New technologies need new business models, and that’s what’s going to be in discussion in Cologne, Germany, on the 28 and 29 January 2015. True to the motto of the new Photokina congress, “Memories and markets in motion”, those two days will have top notch speakers talking about the issue of how innovative technologies are sustaining momentum in the photographic sector and how changing distribution structures are confronting all market participants with new challenges.
Held at the Congress Center North, the Business Forum Imaging Cologne 2015 intends to look at the breakneck speed at which the photographic and imaging market continues to develop, as photokina 2014 showed. Charles and Jennifer Maring, two internationally renowned portrait and wedding photographers based in New York, will demonstrate that this transformation also affords major opportunities for new image products. The Grand Prix winners at the International Photography Award are in the front rank of their profession globally with their “Maring Visuals” brand. The Marings use new recording technologies first and foremost to tell stories in an innovative way. This entails mixing photos, videos and interactive images to create unique photo products with Hollywood appeal. The creative couple will demonstrate in an enthralling presentation how professionals and amateurs can set memories in breathtaking motion using innovations such as time lapse, 4K video, light field photography and network technologies.
Because cameras, smartphones, tablets, action cams and entirely new recording devices are making it possible to photograph and film almost anywhere and at any time, the market is changing fast. Never before has there been such a wide array of recording devices, never have photographers been so young and never before has there been such rapid distribution and dissemination of photos and moving images. In the process the boundaries between photo and video are becoming ever more blurred. Many experts are no longer ruling out a new paradigm shift in how future images will be recorded and processed.
That’s the reason why photokina has also become, especially in 2014, a place for moving images, a tendency the congress continues to cover. Marcel Gonska, a proven expert in video and TV technologies, will demonstrate the importance of 4K for the photographic sector and show how this exciting technology enables image service providers and photographic retailers to offer new virtual and physical image products – if you know what you are about. Professor Michael Shamiyeh’s topic, as Head of Design Organization Media (DOM) Research Labs at the University of Arts and Industrial Design, Linz, Austria, is that market participants need to respond quickly and decisively to disruptive innovations. Entitled “Move or lose”, he will explain what disruptive innovations are, why firms, especially the market leaders, are repeatedly brought low by them and how companies can respond correctly to sweeping changes.
Further lectures on the first day highlight which products enjoy particularly good sales and how consumers respond to new offerings. Moderated by American expert Hans Hartman, creative app developers will also present their latest ideas live.
The second day's focus is on current challenges facing the retail trade. Right from the outset, Cologne-based management consultant Ulrich Eggert will spell out how important it is for specialist retailers as well to exploit the growing importance of e-commerce and mobile commerce. Christian Rößler, Head of Connected Retail at Munich-based communication and marketing agency Serviceplan, will then unveil a fascinating concept for the retail trade of the future. This is about nothing less than a rethinking of the role of bricks and mortar retail and about innovative ideas for how Internet offerings and store retail experiences can be combined intelligently. That this combination can already become a reality in the photographic trade as well is then the subject of the presentation by Stephan Stein, Managing Director of Japan Photo Holding Norway AS, Oslo. And prominent representatives of the photo trade will then debate with the experts in a panel discussion.
On the second day there will be additional lectures precisely tailored to topical photographic trade issues, covering manufacturing and marketing concepts for premium image products and new ways in which photographic dealers can offer cloud-based image services.
In all, the Business Forum Imaging Cologne 2015 again comprises around 15 lectures addressing various aspects of the imaging business. But direct contact between participants is also not neglected. Throughout the event, the Congress Centre North lobby will again be transformed into a networking area where sponsors showcase their innovations and services. On 28 January photokina invites visitors for an evening event affording the opportunity for informal discussions between visitors, sponsors and speakers.
The conference languages are German and English (with simultaneous translation respectively). The conference is being organised by trade magazine INTERNATIONAL CONTACT in collaboration with the global information service Photo Imaging News, USA. The event is being supported by its partners, the Photographic Industry Association and market research company GfK Retail and Technology.