Friday marks Media & Awards Day, when all award ceremonies take place. These include the negative award Plagiarius (Negativpreis Plagiarius), followed by a get-together, as well as the Hessian State Prize for German Arts and Crafts (Hessischer Staatspreis für das Deutsche Kunsthandwerk), recognizing exceptional craftsmanship. Saturday transforms into Designer Day in collaboration with the German Design Council—curated specifically for the Ambiente Designer Community and hosted by Valerie Präkelt, former Lead Editor at AD Germany. Internationally acclaimed designer and former Talent Sebastian Herkner will address creative transformation and design’s role in shaping a collective future, echoing Frankfurt’s designation as “World Design Capital 2026.” A standout moment of the program is the keynote by Prof. Birgit Mager, service design pioneer from the Cologne International School of Design, who will speak about the shift from product design to relationship design and the rising importance of service design across business, politics, and society. Additional highlights include inspiring talks by Katty Schiebeck, Ambiente Designer of the Year 2026, and celebrated Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa.
Beginning Saturday, February 7, 2026, Annetta Palmisano of stilbüro bora.herke.palmisano extends an invitation to daily trend briefings. She will present the Ambiente and Christmasworld Trends 25+ alongside must-have colors and materials for the coming season.
On Sunday and Monday, the Retail Days will spotlight the future of retail, emphasizing innovation, digitalization, and new approaches to crafting memorable customer experiences. Colin Lewis, author at InternetRetailing, will examine retail media—how it differs from traditional advertising and how it can be strategically deployed. Following this, Miya Knights, owner and editor of Retail Technology magazine and one of the Top 100 Rethink Retail Experts 2025, will explore how generative AI is reshaping ecommerce innovation across marketing, merchandising, supply chain, and customer experience. New to the program, Angelika Niestrath—trained bookseller and respected expert in stationery, gifts, and paper products—will lead two guided tours through Hall 4.2 on Sunday. Monday introduces a new interactive workshop with Ingeborg Maria Lang, Head of Urban Transformation at CIMA Beratung + Management, during which the “Top 5 Experience Spaces 2030” will be designed in real time. The resulting concepts will provide practical inspiration for how city centers can attract and retain visitors in the future.
Tuesday concludes the program with Future Marketing Day—presented for the first time in cooperation with This is Marketing—offering two presentations designed to inspire and deliver a forward-looking perspective on the marketing landscape ahead.
With fresh ideas and deep industry expertise, the Conzoom Solutions Academy provides exactly what the industry’s future shapers need. The full program, including speaker details and topic overviews, is available online at ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/events, christmasworld.messefrankfurt.com/events, and creativeworld.messefrankfurt.com/events, and is updated continuously
Visit Ambiente 2026 for more.
