Our take on the biggest European digital event of the year
OMR – that means two days of a state of emergency for everyone who has “something to do with media”. Over 67,000 visitors came to the exhibition halls in Hamburg on 6 and 7 May to be inspired by more than 800 speakers, discuss the latest trends around AI, e-commerce and marketing – and we were right in the middle of it.
Between masterclasses, guided tours and aftershow parties, stars such as Ryan Reynolds, Dirk Nowitzki and bestselling author Sebastian Fitzek were also on site alongside tech giants from Google, Meta and SAP. The OMR team transformed the eleven exhibition halls into a real festival universe where start-ups met industry giants. So if you wanted to know what the digital future looks like (and what it feels like), OMR was definitely the right place to be.
With so many programme items happening at the same time, FOMO (fear of missing out) is of course lurking round every corner — and we felt that straight away on day 1. You want to be everywhere at once, take it all in, see every panel and, on top of that, grab a selfie with your favourite speaker. But: we quickly learned from it, prioritised the right things for us, and in the end chose exactly the right sessions… and there was even time left to have a chat or two with our customers.
One of our personal highlights, among other things, was the live session on the topic “Revenue through influencers in 2025 – game over or game changer?”. Four influencer managers shared exciting insights into their day-to-day work and shared their very personal negotiation hacks. The masterclass on the unusual-at-first-glance partnership between BRITA and Viva con Agua was also extremely exciting to follow. We got exclusive insights into how impact can become branding and how strong collaborations can offer real added value. From the burger chain Glückspilz, we learned in a keynote that was very familiar and approachable how valuable it is to simply be brave and try new things — especially on social media.
Of course, the culinary side of such an event mustn’t be neglected: from vegan currywurst to mochi ice cream in various flavours, the food trucks had everything a hungry marketer’s heart could desire.
As inspiring and exciting as the event was, we don’t want to end our recap without a critical note. Because amidst all the glossy brand appearances and stylish stage set-ups, we noticed in a few places: many companies and brands put themselves very much at the centre. Instead of genuine insights or practical takeaways, there was often glossy self-promotion with an advertising feel. A shame, really – because the potential to learn more from one another could be used even better. Still: OMR 2025 was a complete success for us – “full” in more than one sense. Full of people, full of ideas, full of new impulses. And that’s exactly why we’re already really looking forward to next year!
