How A Worldwide Pandemic Re-Shapes Digital Signage Trends

April 29, 2020 by Dave Haynes

Guest Post: Aferdita Qesku, Signagelive

Aferdita Qesku

As 2019 closed, I wrote a post that was a forecast of Top 3 2020 digital signage trends, for Invidis Consulting.  Little did I (or any of us, really) know how things would go on to be impacted so widely for the remainder of this year.

On face value, surely this virus cannot change so drastically how so many industries operate, could it?

It was just another form of a cold or flu, wasn’t it?

Most people at ISE 2020 thought so, and for our industry, it turned out to be one of the last shows to take place – impacted by absences for sure, but it took place at least. This mentality, these thoughts, were mirrored in some way, shape or form in each and every country impacted by this pandemic.

Fast-forward five months into 2020, and the landscape of not just the AV industry but almost all industry has changed in a way few people other than epidemiologists could have imagined. But nobody was ready.  

So with that in mind, how ready and adaptable have we, in the AV industry, been?

What will the future look like for many of us?

For this and many other questions, I don’t have a final answer, as we are still learning, waiting, either for someone to lead the way to show how and what to adapt with, or some of us will have already started to take this journey, ready (I hope) to come out of the other side, somewhat scathed, but at least able to fight and grow for another day.

As with many things which shock the system to the core, there are different aspects of what we do to come to terms with it.

So what stage are we at right now, as an industry?

That’s slightly different to understand and get a feel for. Countries and territories are definitely split in their opinions of this. There have been plenty of surveys to gauge the mood of the industry and nations. I’ve been following the AVIXA impact surveys, as they’re pretty relevant to our industry (although there definitely needs to be more respondents), as well as others from an economic perspective.

The biggest takeaways for me from these have been:

Real-life translations of the above range from companies adapting to other forms of sales of products to keep cashflow continuous and topped up.

Video conferencing, of course, is tops, but for those who work very much on the hardware side of things, automatic hand sanitizer dispensers are also more relevant now than ever.

Looking ahead as to what a new norm for retail might look like: others are collaborating with technology companies for proximity sensors linked to digital signage. Virtual queuing assistants instead of store employees having to wear this hat with a ‘stop and go’ system.

For software vendors such as us at Signagelive, ‘broadcast’ is the new slant. How do we continue to communicate with these remote employees at such a time where clear communication is key?

Bearing in mind, when we return and we all will, what we once knew as an office and ‘workforce communication’ will have changed forever.

Going back to my original Top 3 Trends:

  1. Multi-platform strategy – this is still relevant especially when taking into account an increased way of broadcasting messages – ensure your message can be seen in different formats and different hardware
  2. Audience analytics (making sense of data) – still relevant, however, how we use the data will be different to before. Perhaps the next big thing (for a while at least) will be the proximity sensors and how they are used to communicate the right message, especially important for places like airports and event gatherings as one example
  3. AV as a Service – still very relevant, however, the question is: will post COVID-19 budgets allow for this to continue or will we see end users going back to ‘We’ll do it ourselves mentality again”?

I believe the above trends have and will continue to remain relevant because they are truly three different things that solve problems for clients, thus a pandemic won’t impact how they are perceived (with the right message). All three go hand in hand also, but personally, I think AI and making sense of data will start creeping up in terms of requirements higher in the list than just the ‘nice to have’ category. 

A 4th trend, which wasn’t included previously (as it was already a norm, but I wanted to mention here) is the age of touch screens?

Has this come to an end as we know it? Or will COVID-19 and what came with it be forgotten in a year and humanity will revert back to interactive touch screens?

Some think this has changed for the foreseeable future and that new ways of interacting without having to touch screens are needed.

I look forward to seeing how else we can adapt to accommodate what will be the new norm, and let’s face it, our life and work styles have dramatically changed.

Until we meet again, stay safe!

About The Writer

Aferdita Qesku is the Director of Sales for the UK-based digital signage CMS software firm Signagelive. Over 14 years of experience in Business Development/Sales in digital signage industries, and has held senior positions with niche entrepreneurial companies as well as large corporates.

Leave a comment