Creativity, culture, and the power of sound: Five takeaways from DMEXCO 2025
DMEXCO 2025 was a hotbed of innovation and insight. Epidemic Sound was on the ground to bring you five key takeaways.
If there’s one thing DMEXCO 2025 made clear, it’s that brands are under more pressure than ever to cut through a fragmented, always-on digital landscape. Platforms are multiplying, audiences are scattered, and expectations just keep rising.
There’s so much noise, and the brands that win don’t rely on algorithms alone. Their strategies cover culture, emotion, community — they plug into people.
Across two days packed with panels, five core themes piqued our interest. Whether you work in content, brand, or digital marketing, learning these insights today will help put your best foot forward tomorrow.
1. The fight for attention is really a fight for memory
Brands often talk about attention as if it’s a tangible thing they can bottle up and count. But Kristina Bulle, CMO DACH at Procter & Gamble, stressed that attention goes way beyond impressions and initial reach.
Attention is memory.
Attention is the emotional residue that makes audiences recall your brand later. Short-term activations are obviously still important, and work wonders for conversion and splashy headlines.
But long-term media investment and consistent storytelling builds that magic mixture of awareness, trust, and retention. Memorable, emotional messaging helps push this through — “I recall what I feel,” as Bulle herself said.
And that’s where music comes in. Sound makes moments that matter, anchoring campaigns in people’s minds. In a fragmented world where fads fade fast, music can make your content a hit.
2. Social commerce is entertainment-first, shopping-second
The rise of marketplaces like TikTok Shop proves that social media platforms aren’t just for discovery anymore. They’re the frontline of transaction, and as we learned during the Power of Social Commerce panel, over 60% of brands actively use social commerce.
It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, though. People don’t tend to open TikTok or Instagram with shopping on their mind. They go there to be entertained, surprised, inspired…but to spend money? It’s not caught on yet. Social commerce is a full-funnel strategy, and brands have to work harder to drive conversions and sales.
A lot of that rides on how compelling your content is. Joy and curiosity are the primary focus for social commerce, with the actual purchase settling in second place.
For brands, that means thinking like creators. Interactive experiences, community-driven ideas, content that actually feels native to the platform — it should feel natural. Unforced. Fluid.
Epidemic Sound can help. With a catalog spanning more than 50,000 world-class tracks and 200,000 Hollywood-grade sound effects, there’s a sound for every story. Find the perfect track today.
3. Culture moves faster than media plans
Cultural marketing isn’t new, but DMEXCO shone a light on how essential it is in 2025. Anton Rau, strategy director at Scholz & Friends, outlined how his agency worked with McDonald’s and Sucuk und Bratwurst to tap into German youth culture.
Scholz & Friends’ “Bisschen Scharf” campaign brought fashion and food together in one neat package. McDonald’s revealed a limited “spicy” menu, nodding to Berlin’s döner heritage, while Sucuk und Bratwurst designed some nineties-style merch to match.
It was a hyper-focused, local drive, but that’s what made it work — it felt organic, made for real people rather than segments. Culture happens in the space between brand, creator, and community, which is why Scholz & Friends’ campaign was so effective.
Sometimes, these collabs happen so smoothly, one wonders if they were cooked up in a lab. Take Zartmann, the independent German rapper. In 2023, he called out Rotkäppchen, Germany’s largest producer of sparkling wine, on TikTok.
At face value, Zartmann’s request could’ve been ignored. After all, he was an unsigned, up-and-coming artist asking an established company like Rotkäppchen to sponsor his release party. This is where the magic happened, though.
Rotkäppchen knew that Zartmann’s younger crowd weren’t really the audience for sparkling wine. They saw a gap in the market and leapt on it. Together, they collaborated on new wines, concert promotions, tour support, and even a themed song, linking the core concept of Rotkäppchen with Zartmann.
Rotkäppchen credibly cemented itself as a “young person’s” drink, all while propping up a new artist. Both parties and their audiences benefited, all while feeling as natural as freshly crushed wine grapes.
4. Global brands need that local flavor
Katherine Melchior Ray, president of Globe Ally, laid out a sharp reminder: culture is collective programming. What works in one market may not land in another, as value is filtered through local needs and desires.
For global brands, the challenge is deciding what stays fixed — your DNA, your values — and what adapts to local sensibilities. For example, the Scholz & Friends campaign we just discussed might not have scanned anywhere near as well in other markets.
The best brands communicate consistently while leaving room for cultural nuance. Often, they’ll use music as the glue. A strong sonic identity gives brands a worldwide, recognizable sound, flexing to local markets when needed. Done right, it makes brands feel iconic and homegrown.
5. Most brands overlook the soundtrack
DMEXCO 2025 proved that the content boom isn’t slowing down. It’s still speeding up, and during Epidemic Sound’s own session, we discussed the often-overlooked role music plays in brands’ success in such an unsteady landscape.
Because the soundtrack can make or break your content. Anna Hartmann, leader of the global influencer marketing team at Cosnova, discussed how sound helps brands achieve global consistency. A tweak for one market here, a beat for another market there — music ties it all together, even when language can’t.
Jakob Osborne Edman, head of brand for Wasa Crispbread, Barilla International, also highlighted the role sound plays. He treats it as a core brand asset, a must-have, rather than a matter of taste.
With more platforms, revenue streams, and trends than ever, music can feel like an added complication. That’s why Epidemic Sound makes licensing easy.
Bespoke, watertight, and future-proofed, an Epidemic Sound license is the perfect solution for your business. The Enterprise plan offers everything a brand needs to soundtrack their work, plus licensing safety for influencers or third parties with whom you collaborate.
Our dedicated digital rights management team works tirelessly to ensure our licensed users don’t encounter issues when publishing content online. We’ll walk you through the licensing process, providing you and your team with the tools you need to use music safely.
Regardless of platform and media switch-ups in the future, your content is safe. What you publish during an active subscription is licensed forever, even if you choose to leave Epidemic Sound.
Everyone from Levi’s to Warner Bros. Discovery, BuzzFeed to the Miami Dolphins, trusts Epidemic Sound to be their soundtracking platform.
Don’t risk your business with a risky license. Enjoy full coverage and soundtrack your brand, your way.
Related posts: