From the tangible practical to a closer look at the future of marketing and business—that would be a fine and fitting way to describe this here speaker drop. Before we get to the nitty gritty, however, first the facts: May 7 & 8, 2024, the OMR Festival returns to Hamburg, Germany. As is our wont to do, the on-stage program will feature an eclectic mix of thought leaders, movers and shakers from the digital and marketing space, plus big names from pop culture and politics. Insights, inspiration, entertainment—that’s what OMR24 is all about.
Quick bit of housekeeping: In recent years, the OMR Festival typically sells out in advance—same goes for hotel beds in Hamburg and the surrounding area. So if you want to be sure to be there on May 7 and 8, best get your ticket and your bed with a quickness, lest you’re left out in the cold.
We’ve been busy dropping some speaker nuggets in weeks past: Kim Kardashian is one, of course—she’s simply peak creator economy. She has managed to turn her TV fame first into a remarkable Instagram reach (364 million followers) and then into a business empire. Then there’s OMR’s official unofficial marketing prof. Scott Galloway. He’s also a seasoned entrepreneur, TV expert and industry clairvoyant. Plus, tech journalist Kara Swisher and 4-Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss, music producer and legend of creativity Rick Rubin and influencer Mrs. Bella and live music acts Tokio Hotel and Ski Aggu. Find the complete list of confirmed speakers here. And now you can add these four to the list:
Keeping tabs, so you don't have to
Viral trends, algorithm tweaks, brand, spanking new functions on major platforms. Impossible to keep track of, right? RIGHT? Not for Matt Navarra. He’s been keeping tabs on that kind of daily minutiae for more than 20 years. With "Geekout," he has built up a brand for social media experts and a community. In his Facebook group with over 35,000 members, a podcast and the weekly newsletter, to which more than 30,000 people have subscribed, Matt shares tips, analyses, comments and insights. His expertise has made him one of the most sought-after social media consultants in Europe, having worked for Google, the BBC and the United Nations. As such, he is also in demand as an expert frequently appearing on TV. Now he’ll be taking his talents to Hamburg, putting them on display at OMR24.
The first in German female leadership
Delia Lachance is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in Germany. In 2011, she founded premium home and living company Westwing, which generated sales of EUR 431m in 2022. She’s been Chief Creative Officer since the company was founded and has evolved into a pioneer of female entrepreneurship. The mother of two regularly provides insights into how she combines the challenges of a constantly growing eCommerce company with being a mother. In addition to her professional activities, Delia is committed to the topic of female leadership. Among other things, she hosts the internal discussion format "WingWomen," where she invites inspiring women to share their experiences with her team.
Trailblazing entrepreneur and podcaster
Kati Ernst is co-founder and CEO of ooia, which she founded together with Kristine Zeller in 2018, thus introducing “period panties” to Germany. The start-up has already sold more than 1.5 million panties. At the beginning of 2024, Kati and her co-founder launched the successful "Lifestyle of Longevity" podcast, in which they share tips and insights on the trending topic of longevity (if you like that: we've already announced longevity pioneer Bryan Johnson). After her studies in Münster, Kati worked at McKinsey for twelve years, completed her doctorate on social entrepreneurship and is now also active on the board of the Startup Association and on the Advisory Board of the University of Münster's Business School.
The ad pioneer turned whistleblower
Brian O'Kelley is dedicated to solving a problem that he helped create: as founder of online advertising company Appnexus, now part of Microsoft under the name Xandr, he was one of the pioneers of real-time bidding. In this form of online advertising, advertising contacts are auctioned off among advertisers in real time. The problem: 1000 such "impressions" cause CO2 emissions of 333 grams, according to a study by Scope3, O'Kelley's next and current venture. With this start-up, the serial entrepreneur wants to help other companies in the online marketing industry to first determine how big their carbon footprint is - and then reduce it in a second step. At OMR24, O'Kelley will discuss concrete steps everyone can take to address the issue.
