As the Possible conference heads into year four when it opens for business on April 27, it will not only practically double its footprint but it’s expecting close to 20% more attendees than in 2025 — bumping up from 5,400 to 6,500 expected this year, according to its co-founder and leading man, Christian Muche.
According to Muche, the expansion will stretch from just the Fontainebleau Hotel to the neighboring Eden Roc Miami Beach. It means a much larger outdoors presence, which the marketing, media, creative and tech conference used to a much lesser extent in 2025 — particularly the beachfront and boardwalk connecting the two hotels.
Possible in 2025 — its first year under ownership by Hyve Group, a major events organizer that puts on shows like ShopTalk and FinTech Meetup — tried out a meetups addition to the show, which essentially pair brand marketers with vendors and “solution providers.” Both sides agree to the meetups (not dissimilar from Digiday’s 10-minute meetings, which are a hallmark of our events), and this year, Possible will host 3,000 of them, taking place on a pavilion that’s being built on the beach that the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc share.
“We did [meetups] last year on the lawn, and this year we’ve moved them onto the beach, into a tent on the beach,” said Muche. “It could be worse, doing your meeting on a beach.”
The meetups are an essential ingredient that Hyve Group has injected into Possible, not only as a way to boost the idea that marketers are more available (for a price, since vendors have to pay to access them in the meetups) but also because they represent what Hyve Group CEO Mark Shashoua refers to as “gold dust.”
“That’s an area that we really focus on and we massively invest in,” said Shashoua. “So it’s really delivering that appropriate audience, that key buyer for the solution providers … what we really focus on is that big investment to drive the what we call the gold dust.”
Both Muche and Shashoua emphasized the greater number of brand and marketing people in attendance, and especially onstage. CMOs and marketing execs from Coca-Cola, Unilever, Hershey’s, Catalyst Brands and Crocs, among others will be speaking. It’s been the one knock on Possible in its first three years — the sense that the ratio of marketers to tech and media vendors was low, and those that did attend were kept at arm’s length from attendees.
Whether that happens again remains to be seen, but there’s been a conscious effort to increase the number of marketing folk in attendance — something that MMA, the industry organization that addresses digital marketers’ needs, helps bring to the table. MMA remains very involved in Possible, bringing a hefty percentage of its members to the conference.
Casey de Palma, chief brand communications officer for Unilever U.S., is a first-timer to Possible this year, and appreciates the idea of getting an experience not very different from Cannes Lions, but with a much shorter plane ride.
“Possible has become a growing important gathering for the industry,” said de Palma. “Even though it’s only in its fourth year, clearly it’s gained a lot of traction. And I think that’s happened a bit, because it brings together the full ecosystem … You’ve got the intersection of marketing and culture really driving the future.”
Shashoua added that it’s Hyve Group’s job as a veteran conference organizer to make both spaces feel like one larger venue will be paramount for Possible to not feel disjointed — much like CES can feel due to its sprawl all over Las Vegas, Muche added. “Our focus this year, clearly, is to have an equal display and traffic flow across both venues which are next door,” he said.
David Shing, who’s better known as Shingy the digital prophet, hopes to bring as much heart as head to the conversations that take place over the course of the three days in Miami Beach, in his capacity as a brand ambassador. For him, a big selling point of Possible is the ability to bring the science/tech and the art of marketing together in a way that feels far more manageable than a CES or even a SXSW.
“How do you make something stand out in somebody’s mind share?” Shingy explained. “When I do decide to go shopping, or I do decide to add something to my [online] cart, the work that needs to be done is, ‘why is my consideration for that going to be different over yours?’ Well, it’s not because it’s buy one, get one free — that’s performance, brother. It’s going to be ‘I want something to feel far more emotional.’ I think that’s what we’re going to hear a lot of at Possible.”