Once again this year, Medientage München proved why it is one of the most important industry gatherings in the German-speaking world. Under the motto “Realities”, media professionals, politicians, technology enthusiasts and future thinkers gathered from October 23 to 25, 2024 in the vibrant House of Communication in Munich’s Werksviertel district, which is bursting with contemporary art.
One central theme emerged in particular: the growing importance of data as the “voice of the audience” (Evan Shapiro). At a time when artificial intelligence and data analysis are becoming increasingly influential, the focus was on how to make the best use of these digital signals. How can media companies use these insights to improve their offering and better understand the needs of their audience? In this review article, we take a critical look at the key insights and trends that emerged at #MTM24.
With around 300 top speakers and more than 100 sessions, the event offered an impressive range of topics. From AI-driven media production to the latest trends in digital storytelling – the future of the media landscape was tangible here. We have described our content highlights for you in more detail below.
In his session, well-known journalist Richard Gutjahr shed light on the blurring boundaries between reality and AI-generated content. With a mixture of humor and seriousness, he illustrated the challenges facing media creators and media consumers in the age of synthetic media. His plea for a new “digital literacy” was based on three trends, which he explained impressively:
Trend 1: AI Influencer – The Rise of Synthetic Social Media: There will be more and more AIs on social media that come across as real people. We have to learn how to deal with this.
Trend 2: The Era of Digital Twins: We will soon no longer go to webinars or irrelevant Zoom calls ourselves, but send our own avatars to summarize the results for us afterwards.
Trend 3: Augmented Media – When Reality is No Longer Good Enough: As soon as AR/VR glasses become more widespread, people will perceive the world differently through their own glasses and we will miss the reality-enhancing features as soon as we take them off.
As a society, we are facing enormous challenges and questions about how we want to shape our future together and what role AI should play in our lives.
For the analytics industry, the changes mean that, on the one hand, an organization must set the course to respond to these trends and be able to manage them within its own company. On the other hand, the numerous new, synthetic realities also offer a wonderful adventure playground for marketing, personalization and 360-degree customer experiences.
Süddeutsche Zeitung relies heavily on subscriber loyalty and uses predictive analytics to predict the likelihood of subscribers canceling. The focus is on exclusive content, service and tailored offers. Instead of concentrating on short-term reach or trial subscription conversions, SZ aims to gain long-term and valuable subscribers at the top of the sales funnel.
Special attention is paid to customer lifetime value (CLV). Friedmann emphasized the importance of a balanced combination of technology and human expertise. While automation is used for data processing, humans check the relevance, information content and ethical acceptability of the content. SZ also relies on personalized content, similar to the “For You” feature of the New York Times, which leads to an increased number of articles read and longer dwell times. Multilingualism and the development of sub-brands, for example through podcasts with well-known editors, as successfully demonstrated by DIE ZEIT for years, are also part of the strategy.
For the analytics industry, the future of media analysis therefore lies in the development of holistic, ethical and long-term solutions. The focus here is on three main aspects:
Advanced predictive models for user engagement
Personalization technologies for tailored content
Cross-platform analysis tools for a comprehensive understanding of user behavior
The panel discussion “Building digital skills in media companies” organized by the Bavarian Industry Association (vbw) sparked a lively debate about the digital skills gap in the media industry. Around 120 participants from the media, cultural and creative industries attended the event. Prof. Dr. Thomas Hess from the LMU Munich School of Management presented the results of a vbw survey that examined the complex topic of digital skills in the context of digital change.
The panellists emphasized that, in addition to strengthening digital skills, transformation skills – i.e. the ability to integrate digital business concepts and processes – must also be promoted in companies in the medium term. Knowledge transfer does not only work via central databases or “knowledge platforms”, but above all through direct, cross-departmental exchange between employees. Dr. Katharina Herrmann from Hubert Burda Media emphasized that the implementation of digital knowledge is a permanent process that must be exemplified by the management level. Thomas Hinrichs from Bayerischer Rundfunk emphasized that employees themselves strive to acquire and secure digital skills and that public service media also want to be at the forefront of technological development.
The future of analytics in media companies therefore requires a holistic approach that goes beyond pure data collection. The following main aspects emerge:
Organizational approach: analytics solutions should not only consider technical aspects, but also the promotion of transformation skills
Collaborative platforms: There is a need for tools that promote direct knowledge sharing between employees, rather than just acting as passive databases
Continuous learning analytics: developing systems to measure and promote continuous skills acquisition in organizations
Leadership dashboards: creating analytics tools that enable leaders to actively manage and lead digital transformation
Cross-industry solutions: Customizing analytics solutions for different media formats and types, including public service providers
These trends underscore the need to develop analytics solutions that support and measure both technical and human aspects of digital transformation in media organizations.
One of the most fascinating presentations was dedicated to innovative tools for protecting artistic works from unauthorized AI reproduction. Nightshade and Glaze are tools developed by a team of researchers at the University of Chicago led by Professor Ben Zhao. They enable artists to alter their digital artworks so that they are not visible to the human eye before they are uploaded to the internet in order to defend themselves against unauthorized use of their works by AI companies:
Glaze “masks” an artist’s personal style by making the images appear to AI systems as a different style of art.
Nightshade adds invisible changes to the pixels, which can confuse AI models and lead to chaotic output. For example, a photo of a cow in the green meadow is interpreted by an AI model as a handbag.
These tools are intended to serve as a deterrent against the uncontrolled scraping of artworks by AI companies. They can “poison” the training data of image generation AIs such as DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion and render their outputs unusable.
The development of data poisoning tools such as Nightshade and Glaze has important implications for the analytics industry:
Increased need for robust data validation and cleansing in AI training processes
Need for advanced detection methods for manipulated or “poisoned” data; what is possible here in the actually good sense of the artists could also be used in a harmful way elsewhere.
Possible development of countermeasures and protective mechanisms for AI models, e.g. machine unlearning.
These trends underline the growing importance of data security and integrity in AI development and application, especially in the field of generative AI and image processing.
The House of Communications was well attended at all times. There were numerous refreshments and seating areas. The partner lounges in particular offered a cozy atmosphere for in-depth discussions. The Expo area was buzzing with energy and opportunities for interaction, from the bike tour with VR glasses to the “Which Media Bavaria type are you?” survey with a guaranteed reward donut.
The supporting program was in no way inferior to the day’s program. The Media Night on Wednesday evening transformed BMW Welt in Munich into a creative melting pot, while the Expo Party on Thursday evening traditionally provided the perfect setting to relax and reflect on the impressions of the first two days and make new acquaintances.
Medientage München 2024 once again proved that it is the place where the future of media is not only discussed but actively shaped. The event offered a solid mix of inspiration, networking, and hands-on experience. For anyone working in the media industry or interested in the future of communication, Medientage München is a must-attend event on the calendar. The discussions about social relevance and ethical considerations in the media world were particularly poignant and showed how important exchange is in our fast-paced digital world.
We are already looking forward to Medientage München 2025 and are excited to see what innovations and discussions await us there. Were you there this year? What were your highlights? Or do you have a wish for next year’s topics?