Digital is better" sang the Hamburg band Tocotronic back in 1995, but under certain circumstances digital is unfortunately not always better: the organizers decided to take "digitalization" literally and completely reject cash payments at the OMR Festival. Instead, they opted for cashless payment via chip bracelet. This was intended to significantly speed up processes such as check-in or payment at the stands. What sounded like a clever digital move at the planning stage unfortunately came back like a boomerang: the booking system failed completely, meaning that not only did the check-in process for waiting visitors drag on, but visitors were simply unable to pay at any of the stands. So the organizers had no choice but to consistently announce over the loudspeakers in true rock star style that all drinks and food would be provided free of charge on the first day. Needless to say, this was met with great applause.
The first impression as we walked through the main hall was clear. All the well-known companies in the digital sector and also some of those at the beginning of digitalization were there. Audi, for example, presented its digital transformation offensive: A7 piloted driving - the car that will one day drive autonomously. Facebook designed its trade fair stand as a mixture of Starbucks and Apple Store. Using a Facebook Messenger chatbot, visitors were able to order free coffee and vary it according to their preferences. Unfortunately, Facebook had not protected or encrypted the backend of the software, so some visitors had fun deleting other people's orders from the system.
Yahoo and Google focused more on the essentials and were represented with their own panels to sell their digital products to the interested crowd in person.
Data, data, data - big data
The Expo hall was filled with exhibition stands from agencies, start-ups and companies from the analytics sector. In general, the topic of big data, tracking and analytics was omnipresent, regardless of whether it was about tracking users via mobile ads in apps, screening user journeys and evaluating them or tracking the apps of competitors. The second day of the OMR was much more exclusive and went one better. Not only did cashless payments now work without any problems, but the opening of the large hall with a stage worthy of a rock star also gave the event a completely new character. The day was characterized by keynotes from the big players in online marketing. OMR founder Philipp Westermeyer himself kicked things off with an honest look at the current state of the "German Internet".
The presentation by Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, was eagerly awaited. The article "Ich habe nur gezeigt, dass es die Bombe gibt", which is about his company and its activities in the US election campaign, was one of the most shared articles on Facebook in Germany last year. In his presentation, big data specialist Nix explained step by step which methods and data the company uses to influence customers' purchasing and voting decisions. The audience's reaction was divided. When asked whether he was happy that Trump had won the election, the audience applauded loudly, but the Brit did not get involved in the discussion and replied diplomatically "I'm happy that we did a good job." .
Influencers - the new online marketing rock stars
Another favorite topic of discussion at OMR 17 was "influencer marketing". Professionally operated, this is a sub-category of content marketing. The organic reach of company pages on Facebook and Instagram is almost non-existent due to news feed algorithms. An exception to this is a large beverage manufacturer, whose high-quality and expensively produced video content on sporting events still regularly appears in users' news feeds. In order to achieve organic reach despite this situation, the marketing world is now targeting the hotly tipped "influencers". These - mostly still very young adults - were out and about at the trade fair with selfie sticks and smartphones, talking about their successful collaborations with brands such as dm. Marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk, who has millions of fans on his own social media channels, advised the audience to actively integrate influencer marketing into their marketing mix. He provided the reason for this in his presentation: "Influencer marketing is highly underpriced and a lot of them do not know how to deal shit."
Conclusion of our internet agency - the new online marketing rock stars
There is hardly any other event in Germany outside the online marketing sector that does the balancing act between entertainment and knowledge transfer as well as the OMR in Hamburg. OMR is an absolute must for digital agencies. It is therefore fitting that Fanta4 storm the conference stage as a surprise performance and that Beginner deliver a proper after-show. For an internet agency, the Online Marketing Rockstars offer exciting impulses to think outside the box.