The dramatic art-filled lobby of Miami’s Hotel Fontainebleau was overtaken by the trappings of ad tech this week for the third-annual Possible conference, a show that has rapidly established itself as an influential industry event.
The grand marble pillars leading to the massive Ai Weiwei-designed chandeliers are tented by Viant and TCS Interactive signage. Magnite has the lobby stairs and Comscore the pool stairs. There are the usual sponsored placements: the Yobi Wi-Fi, the Walmart Connect lounge and the registration desk, brought to you by Attain. Digital Turbine has the hydration station covered, while Kargo oversees the coffee cart.
But sometimes sponsor demand needs a place to go. Skydeo informally seems to have sponsored the hotel valet circle by parking an emerald green Aston Martin on the spot all day. The bathroom doors bear signs that say “Knock knock, who’s there?” And it’s JamLoop, the streaming TV ad tech startup. Uber has the elevator doors, which makes sense since the ad copy takes advantage of the easy “Taking you places” riff. Xumo got an awkward corner behind the actual hotel porter station. Verve found a patch of wall above one staircase to project its name in purple.
And if you expect either Possible or the Hotel Fontainebleau is even close to capacity when it comes to ad tech sponsor demand, think again.
The Fontainebleau “has learned that what we are looking for is beyond the boundaries,” Christian Muche, co-founder and CEO of the Beyond Ordinary Events, which operates the Possible show, told AdExchanger shortly after giving the conference’s opening remarks.
A Fontaine of sponsorships
What would it take to be denied a certain sponsorship opportunity? An oil derrick with a giant banner: Call it the official Atlantic sponsor for the show. That was the quip put to Muche.
But he’s not joking.
“If a partner were to say, ‘Hey, let’s bring in a big crane and have dinner in the air on this platform, we’ll bring this crane that will lift a platform – with everyone safely secured, of course – up to 10 or 20 meters in the air,’” he says, gesturing to the open sky above Biscayne Bay.
“Let’s do it,” he responds to the hypothetical sponsor of the exclusive hanging-in-air dinner.
The actual examples are not quite so ambitious. But they’re also not far shy.
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There’s a laser show on Tuesday, for example, he said (adMarketplace is the sponsor). That was a relatively late replacement for a drone show, as a precaution due to high winds this year. And it might have been a big problem, Muche said, because it could be a hassle to get a permit for such an event (a big laser show in front of glass hotels).
The Fontainebleau “did it within five minutes,” he said.
A drone bearing a dynamic screen that cycles through sponsor placements will also fly up and down the stretch of beach before the hotel, he said.
How’s it Possible?
Possible’s ascent as a potential tentpole event was precipitous.
Some keen sweat-equity deals definitely helped. Influential ad industry leaders like Terry Kawaja, Lou Paskalis, Ryan Detert and Aperiam Ventures, a fund of ad tech industry backers, were just a few of the dozens of early investors. Many such investors and advisors are also staples on the stage.
One early investor who no longer holds his equity is Michael Kassan, who remains on the board, though. His shares were bought out by Hyve Group, which operates the Shoptalk and Groceryshop conferences.
Still, other early advisors and investors retain equity in the business.
But from Muche’s point of view, the engine of the conference business is the brand marketers themselves. He said Possible this year has almost a third of its attendees coming from brand advertisers, up from 21% in 2023 and 27% last year.
One key for Possible has been to target mid-level people who report to the CMO. Chief marketers “don’t necessarily walk the floor and take all these meetings,” he told AdExchanger. Someone who’s a media director might, though. Along those lines, the event this year offered a free plane ticket and a $750 travel reimbursement offer if the marketer agrees to take eight 15-minute meetings over the course of the conference. (The ticket they keep; the reimbursement comes when they finish their meetings.)
“What else do we need to do?” Muche says. “There’s no more reason why your boss shouldn’t allow you to go.”
Possible is punching up quite explicitly at two longstanding ad industry conference tentpoles: the Cannes Lions festival in Cannes, France, and CES in Las Vegas.
For one thing, Kassan, a director and advisor to the company behind Possible, and a sponsor through his 3C Ventures fund, has had a major falling out with the Cannes parent company that acquired his former business, MediaLink.
There are other nods at Cannes at the show. Skydeo’s Aston Martin has an ad inside with a QR code to book potential clients and partners for meetings on a boat (a “Cannes state of mind,” but not in France). Also, Sainte Marguerite en Provence rosé had a prominent, highly grammable setup in front of the first day’s main stage.
In-jokes aside, though, there is a benefit in being congregated in one resort, even if it’s a sprawling venue. Muche said that people still by necessity bump into other attendees a few times per day.
“It isn’t like in Vegas at CES where you have to jump in a cab and spend half an hour to go from A to B,” he said. Or, heaven forbid, the La Croisette beachside walk in Cannes, where he said advertisers must “walk up and down for miles” to take a meeting.
