OMR Festival 2026 – AI, Social & Streaming: The Trends That Matter Now
Three days at OMR Festival, countless impulses – and the realisation that a clear strategy makes all the difference, not just at the festival, but in marketing too.
OMR is massive. Go in without a plan and you quickly get lost between the Expo, side events and main stage highlights. My focus was deliberately on substance: practical learnings that feed directly into our day-to-day work. That’s why I consciously skipped some of the big main stage appearances – most of that content is available online afterwards. What isn’t replicable: direct access to concrete impulses, strategy conversations and fresh perspectives on the ground.
AI Is Not Optional – But Only Effective With the Right Foundation
Artificial intelligence was the dominant topic at this year’s OMR – barely a session that didn’t touch on it. The key takeaway: when AI can’t find reliable sources, it falls back on unreliable ones. Sources you don’t control. But whoever starts building a well-thought-out AI strategy today – with purposefully prepared content, clear messaging and a website that answers customer questions – gets to shape what AI says about their business tomorrow. AI is industry-changing. But it only reaches its full potential with the right resources and a clear strategy.
Rethinking the Website – as a Place for Humans and Machines
Even as AI overviews grow and more questions get handed off directly to ChatGPT and similar tools, the website remains central – but with a new standard to meet: it must simultaneously be a place where AI finds the right answers to customer questions, and a place where the customer feels at home and wants to stay. This dual function will become one of the defining quality benchmarks for good business websites going forward.
Social Media: LinkedIn Bets on People, Other Platforms Bet on the Algorithm
LinkedIn is moving in a noticeably different direction from many other platforms. While TikTok and others follow the “For You” principle – letting the algorithm decide what gets shown – LinkedIn is shifting back towards people, followers and credibility. A flood of AI-generated content is accelerating this shift: authenticity and genuine perspectives are becoming the differentiator. At the same time, UGC (user generated content) is gaining relevance across platforms – because real voices outperform polished brand content.
Email Marketing: The Underrated Counterweight to the Algorithm
The louder social media gets, the more valuable the direct connection to your audience becomes. The newsletter is the only channel where no algorithm decides who sees your message – and that’s exactly what makes it a strategic advantage again in a world overflowing with AI content and feed saturation. Building a high-quality email list today means investing in a channel that no platform update or algorithm change can take away.
Streaming Isn’t the Future – Streaming Is Now
That streaming has long gone mainstream was made clear this year by Coachella. Justin Bieber made his big comeback as headliner – minimal, raw and unfiltered. No elaborate production, no perfectly staged performance. And yet – or perhaps because of that – millions watched the livestream on YouTube alongside the crowd on the ground. Two things stand out: the boundary between the live experience and the digital audience is dissolving. And strong branding doesn’t need perfection – it needs recognition and authenticity. Anyone thinking about reach today thinks not just in venues, but in streams. The fact that even the Oscars are set to be streamed in 2029 makes this trend impossible to ignore.
Personal Highlight: Staying Open to Surprises
One learning that goes beyond the content itself: the most valuable moments at OMR were often exactly the ones that weren’t on the plan. Sessions that weren’t at the top of the list turned out to be absolute highlights. That applies to our work in marketing too – staying open sometimes means finding the strongest impulses exactly where you least expected them.
My Conclusion on the OMR 2026
OMR reminded us once again: the developments around AI, social media, email and streaming are not a future scenario – they’re happening now. Whoever lays the right foundations today is a decisive step ahead tomorrow. That’s exactly what we work on for our clients every day.
