PMI Europe’s first day is over, and what an opening it has been under the glass rooves of Berlin’s trendy hotel Estrel. If any spirits were dampened by the overcast skies, they were soon lifted by Savoo’s Coffee Corner on entry – for many a welcomed kickstart after a late night check in. Meanwhile Commission Junction offered quick game of table football before real game time.
One of our top picks from today’s conference sessions was actually the first of the day, A Publisher’s Guide to European Expansion, where Fashionchick rewarded early attendees with a relentless stream of insights into its markets of operation. The publisher also revealed its latest expansion plans.
Display has been making waves with IPOs and real-time bidding innovations, which meant representatives from Facebook, Criteo, Yieldr and more were all touching on advances in algorithms, data integration and the need for human interaction to complement automation.
In an impressive act of improvisation, social media supremo Jeremy Waite based part of his presentation on a Twitter conversation he had with event venue Estrel. There was also room for some heavyweight social media strategy advice.
Advertisers and publishers saw their best interests put up for debate as a panel of marketing experts discussed whether either party should be opting for an in-house, agency or network solution when planning their affiliate activity.
Featuring plenty of constructive comments from Affiliate Window MD Mark Walters and Commission Junction country manager Florian Gramshammer, the group was forced to conclude that only a brand or website can decide what is best for their business
It would appear to have been a successful day for the majority of attendees with positive feedback all round. Vanessa Mülders-Maasackers, senior account manager for metaapes, spent much of her time in the Knowledge Zone,where companies were eagerly invited to ‘Meet the Agencies’ – a chance for participants to get up close and personal for 20 minutes of strategic conversation;
“We went to the one in Amsterdam, but this time the quality of appointments was even better” Mülders-Maasackers said.
Alex K, account manager at Zanox, also reflected on a insightful and successful day;
I’ve heard great feedback about PMI 2014, we’re really happy with our stand here and we’ve met lots of publishers.”
Sarah Parsonage, Managing Director of PerformanceIN, said: “Berlin has been our biggest European event to date. Nearly 1000 industry guests have joined us this year, and it has been evident in the number of conversations taking place between a busy conference agenda, which has really spanned the full breadth of performance marketing. Today’s speakers have really set the precedent for what is going to be a great day two.”
Photos by Kongregnt Studio and Roman O.Heller