The Possible founder tells The Drum why he’s more interested in turning the red hot event into marketing’s answer to Davos than a CES or Cannes clone.
Christian Muche looked like he belonged in Miami. Dressed head-to-toe in a flamingo-pink suit, striding through the Fontainebleau like a man who knows exactly what he’s built, he could’ve passed for the owner of South Beach tequila empire.
But Muche isn’t here to sell spirits – he’s here to sell a new vision for marketing events.
In just three years, Possible, the show he launched during the tail end of the pandemic, has become one of the most talked-about fixtures in the industry calendar. Set against the sun-drenched backdrop of Miami Beach, it draws CMOs, tech innovators, media moguls and platform giants. And this year, Muche made one thing clear: this isn’t Cannes, and it isn’t CES – it’s something else entirely.
“I would like to see Possible become the Davos of the marketing world,” he told The Drum. It’s the first time we’d heard that and it seemed a notable shift from the way the event has been positioned until now. Many had dubbed it the “Cannes of the US,” drawn to the palm trees, high-profile panels and brand parties..
“Davos brings together the biggest decision-makers from politics, science and industry,” he said. “We need the same for marketing.”
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Muche is the sort of person you tend to listen to a he has an impressive track record. He co-founded Dmexco in Germany in 2008, growing it into one of the largest marketing trade shows in the world with over 60,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors.
He launched it from New Zealand where he moved after Yahoo hoping for a quieter life with his family. But the urge to build returned. “Three months after moving, I told my wife I was doing something new,” he says. “It is Dmexco in Germany. She was surprised.”
It was surprising for another reason. Because he launched it in 2008, right in the middle of the credit crunch. He believes, he said, that moments of disruption create openings for bold new ideas. After a decade at the helm he left in 2018, but clearly he was motivated by another period of disruption. Possible launched in 2023 as the world came out of lockdown.
Many were still questioning whether large-scale events would bounce back. Rather than seek out institutional capital, Muche built the show through personal connections: more than 60 angel investors including Michael Kassan, Shelly Palmer, Laura Desmond and Terry Kawaja all brought in not just for their wallets, but for their networks.
“Google signed on as a founding partner before we even held the first event,” Muche says. “It wasn’t just about funding. It was about belief.”
This year’s edition of Possible attracted 5,400 attendees – up from 3,000 in year one – and it’s already planning an expanded footprint in 2025. The Possible Connect programme, which pairs marketers and solution providers in high-speed 15-minute meetings, will move on to the beach to accommodate demand. Meanwhile, the event will take over new space at the neighbouring Eden Roc hotel.
Despite the growth, Muche insists Possible isn’t chasing numbers. “It’s not about how many, it’s about who,” he says – though with an expanded venue and rising international attendance (44 countries this year), the scale v quality question is never far from the surface.
That said, Muche’s vision doesn’t appear to clash with that of Hyve, the UK-based events group that acquired 100% of Possible in 2024 for a reported low eight-figure sum. Hyve’s CEO, Mark Shashoua, has emphasised the need for both quality and scale in B2B events – and so far, the partnership seems to allow for both. Muche remains at the helm through a two-year earn-out and is supported by an 18-person advisory board of CMOs and tech leaders. While the original investors no longer hold equity, many remain actively involved in shaping the show.
One of Possible’s defining features is how it positions itself against other flagship industry events. CES and SXSW get name-checked often, but Muche isn’t sold. “CES is a great tech event, but C-Space always felt disconnected,” he says. “I’ve heard it might not even survive. It never really delivered for marketers.”
As for SXSW? “Fantastic for inspiration. But marketers fly in, give a talk, and fly out. It’s not built for the marketing function itself.”
Cannes Lions, on the other hand, is “a real marketing event,” Muche concedes – but an expensive one, and a long-haul trip for most US brands. “You can bring 10 people to Miami for 10% of the budget it takes to do Cannes,” he says. But still, he’s not trying to replicate it. “Others might call this the US Cannes. I don’t. I’ve always had a different idea.”
That idea? A modern marketing summit that blends content, commerce, education and networking – with enough structure to make things happen and enough sunlight to keep people smiling.
Looking ahead, Muche says the team is considering international expansion – possibly into Europe, Asia, or South America – but only if the local context is right. “You can’t just copy and paste this format,” he says. “You need to know the market. And frankly, you need good weather. This doesn’t work in Oslo.”
And what happens when his earn-out ends? “Honestly, I don’t know,” Muche shrugs. “This is still my baby. I’m not done. But maybe one day I’ll finally retire in New Zealand. My wife’s still waiting.”
In the meantime, Possible is a compelling case study in how the most modern events are often built on the most old-school foundations. It may have launched as martech summit in the sun but it is also a reminder that even in an AI world, the key to business success is people.
