for solutions together.

Interview: Kristina Kaiser