Not too way back, Dmexco was thought of the intestine of advert tech — crowded, chaotic and central to the {industry}’s ahead momentum. It was the place offers had been sparked, rivalries performed out and the way forward for programmatic was loudly debated.
Lately, it’s nonetheless the place enterprise will get finished, however more and more for a narrower slice of the ecosystem. The remaining – like Kochava, YieldMo, Dept and LiveRamp – are sitting out this yr.
“After we analyzed occasion efficiency from the earlier two years in preparation for 2025, Dmexco didn’t make the lower,” mentioned Kimberly Manning, vp of promoting at advert measurement agency Kochava.
That’s not say Dmexco, this yr happening on Wednesday and Thursday, is off the map for good – Manning left the door open for a return. And it’s not so simple as Cannes or Attainable taking its place – Kochava was at each. What’s occurring isn’t substitution, It’s fragmentation. The {industry} isn’t rallying round one tentpole occasion anymore. It’s dispersing, with firms making selective bets based mostly on efficiency, not ritual.
“We now have additionally seen loads of {industry} reveals change – the make-up of who attends, the entry and networking alternatives, and the general worth,” continued Manning.
Even amongst these nonetheless attending Dmexco, the presence is extra restrained.
“This yr, 5 of us from Model Metrics can be at Dmexco,” mentioned director of buyer operations. Johan Peterson. Identical as final yr. In a yr of pullbacks, holding regular is its personal sign.
“We’ve been attending for a few years, however over the past three, we’ve actually refined our function there, continued Peterson. “As a substitute of attempting to make noise on the exhibition ground with out an enormous stand or funds, we now concentrate on what issues most — spending time with our clients and diving into the conversations that matter proper now, from first-party knowledge methods to predictive model elevate.”
Others echoed the identical sentiment.
“I’ve seen the highlight shift from a giant U.S. presence to at least one extra regionally focussed,” mentioned Tom Rolph, Experian’s head of companies, advert tech and media.
That highlight has been shifting for years — arguably since 2017, when convention founders Christian Muche and Frank Schneider had been abruptly dismissed by the occasion’s organizers. Within the years that adopted, Dmexco developed from a worldwide tentpole into one thing extra regional. Native manufacturers gained visibility, English-language panels gave method to extra German-speaking periods and programming leaned into EU coverage and European-specific themes.
And for some time, the recalibration labored. Attendance grew from 40,700 in 2017 to 41,000 a yr later. Finally, although, the momentum began to stall. In 2019, there have been round 38,000 guests. Then got here the pandemic, sending numbers all the way down to roughly 20,000. Since 2022, they’ve hovered round 40,000.
In that point, Dmexco has managed to remain related however not universally so. For lots of the execs who nonetheless make the journey, the worth lies in deepening relationships with German and mainland European companions. That, greater than international visibility, appears to be the principle draw now.
As Diederick Ubels, managing director for out of doors advert tech vendor Vistar Media’s EMEA enterprise, defined: “I might argue that 20% of our budgets are multi-country budgets — i.e. hubs which might be organized out of 1 place that purchase throughout all Europe so it [Dmexco] is a good place for us to get all these purchasers collectively.”
That type of regional consolidation is sensible for companies like Vistar with a transparent European footprint. It’s essential sufficient that Vistar is sending 20 execs to Cologne this yr, up from 15 in 2024. However for firms centered on the U.S., APAC or international progress, it’s more durable to justify the ROI, particularly as soon as company beancounters think about flights, sales space prices, logistics, lodging and expense. That math simply doesn’t at all times work out.
Briefly, Dmexco is now a regional stronghold not a worldwide magnet — and that shift has created room for others to say the highlight. Cannes Lions continues to be outlined as a lot by advert tech and platforms because it does manufacturers and companies. In the meantime, the Attainable convention — launched considerably paradoxically by Dmexco’s unique co-founders — has begun to draw the type of cros-industry power and inside presence that after outlined Cologne in September.
‘Whereas Dmexco continues to be a worthwhile occasion, the dimensions again is obvious as you stroll across the halls,” mentioned Davide Rosamilia, vp of product at knowledge vendor and various ID supplier ID5. “The large cubicles have shriveled and the occasion isn’t attracting as massive of a world attendance because it as soon as did. ID5 is sending a staff of 10, an analogous quantity to earlier years as we worth the networking and assembly alternatives introduced.’
Gone are the times when Dmexco bore extra resemblance to Cannes than it in all probability supposed — not when it comes to location, however in spirit. Tales of inebriated execs getting escorted off the Eurostar, sales space fashions in physique paint and late-night overflow at Barney’s Valley’s — the unofficial Gutter Bar of Cologne — weren’t unusual.
Lately, it’s extra measured. Conferences over pretzels, not of Kölsch. Networking not nightcaps — possibly only one. Tucked in mattress by 10 as an alternative of onstage on the OMClub at 2 a.m.
“On Dmexco, I don’t assume the {industry} has misplaced something,” mentioned Ciarán O’Kane, a associate at FirstParty Capital. “A lot of the Europeans have simply gravitated to Cannes as a tent pole or smaller European centered conferences. Dmexco was an occasion of its time. Nice whereas it lasted however the {industry} has moved on.”
That period, like a lot of the programmatic exuberance that fueled it, has given method to one thing extra subdued. Dmexco might not be the middle of gravity, however for a sure a part of the {industry}, it’s nonetheless a vital waypoint — simply with fewer events and extra function.
“Dmexco stays one of the vital essential occasions in Limelight’s calendar, and because of this, we’re sending 11 members of the staff this yr, a rise of fifty% over 2024,” mentioned James MacDonald, CRO and co-founder Limelight.
