The Digital Signage Summit Europe 2018 provided some useful takeaways into the evolving digital signage and digital out of home (DooH) industries during this year’s biennial comprehensive two-day conference.
Attendees gathered at the new venue for 2018, the Sheraton Hotel, Frankfurt Airport, Germany, on 4-5 July to benefit from over 40 leading digital signage and DooH individuals exploring market trends and identifying growth areas. DSS Europe delivered a twin-track of keynote conferences, as well as exciting panel discussions, presentations, and new ‘hands-on’ workshops.
Close to 500 registrants participated in the conference and co-located expo, which featured companies such as NEC, Samsung, LG Electronics, Philips Professional Display Solutions, Elo Touch, Sharp, BenQ and Epson. With a host of new, innovative solutions on display, delegates were able to combine new ideas and technologies to form future business plans and capitalise on this ever-expanding market.
Florian Rotberg, Managing Director, invidis consulting and DSS Europe 2018 Chair, commented: “DSS Europe 2018 delivered its promise to retailers, integrators and manufacturers for a technology focussed business roadmap. The conference explored how digital storytelling and digital touchpoints are adding real value and ‘Changing the Narrative’ using technology to improve customer engagement.”
The conference deconstructed how digital storytelling combined with technology can add value for customers and help brands to maintain a narrative in the online and offline worlds. With e-tailers becoming more influential, traditional retailers are looking at ways in which physical stores can become experiential destinations to drive further in-store purchases. The programme of talks, and case study presentations provided attendees with the opportunity to learn from market experts.
Unique user experiences?
Customers now expect more than just a wow factor from technology, with digital signage, LED, OLED, electronic shelf labels, AR and VR just some of the many technologies that are available to retailers to make use of within a retail store.
“Retailers today are looking for new ways to create unique user experiences,” Rotberg continued. “By integrating new technologies and increasing digitalisation in a value-creating way, ‘story telling’ becomes the key to this success.”
The panel discussion ‘Rebooting Experiences – The Future of Consumer Connection’ saw experts sharing their knowledge on the consumer experience, and how this is dominating the retail and advertising sectors today and into the future. Panellists included Alastair Kean, Development Director at Dalziel & Pow, Florian Rotberg and Richard Offermann, Managing Director of Ströer Digital Group.
Similarly, Raphael Gielgen, Head Research and Trend Scouting at Vitra discussed how innovative technology is impacting ‘how we learn, to how we work and where we live’. Attendees to this talk learnt how digital signage can create a new driver for the economy by breaking out of the ordinary workday environment.
“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,” concluded Rotberg.
Setting the agenda
Mike Blackman, Integrated Systems Events Managing Director, commented: “As the leading strategy conference for this vibrant market sector, DSS Europe continues to set the agenda for the digital signage and DooH industry in Europe. The 2018 edition was incredibly successful, with a strong conference programme and exhibition of the latest technologies and solutions, all hosted in a brand-new venue. We’d like to thank our supporters who contributed to this success, and look forward to seeing integrators, end users and manufacturers at the next event.”
A key highlight of DSS Europe included the annual Invidis awards, which took place on the evening of the first day of the conference. The winners of each category were as follows: – Displays (DACH): Samsung Electronics, Software (DACH): mdt Medientechnik, Mediaplayer (DACH): Giada (CONCEPT International), Integrators (Germany): xplace, Integrators (Austria): feratel media technologies, Integrators (Switzerland): JLS Digital.
The two-day event concluded with a personalised, behind the scenes tour of Frankfurt Airport. Attendees were able to take in the digital signage and DooH solutions on site, and understand how the systems work within one of Europe’s busiest airports.
DSS Europe 2018 is a joint venture between Integrated Systems Events, the producer of the Integrated Systems Europe exhibition, and invidis, a Munich-based digital signage consultancy. DSS Europe 2018 was the 13th edition of the hugely successful event.
The next Digital Signage Summit takes place during ISE on 6 February 2019 at RAI, Amsterdam.
How to get Digital Signage Right!
Crystal Display Systems LTD (CDS) has worked with many companies and organisations and marketing agencies to help get digital signage correct as it is not a simple case of putting up some displays and throwing some content together. Here CDS gives you 7 excellent ideas and advice on things to consider in order to optimise digital signage impact.
1. Knowing your audience
If you don’t your audience and what you are trying to communicate to them how can you communicate effectively? What are their wants and needs and how can you meet or fulfil those needs? What are the audiences’ challenges and how can you help them meet those challenges? Do they interact with your displays? If you don’t know your audience how can you target the content and messages?
2. Ensure correct positioning and placement
If your screens are in the wrong position for optimum viewing position or suffer from high glare (as often seen on car parking machines) so they are just not visible, then you have a real problem and this is often underestimated or considered too late. Footfall is also important for positioning and you need to make sure your screens are where people actually go and spend time so you have a captive audience. As real estate companies say location, location, location!
3. Brightness is important BUT so is contrast!
Obviously, brightness is critical depending on the position of the display but ensuring that the colours of the contact are correct as light colours on a white background just does not work. Get the brightness, contrast and colour content correct!
4. Image quality is critical
Even if you have the right position, the contrast correct and the mix of colours optimised the quality of the images you are using is also a must otherwise the first impressions will be very poor if poor quality images are being used. If you show stretched, squashed or pixelated images you will not be taken seriously in today’s visually-sophisticated audiences who are now used to high quality mobile phone cameras and Instagram high resolution images etc.
5. Don’t confuse your audience or stakeholders
You have a limited time to catch the audience’s attention so if it takes too long for a person to read and understand your message you lose! A cluttered busy messy screen will mean your message gets lost and people will not take notice or remember the message. So too much text on the screen, or using text in visually confusing ways, will not work.
6. Customise content to your audience and make it move!
Ensure your content is customised and tailored to your audiences needs / challenges and requirements otherwise it will not matter how good your content looks. Content must be positioned in specific locations and aimed at a specific audience. Unique content in a unique format for people on the go with limited time is the key that is easy to see at a distance, and pulls people in!
Dynamic moving content gets noticed five times more than static as it catches the eye from a distance. If content is static you do not get the same eyeballs as video content. But confusing or video just for the sake of it defeats the object and works against number 5 and the earlier points where focus is key.
7. Ensure a call to action
What happens if the viewer is interested? If you do not give them a call to action they will easily forget you and move on. Once you have them keep them and get them to take some kind of action. Then your advertising has done its job and will give you that Return on Investment. Get their attention, get your message across, and get them to take action.
