September 23, 2026
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DMEXCO 2026 is the Digital Marketing Exposition and Conference, held on 23 and 24 September 2026 at Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. Organised by Koelnmesse GmbH with BVDW as its ideational and professional partner and the Circle of Online Marketers as a special participating association, DMEXCO is Europe's premier platform for the digital economy, bringing together the global community of marketing, media, commerce, and technology professionals. The 2026 edition is themed around the motto "Scaling Intelligence," marking a pivotal shift from AI experimentation toward real business value creation. The event combines a large-scale trade exposition with a two-day conference programme featuring over 1,000 speakers, 220+ hours of programming, and 17 dedicated stages across the Koelnmesse venue. The expo is structured into four dedicated DMEXCO Worlds covering Agencies, Commerce, Media, and Tech, alongside a Start-up Area. DMEXCO is also accessible via its dedicated community app and digital platform.
DMEXCO draws senior decision-makers, brand leaders, agency executives, technology innovators, media professionals, content creators, and founders from across Europe and globally. Speakers confirmed for 2026 include Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder and Executive Chairman of S4 Capital; Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer of WPP; Tobias Seemann, Chief Digital Officer of adidas; Boris Dolkhani, CMO of Robert Bosch GmbH; Ulrich Klenke, Chief Brand Officer of Deutsche Telekom AG; Dr. Boris Ewenstein, CEO of OTTO GmbH; Michael Komasinski, CEO of Criteo; David Sandström, CMO of Klarna; Rik Strubel, CMO of Douglas; Claudia Willvonseder, International Executive Board Member at Dr. August Oetker; Florian Jacquier, Global Head of Data and Digital Commerce at Nestlé; Benedict Evans, independent technology analyst; and creators and founders including Rezo and Fynn Kliemann. Brand, agency, media, and platform representation spans Meta, Google, Netflix, WPP, Ferrero, REWE Group, Ströer, PENNY, CUPRA, VIOOH, WallDecaux, Gamma, Tony's Chocolonely, and many others.
The two-day conference programme runs across 17 dedicated stages with over 220 hours of content including keynote presentations, panel discussions, masterclasses, and summit-format deep dives. The DMEXCO Summits cover specialist verticals including AI-driven marketing, retail media, the creator economy, commerce, AdTech, and MarTech, bringing together global thought leaders, brands, agencies, and technology pioneers. The expo halls are organised into four DMEXCO Worlds: the World of Agencies, World of Commerce, World of Media, and World of Tech, enabling visitors to navigate the event by their professional focus area. A dedicated Start-up Area recognises emerging technologies and new business models from the innovation community. The DMEXCO 2026 agenda, sessions, and speaker schedule are accessible through the community platform and dedicated event app ahead of and during the event.
The 2026 agenda is anchored by the theme of Scaling Intelligence, reflecting the industry's transition from AI experimentation to real-world AI value creation across marketing, commerce, media, and technology. Key themes include the practical scaling of AI across brand strategy, media planning, commerce operations, and customer experience; retail media and the evolution of commerce media ecosystems; discoverability and the shift away from search-led consumer journeys toward AI recommendations and social discovery; the creator economy and the monetisation of creator-brand partnerships; brand identity and the preservation of brand DNA in an AI-generated content environment; the future of the open web and the challenge of platform concentration in digital advertising; data and analytics strategy in a post-cookie, privacy-first landscape; connected TV, total video, and the convergence of broadcast and streaming advertising; MarTech and AdTech stack consolidation and the search for interoperability; European digital sovereignty and the case for a European media marketplace; and the ethics, societal impact, and human dimensions of an AI-driven digital economy.
DMEXCO 2026 concludes on 24 September following two full days of exposition and conference programming across Koelnmesse in Cologne. The event closes having brought together the global digital marketing and technology community under one roof, reinforcing Cologne's status as the heartland of European digital business and marking a decisive moment in the industry's transition toward intelligence-led marketing, commerce, and media at scale.
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