what when why staged the Dürr Open House 2026
Hybrid event format for customers from more than 40 countries
Experiencing the future of automotive painting live: At the Dürr Open House 2026, customers from all over the world came together from April 21 to 23 to discover the latest technologies and trends shaping the industry. Under the guiding theme “Dürr Open House – path to performance”, the globally operating mechanical and plant engineering company presented innovative solutions for the paint shop of tomorrow. The focus was on process efficiency, sustainability, services, and the digital connectivity of systems and production processes.
The 13th edition of the sales event was designed as a globally connected live format combining digital reach with physical presence. International streams formed the communicative backbone of the industry event. At the same time, local customer events took place at more than 40 locations and were directly integrated into the global program. Live demonstrations, personal encounters, and regional deep dives made the digitally communicated content tangible on site.
This created an integrated experience that significantly strengthened the credibility and impact of the digital format: What was presented in the stream could be experienced, discussed, and translated directly into concrete customer relationships. More than 1,800 customer representatives from over 40 countries took part.
As lead agency, Ludwigsburg-based what when why was responsible, in close collaboration with Dürr, for the strategic development, concept, planning, and operational implementation of the overall format – from content development and dramaturgy through execution to follow-up. The objective was to evolve the traditional in-house exhibition into an integrated communication and sales format combining global reach, local product experience, and personal customer interaction.
For the technical implementation, what when why developed a central digital hub together with the b&b group and Hybrid Studio Gate22. It enabled participants around the world to access live presentations, demonstrations, and discussion formats. Direct chats as well as exchanges with product experts and sales teams added interactive elements to the program.
One particular challenge was the international coordination of the multi-day format. what when why coordinated the streams for the DACH region, Europe, the Americas, and Asia across multiple time zones and supported the localization of content for different markets and language regions.
Another highlight was directly integrated into the interplay between the global stream and the regional live events: At selected international event locations, participants developed a graphic design on site. This was digitally transmitted to the Dürr technical center in Bietigheim-Bissingen, where it was applied to a vehicle surface live shortly afterwards and shared via the global stream with all participating locations.
The cross-location live demonstration made digital painting and application technologies directly tangible and attracted significant interest from the audience. At the same time, it generated numerous concrete leads.
In addition, what when why conceived and planned the accompanying communication campaign, which was implemented by Dürr itself. The agency also prepared the speakers for their appearances in terms of both content and communication. The focus was on concise presentation formats, clearly structured messages, and making technological content easy to understand for international target groups.
Dürr has been working with what when why since 2021. For the realization of the Dürr Open House, the agency received a Gold BrandEx Award in 2023.
“An event as part of an integrated campaign creates attention, relevance, and emotional impact like hardly any other communication format. But it only unfolds its full potential when communication activates audiences beforehand, amplifies the live moment, and continues the story afterwards. This creates significant added value: reach, recall, conversations, and sales impact,” concludes Carsten Knieriem, CEO of what when why.
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