DSSE 2023 Wrap-Up: Key Observations From Presenters And Panelists
July 10, 2023 by Dave Haynes
My friends at the German consulting and publishing firm invidis just made my day a little easier by publishing a nice set of summary quotes from last week’s two-day Digital Signage Summit Europe event in Munich.
The company, based in that city, puts the event on in partnership with Integrated Systems Events, the company whose main focus is producing and running Integrated Systems Europe in Barcelona once a year.
At DSSE, Ttere were two and even three sessions running at the same time, most of the time, so I couldn’t be everywhere, and I wanted to listen, not scribble illegible notes.
After two days of intensive learning, the DSS Europe has come to an end. The panels and lectures covered a wide range of topics from the digital signage cosmos; Participants will take away a lot to process and think about. A short summary is available here.
We won’t be able to discuss every single panel afterwards. However, to give an idea of what was presented, discussed and debated, we have selected a number of quotations, arranged by topic. These reflect the depth of the lectures and discussions, the openness of the participants and the diversity of the topics.
Engaging Experiences
“We put a lot of energy into integration, but forget about our clients’ marketing and creative teams. These determine the success or failure of the project.” Daan Berends, First Impression – on the importance of long-term planned content.
“There is a big movement away from just selling and towards more engagement. To create something that is unique in physical space.” Florian Rotberg, invidis consulting – sees a more mature approach to digital signage.
“Digital signage has to bring something new to the company, an added value. Not just videos that are played in a loop.” Christophe Billaud, Telelogos – on the factors that DS software will have to meet in the future, especially in the corporate area.
“Today our main task is to bridge the gap between online and the physical store.” Johan Lind, Vertiseit – how the challenges for integrators have completely changed.
“There needs to be a balance between the things you want to present and the stories you want to tell.” Hubert van Doorne, Nexmosphere – on the ideal placement of screens and sensors in the retail space.
“If you keep your employees in the front row up to date, you can really make a difference as a network operator.” Florian Eggenschwiler, Xovis – on the potential of digital signage on the employee side, in this case on the airport staff side.
Software
“Our jobs are safe despite AI. Because first the customer has to know what he wants. He has no way of expressing it himself.” Jason Cremins, Signagelive – on Chat-GPT’s ability to generate a code.
“A fragmented software landscape is good for our business, but not for the industry as a whole.” Stan Richter, SignageOS – sees cross-compatibility of hardware and software as important for the future, even without the use of middleware.
“Working with Generative AI is like working with an intern. You have to exercise control.” Vincent Encontre, Intuiface – on his company’s use of generative AI.
Green signage
“Electrical output per square meter is a new KPI.” Jonathan Wharrad, Mood Media – on new demands from companies to save energy in their stores.
“Sometimes we need legal regulations. We don’t have to see them as a threat.” Christof Böhm, Sharp/NEC – on government regulations for display manufacturers, for example on energy consumption.
ME – North American companies, and those in other parts of the world, should pay attention to what’s happening in Europe with respect to energy and sustainability issues and concerns. They’re very minor discussion points in the US and Canada, but you know it will get more serious and important. Operators on this side of the pond should be more interested for a bunch of reasons, most notably the cost savings of using brightness sensors and turning off screens when stores are closed.
Technology
“The playlist is dead.” Pontus Meijer, Visual Art – the CEO clearly sees the future of content play-out somewhere else.
“I think the question ‘LED or LCD’ is a little wrong. Somehow they will merge and produce a new technology.” Tobias Lang, Lang AG – on the question of the display technology of the future.
“Once people learn it, gesture control will replace touch in many scenarios.” Johannes Tröger, Ameria – is confident that gesture control will prevail.
Market
“Any vertical market that is going through a transformation is a good market for digital signage.” Alberto Cáceres, Trison – on the question of why automotive is a growth market for his company.
“If you don’t have local staff there, it’s very difficult to get a foothold there.” Hugues Moisson, Navori – on the opportunities for expanding to America as a European company.
“Those who try to keep up with big service providers like Accenture will be eaten for breakfast. Rather try to support them as a partner in their digital signage projects.” Stefan Schieker, invidis consulting – sends a wake-up call to the industry.
“Everyone wants to have content and signage systems in one package.” Andy Bohli, Imaculix – as an explanation of why his company is currently winning many orders in Saudi Arabia.
Retail Media
“We still believe that in-store is part of the retail media hype. But it isn’t.” Iman Nahvi, Advertima – dampens excessive expectations of retail media.
“You have to dig up a lot of ground for a small amount of gold.” Chris Riegel, Stratacache – on the challenge of running retail media profitably.
Me – DSSE is a very good event – something other industry events should use as inspiration and guidance. The mega trade shows are predominantly about showing and seeing product, but these smaller, much more intimate events are about learning and community.
Fascinating to watch the development of a new media, as we finally realize that the successful use of our technology toolbox relies heavily on our ability to create engaging visual stories that impact consumer emotions.