Big, bigger, OMR 2025!

Wow, what a festival! Europe's largest digital conference was once again spectacular. Two days packed with around 600 speakers from all over the world from the fields of marketing, digital business, finance, pop culture, sport and politics. Such a range and number of stars and top entrepreneurs is unparalleled. There were also more than 500 exhibitors as well as interviews, talks and masterclasses. fynax was right in the middle of it for you, of course!

The development

When the OMR took place for the first time in 2011, the abbreviation still stood for "Online Marketing Rockstars". However, it now goes far beyond marketing. As the term OMR has become so ingrained, the name has been retained as an abbreviation for the trade fair. The modest beginnings with 200 visitors go back a long way. In the meantime, almost 70,000 guests are spread over two days in the Hamburg exhibition halls. What a development!

This also applies to the speakers on the stages. Not only greats from the worlds of marketing, finance and business have graced the stage, but also international stars such as Dirk Nowitzki and Ryan Reynolds. "My companies have a common North Star: bringing people together in unexpected ways," says Reynolds. Nowitzki also gave an insight into his investment strategy: "We put the money into lots of small companies". It is "super cool" for him to go to investment pitches. What matters most is the personality of the founders. "I invest more in people," says Nowitzki.

AI, AI, AI

You hear conversations about AI on every corner. That's why we focused on the topic of AI and looked around for the latest trends among exhibitors for smart, AI-implemented software for e-commerce. We spoke to a number of providers and were able to make further professional contacts that could lead to future collaborations. Among others, we held talks with representatives from Moss (Europe's leading output management solution), Mollie (one of Europe's leading financial services providers), Shopware (Digital Commerce System) and Hive (fulfillment service provider for e-commerce). True to the company motto "Let the customers pay - their way." Mollie presented the combination of the online payment proposition and the digitalized, personal interaction between buyer and seller (in-person payment proposition) as a premiere at its stand.

Philipp Klöckner's presentation on AI and e-commerce was particularly noteworthy. "The current AI models have long had an intelligence quotient that is far above the human average (100) and are at or even above the level of Nobel Prize winners," he explained. Nevertheless, he believes that voice commerce is still in its infancy, but is on the way to becoming more widespread. It is likely that more marketplaces and stores will be connected, so that AI will penetrate the shopping experience even more and orders can be placed even more easily. On the other hand, there is a risk that people will spend their money much faster in a consumer society.

What else?

A moderated interview on the topic of investment apps, payment hype and private equity - the most important fintech trends - was particularly exciting. The panel guests were Christian Schneider-Sickert (Founder, LIQID - a digital asset manager), Nicole Defren (Head of Northern & Central Europe, Klarna - a provider of payment solutions) and Tamaz Georgadze (Founder, Raisin - a fintech company). One trend that can be observed is the democratization of financial know-how, which also allows smaller investors to benefit from the financial market.

A chat between Adyen Co-CEO Ingo Uytdehaage and Finance Forward Editor Hannah Schwär and tech expert Philipp Klöckner was also very interesting. Adyen's success story shows that European technology start-ups can certainly make a career for themselves and has earned the Dutch company a place among the most valuable technology companies. As a snapshot of the fintech industry race, the USA is in the lead. However, Europe is currently focusing on its own strengths, continuously expanding its know-how and has nothing to hide from the competition from America and Asia.

"Not mastering digital technology is a threat to democracy!" These are the words of Claudia Plattner, President of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Hence her call to everyone to create a positive mood, invest in European technology providers and develop intelligent control mechanisms for purchased technologies. She is confident that Germany has the know-how and infrastructure to play a shaping role in the IT transformation.

Another medium that has tended to be underestimated in the area of marketing and advertising - computer games - should also be mentioned. EA Games and Sportfive discussed the digital advertising platforms in games and emphasized that e-commerce can also play an important role. This is probably more interesting for the large companies in the industry. However, as the games market is very diverse and varied, there will also be niches for smaller companies.

Conclusion

It was an unforgettable two days in Hamburg with many discussions, inspiring presentations and interesting interviews. We took away the impression of a dynamic, lively and communicative scene. The enthusiasm for the digital future could be felt everywhere and AI was the groundbreaking top topic. We look forward to exciting follow-ups with our new and existing contacts. You will receive news about partnerships or cooperations from fynax in our blog.