Conference

We entered the second round of the It Matters conference on 12 October and once again brought the hottest topics from Cannes to you in Hamburg!

With the It Matters conference, we have created a platform for the Cannes Lions winners, their work and trend topics. Among other things, you can expect talks on creative effectiveness, influencer brands, AI, gamification, cultural marketing and, above all, everything to do with creativity.

There’s plenty to discover: live panels, an exhibition of the work of the German Cannes winners, a screening of the Cannes reel and deep dives!

Fancy discovering the creative trends of the year with us? Then look forward to the It Matters Conference 2024 on October 17!
Find out more here soon.

Our hands-on experiences were:

  • The KNSK AI Playground

    AI is on everyone’s lips, but not yet in everyone’s hands. Self-activation is the best way to deal with it. Trying it out and gaining experience is not only (a lot of!) fun, it puts you in an active role. KNSK Social offered access to Midjourney, ChatGPT and Runway in our AI Playground and said “go wild”.

  • #OptInk – Get Inked. Give Life.

    The viral tattoo sensation #OptInk attended the It Matters Conference and the Night of Lions. A clear sign, a consent to organ donation – that’s #OptInk. The organ donation tattoo was launched this year by the non-profit organization Junge Helden. The response has been overwhelming: around 550 tattoo studios across Germany offer the tattoo free of charge, and thousands have already had the symbol tattooed. And there are more every day.

  • The Homeless Gallery: An exhibition of art drawn from life and an AI.

    The Homeless Gallery is a collaborative art action by Hinz & Kunzt, the Kunsthalle Hamburg, Mantikor, Philipp und Keuntje and fischerAppelt, which transforms the art of survival art of survival into real art with the help of an artificial intelligence. For the 30th anniversary of Hinz & Kunzt, 30 unique works of art were created from 30 life stories. An extremely series of exhibitions under Hamburg’s bridges made it clear that art can be as homeless as its can be just as homeless as its artists.

    After the Reeperbahn Festival, the Homeless Gallery was seen one last time at the Night of the Lions before the artworks were auctioned by Christie’s and the Kunsthalle on 22 November 2023. Christie’s and the Kunsthalle.

Speakers 2023

  • Rowan El-GoweinyCopywriterInnocean berlin

    Rowan is an Egyptian-born, Canadian-raised and Berlin-based copywriter, creating things for the likes of Kia, Hyundai, Anne Frank House and BackMarket at Innocean Berlin. She’s warm at an arm’s length away. Cultural and liberal. A hodgepodge of contradiction, which makes for exciting fiction.

    She thinks of herself as a sponge and then a storyteller. Because of her limitless child-like curiosity, Rowan loves to get her hands dirty in the creative process. She goes to great lengths beyond her role as a copywriter to satisfy her art and design cravings. Her style is emotional and bold, with a splash of sarcasm. She has a fetish for authentic crafting and bringing new meaning to any raw material. She is both passionate and compassionate. Through her personal experiences and continuous exposure to various cultures, she has gained an understanding heart. Over her years in the industry, she has gained a focused mind. Separate, they spark inspiration. Together, they ignite change.

  • Alexander NowakChief Creative Office & Creative PartnerMother Berlin

    Alexander Nowak was born and raised in Germany and spent almost his entire career at Droga5 New York, where he influenced commercial creativity with groundbreaking campaigns for more than a decade. He has been awarded over 60 times by Cannes Lions – including two consecutive Grand Prix’s. With Alex, Mother has appointed one of the most regarded and awarded creatives as a business partner to work with the talent and vibrant business scene Berlin is rapidly becoming synonymous for.

  • Philipp FeitCCOGerman Wahnsinn

    Philipp Feit is the founder & CCO of the 360° audio agency German Wahnsinn. He started out as a sound designer and musician and now works as a concept developer and consultant in the field of innovative media. In addition to sound audio advice, he devotes himself to all services in the classic sound and recording studio especially the realization of immersive listening experiences in XR (Extended Reality) and in the Metaverse. His specialization in dynamic audio content has earned him numerous awards and prizes and made German Wahnsinn 2023 to the most creative audio agency in Germany. For his pioneering work in the audio conception of brands and individualized storytelling, he was awarded the German Art Directors Club in the field of digital.

  • Odile Breffa Senior Creative StrategyInnocean Berlin

    Odile was born in the capital of Europe, Strasbourg. It inspired her to try out living in several capital cities there: Paris, Berlin and London. In her childhood, she grew up in the middle of the marble atelier of her dad, learning how to design and sell the work. Then started a career managing artists and developing their PR.
    Later on, Odile discovered a new interest: observing and understanding people’s behaviour. After studying sociology and ethnography, she naturally started a career as strategist.
    Her hybrid profile marrying business, strategy and creativity made her join international advertising networks. Her specialty became brand experience projects, how to build meaningful experiences linking offline to online world. Odile believes that internet is a precious place to amplify projects if done with taste and knowledge of digital communities.
    Odile worked on projects and pitches for Hyundai, Kia, N, Vivo, Sony Bravia, Festival of Animation Berlin, Volkswagen, Lufthansa, Milan Design Week leading to be selected for various awards (D&AD, Cannes Lions, ADC, LIA, Epica). Also, someone called her THINKING NINJA once.

  • Juan KeborkCopywriterInnocean Berlin

    Venezuelan-born Copywriter in Berlin, crafting stories, battling sameness, and embracing the unexpected at Innocean Berlin. I like to make ads that don’t look like ads—drawing inspiration from the most unlikely places.

  • Christine WolburgDivision Manager Sales/Marketing and Corporate DevelopmentBerliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG)

    The the business economist and mother of two started her career at Mercedes-Benz AG. There she spent 18 years in various functions in sales and marketing, becoming an expert in both disciplines. At last, she was responsible for all product communication for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and smart in Germany and played a key role in shaping digitalization in processes and the media mix.

    In 2021, Christine moved to the other side of mobility to Germany’s largest public transport company and has since headed the sales and marketing department for Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe. She achieved particular success in terms of tariffs and sales with the introduction of the Deutschlandticket. Within a year, the number of BVG subscribers increased by over 60 percent. This was achieved in particular by digitizing sales channels and modernizing stationary sales.
    In addition, she is driving the BVG brand forward with conviction and passion and is constantly recharging it with bold approaches. The well-known and multiple award-winning “Weil wir dich lieben Kampagne” (Because we love you campaign) is a benchmark throughout Germany. By consistently implementing the brand strategy, she and her team of around 500 employees have succeeded in retaining more than one million passengers on BVG’s subscriptions and making the company an attractive employer. Since November 2022, she is also acting head of BVG’s corporate development and strategy.

  • Katharina WolffFounder & publisherSTRIVE Magazine

    In 2010, at the age of 26, Katharina Wolff founded the HR consultancy D-Level, which she led as CEO until 2023. The Hamburg native was a member of the Hamburg Parliament from 2011 to 2015 and was responsible for issues including network policy and equality.
    In 2020, against all trends and during the Corona crisis, she founded a publishing house: STRIVE Publishing GmbH. Well-known investors such as Tarek Müller, Donata Hopfen and Paul Schwarzenholz immediately joined the company.
    Since January 2021, she is the publisher of STRIVE Magazine, the business magazine for everyone who rethinks business.

  • Ian GuimarãesCreative DirectorSaatchi & Saatchi Düsseldorf

    Born and bred in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ian Guimarães is the Creative Director for Mondelez Europe at Saatchi & Saatchi Düsseldorf.

    With over 15 years of experience, Ian worked in several markets, such as Doha, Dubai, Lisbon, and Munich. His most recent works are Non-Fungible Animals for WWF Deutschland and Cheat Cookies for OREO & Xbox.

  • Jan PropachExecutive Creative DirectorSaatchi & Saatchi Düsseldorf

    Jan is Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi and as such responsible for the creative profile and creative product, including for Mondelez MEU. When he’s not writing about himself in the third person, Jan loves working with great teams to connect great ideas and technology opportunities in ways that are simple, accessible and inspiring. He is convinced that advertising today is only good if it creates impactful attention.

    Previous stations: Jung von Matt/Alster, DDB, thjnk, Serviceplan.

  • Jens WærnesManaging Creative DirectorScholz & Friends Group

    Jens holds the position as Managing Creative Director at Scholz & Friends Group, Germany. Prior to this role, he spent ten years as part of the creative leaderships of BBDO New York and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. Originally from Norway,

    Jens considers himself a creative nomad with the good fortune of working alongside

    the industry’s finest.

    His work has been consistently recognised by all major award shows with more than 350 awards, including Gold and multiple lions in Cannes. Winner of the Grand Prix at YouTube Awards as well as being accepted into the permanent collection at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

    Jens has had the honor to serve on juries such as the Cannes Lions, London International, AICP, Art Directors Club of Germany, Golden Award of Montreux (twice),

    New York Festivals (three times), Mad Stars (three times), Art Directors Club of Norway (five times).

    When not working, Jens reports to his wife and their two children.

  • Stephanie BlumSenior Department HeadMcDonald’s Deutschland

    As Senior Department Head, Stephanie is in charge of Brand Marketing at McDonald’s Germany as well as Customer Engagement and Media. Stephanie is also a member of McDonald’s Global Creative Council.
    She has been part of the marketing team for more than 15 years and has, among other things, introduced the books in the Happy Meal in the Family Business in 2012, as well as managed various product launches and marketing campaigns, such as the launch of the McPlant Burger and McPlant Nuggets earlier this year.

    When Stephanie isn’t working on brand campaigns for McDonald’s, she’s eating Happy Meal with her 7-year-old twin boys after field hockey practice.

  • Matteo PozziSenior Art DirectorScholz & Friends

    My journey summed up in a few letters: BBDO, DDB, JvM, S&F.

    All across Italy and Germany.

  • Florian SchueltkePartner & CMODeloitte Deutschland

    Florian Schueltke is Lead Partner of Deloitte Digital Studios in Germany. With more than 20 years of professional consulting experience, his focus is on developing and managing global marketing programs for leading brands. At Deloitte, his core responsibilities include the fields of customer experience and brand strategy.

  • Reza Ramezani Chief Creative OfficerDeloitte Deutschland
  • Jenny GrunerDirector Global MarketingHapag-Lloyd AG

    Jenny Gruner is a digital expert in B2B. As Director Global Marketing at Hapag-Lloyd, she is responsible for a digitally scalable marketing model in 144 countries and is helping to drive the digital transformation of the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company. Her conviction: such a far-reaching transformation can only succeed with everyone on board. It requires diverse and inclusive teams, agile organizational structures, and a cultural change within the company.

  • Norman WagnerManaging DirectorUtiq

    Norman Wagner is Managing Director of Utiq, an innovative European company committed to responsible digital marketing with its telecommunication-based Authentic Consent Service. Previously, he headed the Group Media division at Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s most valuable brand, and was a member of the board of the Organization of Advertisers in Germany (OWM). With his rich professional background in agency and publishing management, Wagner offers unique insights into the dynamics of the digital marketing landscape. As a sought-after conference speaker, Wagner captivates audiences with deep insights, practical strategies and an inspiring vision for the future of responsible and effective digital marketing.

  • Katharina KeithCreative DirectorSaint Elmo`s München

    Katharina Keith is creative director of Saint Elmo`s Munich. After working for Grabarz & Partner and Serviceplan Campaign, she spent ten years working as a freelance concept developer for agencies throughout Germany. During this time, she has worked with many well-known brands, including Sky, MINI, Strellson and 02.
    In addition to a Grand Prix in Cannes, she has won numerous other national and international creative awards and has been a member of the Art Directors Club since 2015.

  • Gaelle Comte SVP IntelligenceLIONS Group

    Gaelle Comte began her career client-side, managing advertising for big names like Canon Europe and Carphone Warehouse before launching startup businesses for News UK. More recently, she led brand and marketing for Virgin Red, a tech platform co-owned by Virgin Management and Virgin Atlantic.

     

    Gaelle joined LIONS in 2021 to fuel the growth of their digital products portfolio, combining her love of technology with a compelling brand. She’s recently stepped up to oversee Intelligence products across the newly formed LIONS Group, which includes LIONS, WARC, Contagious, and Acuity.

     

    Her mission is to promote understanding about contemporary creativity and equip creatives and marketers with effective tools for achieving creative success.

  • Alexander Müsgens Creative Directorloved

    I’m a graphic designer, ADC member and have been in the agency group for 15 years – the last 5 of them at loved. I’ve been working with the client JGA, which was later to be called F/A/Q, since the beginning – the FAQ YOU project was also created during this time.

  • Copyright: Benne OchsDaniel NagelCEOF/A/Q – The Better Health Group.

    Daniel Nagel is CEO of “F/A/Q – The Better Health Group.”. He studied economics at the University of Potsdam in Germany. Daniel has been working in the field of sexuality education and prevention for more than 10 years. He is convinced that prevention has the greatest success when the health journey starts as early as possible. He has implemented several award-winning prevention campaigns with his team, is working on scalable solutions for providing young people access to health education and prevention. He is currently driving the growth of the FAQ YOU platform to build the health companion of Gen Z.

     

    Bild Copyright: Benne Ochs