Upping The Asia Focus
Q: One of the reasons for you to have had kept the delegate entry at the forum free for all these years was to remove any barrier to industry participation in the conference or in the exhibition. Why did you decide to change it this year?
We had more than 50,000 visitors at the forum in 2016 – up from 43,384 in 2015. However, in 2015, we had begun to receive some complaints about the number of visitors and that it was taking away from companies that were here to do business. We were advised to levy a nominal fee of €99 so that we had a better audience and interaction quality, and we took that action.
Q: Did it worry you that the delegate number dropped from 50,000 to about 40,000?
We would do whatever it takes to create the right environment for business. We had expected to see a much more significant drop. When I saw 40,700 visitors, and the positive buzz on the floor, I knew we took the right decision. All other participation metrics like the number of exhibitors, partners or speakers have increased. This enabled a much better overall experience.
Q: There were 1,100 exhibitors this year and several parallel content tracks. Have you considered increasing the forum from its current two-day duration?
I would have loved to do a third day. About 20 per cent of our exhibitors are large technology and digital companies and they would be keen for it too. However, about 80 per cent of our exhibitors comprise smaller and medium companies. It would take a lot for them to take out their people from office for three days. We will table this subject in the coming weeks with our partners, and if it makes sense for the large majority of our exhibitors, we will consider growing the forum to three days.
Q: What was the participation from India like this year?
The participation from India has grown year-on-year. The overall participation from Asia has been growing and we have had larger delegations from Japan and China as well. However, this is an area that we intend to focus a lot more on. Our work ahead will very clearly be about making the forum more international. We have done some satellite events, as a precursor to dmexco, in Mumbai and other cities, but we would be doing more in the year ahead.
Q: Earlier this year, Publicis had said that it would not participate in any industry event. You mentioned that the holding company has participated in dmexco nonetheless?
Yes, they have. Publicis, in fact, did not go to the other platforms but they are here with us. This may be is a sign of the nature and quality of the forum or even the fact that they are here to do business.
Q: What are some of the top trends you noticed this year?
In the ‘world of experience’ part of the event, we showcase the next trends and what it would mean for marketing activity. In the conversations, apart from data and content, there was a lot that we were hearing on AI and chatbots, AR and VR. The best part that was we are hearing from these from marketers and that is what is really important for us.
noorwarsia@digitalmarket.asia
@NFWarsias
