Participation in the Annual Conference of the European Marketing Academy (EMAC) 2025

From May 25 to May 30, 2025, Henrietta Batinovic and Prof. Dr. Maik Hammerschmidt participated in the prestigious European Marketing Academy (EMAC) conference in Madrid. As part of the conference, they presented their joint research project titled "Virtual Influencers on Immersive Platforms: Creating Unique Brand Experiences to Drive Immersive Time" (in collaboration with Fabian Tingelhoff from the University of St. Gallen and Prof. Dr. Sofia Schöbel from the University of Osnabrück).


Henrietta Batinovic also chaired the session “Content Strategies for Digital Impact”, where the paper was presented.


The presented project introduces the concept of Immersive Virtual Influencers (IVIs) and explores how these virtual influencers can leverage the technological capabilities of immersive platforms to create unique brand experiences — and how these experiences can increase the time consumers spend in such environments (Immersive Time).


In addition, there were special sessions and discussion panels that offered valuable insights, as well as social events (see second photo, taken after a traditional Spanish tapas dinner in Madrid’s historic city center), which provided an ideal platform for networking and personal exchange.