Produced by Integrated Systems Events and invidis consulting, this year’s Digital Signage Summit (DSS) Europe in Germany provided key insights into the power of storytelling in the fast-evolving retail industry.
Around 500 attendees gathered at the Sheraton Hotel, Frankfurt Airport, for a lively programme of keynote conferences, panel discussions and workshops. Companies sharing their latest innovations included NEC, Samsung, LG Electronics, Philips Professional Display Solutions, Elo Touch, Sharp, BenQ and Epson.
Over the two-day conference, 40 experts from the digital signage and digital out-of-home (DooH) industries explored market trends and identified growth areas.
“DSS Europe 2018 delivered its promise to retailers, integrators and manufacturers for a technology focussed business roadmap,” said Florian Rotberg, Managing Director, invidis consulting and DSS Europe 2018 Chair.
“The conference explored how digital storytelling and digital touchpoints are adding real value and ‘Changing the Narrative’ using technology to improve customer engagement.”
Storytelling the key to success
With traditional retailers under increasing pressure from e-tailers, DSS looked at how physical stores can be reinvisioned as experiential destinations to drive engagement and in-store purchases. Technologies under discussion included LED, OLED, electronic shelf labels, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
“Retailers today are looking for new ways to create unique user experiences,” explained Rotberg. “By integrating new technologies and increasing digitalisation in a value-creating way, ‘storytelling’ becomes the key to this success.”
The two-day event culminated in a personalised, behind-the-scenes tour of Frankfurt Airport. This special opportunity allowed attendees to view the digital signage and DooH solutions in situ, and understand how the systems work within one of Europe’s busiest airports.
“Attendees at DSS 2018 gained a thorough insight and understanding of how digital signage can be integrated into a number of market sectors. Tomorrow’s most successful companies are driven by curiosity and creativity, so retailers need to be aware of the challenges, the solutions, and how to take advantage of this today,” added Rotberg.
