Integrated Systems Events, creator of Integrated Systems Europe, the largest AV and systems integration show in the world, has announced the success of the Digital Signage Summit Europe (DSS Europe) which took place on 3rd – 4th July 2019.
Integrated Systems Events is pleased to report that DSS Europe was a success. The event is Europe’s top strategy conference for the digital signage and digital-out-of-home (DooH) industry. This year’s conference took place at the Hilton Munich Airport hotel and focused on the topic of personalised customer experiences. Almost 500 attendees took part in the two-day event, where they were able to hear more than 50 expert speakers.
Florian Rotberg, Managing Director of invidis consulting and Stefan Schieker, a partner in the company, delivered the keynote presentation. Their talk explored the most important market trends and current market figures. For instance, the worldwide market for large format displays grew by 18% to €14.6 billion in 2018. EMEA growth was 14%. Germany, Austria and Switzerland accounted for 16% of the EMEA market, up 13%, followed by the UK and Ireland with 14% (up 3%). The Nordic countries comprised 12%, growing by 13%.
Other topics on the agenda included the customer journey and customer experience; market consolidation; the emergence of the first digital experience platforms (DXP), the growing importance of LED as a screen technology; and how screen prices are expected to see a rapid decrease.
Trade show and exhibition area
Attendees had access to over 20 exhibitors. This includes Diamond Sponsors DynaScan Technology and NEC. Gold Sponsors iiyama, Kitcast and Samsung were also there to highlight their innovative digital signage solutions.
Mike Blackman is the Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events. He says, “We mixed the elements of the conference that have always been enjoyed by attendees with new initiatives designed to keep it fresh. And, recognising that networking opportunities are an invaluable element of DSSE, we launched a free MeetToMatch service to make it easier to arrange meetings ahead of the show. The Hilton Airport Hotel was always a firm favourite with attendees because of its location, ease of access, ambience and world-class facilities. When the hotel created additional capacity, we were delighted to be able to return. Our decision to go back was fully justified: the conference was a huge success.”
“There is no doubt that the digital signage market is thriving – and that was confirmed by those who presented at, and those who participated in, this year‘s DSS Europe,” says Rotberg. “The theme of this year’s conference was how our industry is rapidly becoming more customer-centric and delivering more individual encounters in an age of personalisation, experiences and AI. Technology is enabling digital signage to communicate with consumers in a way that resonates with and engages consumers as no other medium can. We’re seeing the results of that in the way the digital signage market is growing.”
Educational sessions
There were several interesting and educational sessions taking place over the two-day event. This included Cloudy Outlook for Physical Retail? A View on the Store from the Cloud, presented by Nino Bergfeld, Salesforce’s Senior Manager Retail Industry Go to Market. This talk looked at the digitisation of retail and the changing role of the store. Bergfeld illustrated how many retailers are working to change the role of the store from a transactional space to an experience hub.
Senior representatives from RCD, Trison, Umsdach Seem Media, Zeta Display and JLS Digital took part in The M&A Panel: Consolidating the Digital Signage Industry. They explored how the consolidation of the Digital Signage market is picking up speed.
Gary Kaye, Co-Founder and Director of the RAVE Agency presented a new publication, DooH Best Practices. This is a collaboration between the Digital Place Based Advertising Association (DPAA), Digital Signage Federation (DSF), Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Geopath, and Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA). It is a comprehensive compilation of best practices for digital out of home (DooH) media.
Round up and awards
The event also saw the return of the Global Round Up Panel. Here, five key figures in the digital signage industry discussed a range of topics. For example, the challenges of doing business in Russia, the impact of Brexit and of a potential trade war between the USA and China; the expectation that, by 2024, digital signage will be the largest of all the professional audiovisual industry segments; the dynamic museums and exhibitions market; and the likelihood of integrators creating truly global alliances.
DSS Europe holds the annual ‘invidis Digital Signage Awards’ for the DACH region. This year for the first time it also included the Nordic region. The winners for 2019 were:
Integrators: EMEA, Trison; Nordics, Zeta Display; DACH, Cancom; Germany, Cancom; Austria, Kapsch BusinessCom; Switzerland, JLS. Displays: EMEA, Samsung. Software DACH, mdt Medientechnik
The next Digital Signage Summit is DSS ISE. This will take place on 12th February, during ISE 2020 at the Hotel Okura, Amsterdam.
ISE recently announced the biggest ever development programme for ISE 2020. It will explore subjects such as smart buildings, virtual reality, digital signage, residential technology and enterprise AV.
