One of the biggest events for digital marketing and technology in the world is the OMR Festival. Also known as the Online Marketing Rockstars Festival (OMR) through 2017. The OMR Festival has been held every year in Hamburg, Germany since it began in 2011. Ramp 106 GmbH is the event’s organizer, and its founders comprise Christian Byza, Tobias Schlottke, Philipp Westermeyer, and Christian Müller. The Expo and Conference, two concurrent events, are conducted as part of the OMR Festival. Here are the online marketing rockstars in 2022.
OMR Expo
The OMR Expo is a two-day trade show that featured more than 300 international exhibitors in 2018. From marketing attribution; social media marketing; mobile advertising, data, programmatic advertising; affiliate marketing, marketing cloud, performance marketing; ad tech, content marketing, native advertising; analytics, gaming, email marketing, eCommerce, consulting; influencer marketing, display marketing; HR, IT, search engine marketing, publishing, and more sectors. A schedule of events is planned in connection with the Expo. Including platforms with live presentations. A number of 90-minute courses on particular digital marketing themes called Masterclasses. And an Expo party. Over 40,000 people attended the OMR Expo in 2018.
OMR conference
Philipp Westermeyer, the founder of OMR, spoke during the conference for the 2018 OMR Festival. The second day of the OMR Festival is normally when the OMR Conference. A one-day specialty conference with a focus on digital marketing subjects, actually occurs. The founder of VaynerMedia, Gary Vaynerchuk.
The creator of Pinterest, Evan Sharp. The president of BuzzFeed, Jonah Peretti. The creator of Metallica, and Tony Hawk. The founder of skateboarding, Casey Neistat. They have all given talks on the Conference Stage in previous years. The Aftershow Party is a component of the OMR Conference as well. The OMR Conference drew 7,500 attendees in 2018.
Intended audience
As a B2B trade show, the OMR Festival is primarily for CEOs, senior executives, and marketing managers from businesses of all sizes who want to learn about and exchange ideas about the latest opportunities in the field of digital marketing.
Three Major Digital Trends
In May 2022, the OMR event made a comeback in Hamburg after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. This year’s edition of the OMR was the largest one ever, featuring over 70,000 participants, 700+ speakers, 500+ exhibitors, 250 seminars, and 10 stages. Despite the differences in the digital world, a few persistent issues appeared to dominate the conversations. As per OMR 2022, these are the top three trends.
Brave new Web3 world
Experts predict that Web3 will be the internet of the future. We’ve all undoubtedly heard about cryptocurrencies, the metaverse, and NFTs by this point. They’re all a piece of a blockchain-based version of the internet that offers users more power and a better customer experience. With its decentralized design that lets people retain ownership of their data, Web3 is the answer to the challenges the internet is now experiencing.
For brands and digital marketers, the metaverse and NFTs are of special interest. We provided a sneak peek into the astounding new options the metaverse affords marketers to connect with customers during the first 24-hour Meta Festival, organized by DEPT®.
It’s not surprising that many of the 100 talks and masterclasses at OMR focused on Web3. The room was filled as Mark Zuckerberg’s alleged major influence and metaverse specialist Matthew Ball took the Conference Stage. The DEPT® team was present in full form as well, and they hosted a masterclass with H&M to present the comprehensive Web3 session we created for them.
NFTs and the metaverse, however, are not without their detractors. Concerns were voiced, among so many other things, concerning how NFTs might affect the environment. Asking yourself these 5 inquiries may be useful if you’re debating whether your company should adopt this popular trend and participate in the metaverse and NFTs.
Influencers are important
Influencer marketing has been around for a while. But contrary to worries that it may decline as a result of Covid-19, it actually rose over 2020 and 2021. Influencer marketing is anticipated to increase in value to $16.4 billion in 2022. Naturally, businesses and resources devoted to influencer marketing are also expanding. This most likely also has to do with TikTok’s growth as Gen Z’s new playground. The app debuted with its own exhibit at OMR 2022. The fact that creators like Luis Bauer, The Elevator Boys, and Younes Zarou could be heard and seen all around the masterclasses and stages underscored the continued significance of TikTok influencers.
While influencer marketing is still a hot topic that was covered on conference stages by speakers like Ann-Katrin Schmitz from Baby Got Business, who gave a rosy assessment of the sector in her presentation “The State of Influencer Marketing in 2022,” it’s important to note that there are risks involved.
According to YouTuber Rezo, who is known for calling out politicians and influencers alike, social media fraud, particularly “botting,” is a problem. In his masterclass “Forced to respond – How Influencers Fool Their Advertisers,” Rezo concentrated on the legal and illegal methods influencers use to reach out to brands and fabricate the situation. Nearly half of influencers worldwide experience fraud on a yearly basis; as a result, brands and digital marketers should make use of the tools at their disposal to verify the authenticity of influencers. If not, you can be purchasing phony results with real money.
Purpose of Online Marketing rockstars of 2022
The topic of purpose must be covered last but not least. For brands, having a purpose and communicating it are now necessities, not options. Gen Z also plays a significant role in this area since, as consumers of the future, they are less concerned with a brand’s product or service than they are with its cause and influence. As a result, companies like JOKOLADE, Planetly (whose slogan is “Purpose and Profit Go Hand in Hand”), and Viva con Agua were eager to snag a time slot at OMR 2022 to discuss the motivation behind their goods.
It goes without saying that giving a presentation alone won’t make you a brand with a real mission. The key to avoiding the appearance of “greenwashing” or “woke washing,” which can result in hefty costs for your company, is integrity. Sticking up for something will probably elicit both criticism and praise. But sooner or later, you’ll be in trouble if you don’t prioritize purpose over profit.
