Impact International: UK/Euro 2024 Honoree Detlef Kornett

“CREATE ADDITIONAL VALUE IN EVERY ASPECT”

It was German Krautrock by a band called Guru Guru that sparked a lifelong love for live music in Detlef Kornett, who saw them perform at Herrman-Allmers Halle in Cuxhaven, his hometown, when he was 12 years old. His early work in the European NFL business impressed Philip Anschutz and Tim Leiweke at AEG, and he joined their business between 2000 and 2011 – first as managing director of its European operations in London, later as president and CEO of the company’s German operations. Among other things, he oversaw both the purchase of the Millennium Dome in London, now known as The O2, as well as the creation of O2 World in Berlin, now known as Uber Arena. He joined DEAG in 2014, where he took over operational management of DEAG from company founder Peter Schwenkow earlier this year.

The two business milestones of 2024 that come to mind for Kornett are “the collaboration between FANE, our highly successful UK subsidiary in the Spoken Word segment, and our German teams, who successfully organised a tour of the celebrated international bestselling cookbook author Yotam Ottolenghi in Germany.”

He adds, “Secondly, the groundbreaking collaboration with ‘Black Mamba,’ who is the organiser of the renowned electronic urban festival Sputnik Spring Break on the Pouch peninsula. The partnership completed our roster of EDM festivals and made us the market leader in this segment.”

The biggest challenge he’s faced this year are the increased costs on all fronts, from labour to transport costs to material costs and shortages. “Despite all challenges,” Kornett says, “we always look at opportunities ahead. In 2024, we found a way to expand to Italy, a new European market for us, by acquiring the Italian live entertainment organiser MC2 Live S.p.A. and partnering with Andrea and Stefano Pieroni. The brothers are among the leading independent live entertainment providers in Italy and contribute a strong partner network and a diversified event portfolio to the DEAG Group.”

His business philosophy is simple: “Our aim is to deliver the highest quality in everything we do. We value long term commitments to our partners which leads to successful and harmonised collaboration across borders. It’s important to us to create additional value in every aspect and the maximum possible success for the artist, event, product or brand.”