Winners List: invidis Digital Signage/DOOH Strategy Awards

May 27, 2024 by Dave Haynes

Back at the world headquarters and live bait shop after a week in Germany at the excellent but exhausting Digital Signage Summit Europe in Munich.

There were yet more adventures with the Deutsche Bahn rail system on my last day, but I managed to get to my departure airport in time by leaving for it nice and early, and expecting shit to happen. And it did.

It is Memorial Day in the US and a bank holiday in the UK, which makes me happy, as I email traffic is light and I can ease my way back into a routine and also start thinking about InfoComm, which is now just two weeks out.

At the tail end of Day 1 at the Munich conference, invidis principals Florian Rotberg and Stefan Schieker presented a set of what they called the invidis Strategy Awards, with the winners coming from a host list that they develop. Unlike many or most awards, these are not based on submitted nominations but based on observations and recognitions of merit.

Below is the browser-transplanted invidis post, originally in German, that runs through the awards …

invidis Strategy Awards

Yesterday, invidis announced the seven companies and individuals chosen from 21 shortlisted winners. The awards ceremony took place during the Digital Signage Summit Europe in Munich. Here are the winners:

DooH & Retail Media: PPDS/Deutsche Telekom

The emergence of e-paper displays has sparked a major debate in the industry: Are large-format e-paper displays simply cannibalized screens? Or can they open up new markets for digital signage? The latter has prevailed: e-paper has become a hot topic and is driving considerations for more sustainable displays.

Deutsche Telekom and PPDS are pioneers in the introduction of “green” e-paper DooH displays in distribution boxes. In the coming months, Philips Tableaux and various Eco Design display technologies will be tested in a large-scale proof-of-concept project. The invidis DooH & Retail Media Strategy Award recognizes Deutsche Telekom and PPDS for their technological pioneering role in the field of DooH and retail media.

Green Signage: Broadsign

Green signage encompasses more than just the energy consumption and circularity of hardware components. Software plays an increasingly important role, and digital signage and DooH are no exceptions. Greenhouse gas emissions from data centers are increasing once again due to the computational demands of cloud services and AI. Broadsign, the industry’s first true SaaS provider, is leading by example by adopting the Green Software Foundation’s practices for greener software.

The potential impact is significant: developing carbon and energy efficient solutions, hosting in renewable energy powered data centers and reducing data travel. We applaud Broadsign’s efforts and thought leadership in showing that software developers can also take responsibility in tackling climate change.

Engaging Experiences & Shared Spaces: The Sphere

This year’s invidis Engaging Experiences and Shared Spaces Award has a clear winner: The Sphere in Las Vegas. This award recognizes not only the iconic 16k x 16k media façade, which can be rented for half a million USD per day, but also the 150,000 square foot transparent interior LED screen and 167,000 hidden speakers.

The Las Vegas Sphere has changed how people see and interact with advertising. In the past, it was all about visibility, but now brands have to be experienced. The Sphere is a logical evolution of iconic DooH locations such as Times Square, Piccadilly Circus or COEX in Seoul.

Software & Platforms: Visual Art

Developing and maintaining a digital signage platform is already complex enough. But nothing is as difficult as completely rewriting an application. Most ISVs avoid this reset due to the investment involved and prefer to tinker with the existing code. However, Visual Art took the bold step of tackling a complete re-development. With an investment of over a million euros and more than a year of development time, Visual Art created a new CMS based on the latest service cloud tech stack.

Instead of purchasing new software, Visual Art leveraged 15 years of experience to develop the new application. The result is a future-proof CMS that meets the needs of global customers, integrates retail media features, and can be deployed remotely. The current installed base of 75,000 players will be fully migrated to the new software platform remotely by the end of the year.

We are impressed by how well the Visual Art Signage Player CMS performs compared to its competitors in the new invidis Software Compass. Hats off to Visual Art – the invidis Strategy Award 2024 is well deserved.

Industry Leadership: Trison

Since its beginnings, the digital signage market has had no real pan-European champions. There are many pure-play integrators, mostly owned by private equity, who want to achieve market leadership and aim for revenues of more than 100 million euros. Trison, on the other hand, built a global presence and became a reliable partner for digital signage by implementing 2,500 projects per year. With offices in 12 countries, Trison not only offers digital experience solutions, but also designs, operates and delivers content for the luxury and automotive industries, as well as other vertical markets.

Trison is a role model for building an international digital signage player that can compete with large IT integrators. CEO Alberto Caceres and his team have focused on expanding international presence, integrating acquired companies and developing a unified corporate culture. Their successes and potential have convinced L-GAM to acquire the company at the end of 2023 – one of the rare M&A transactions in recent years.

Innovation: Samsung VXT

To take digital signage out of the niche, standards, simple business models and a uniform user experience are needed. With VXT, Samsung now offers such a B2B mass product. VXT is well on its way to becoming a world-leading digital signage platform.

To expand the market, it is not enough to rely only on specialized digital signage integrators. Even IT integrators without specialized digital signage experience must be able to offer a wide range of standardized digital signage products. This includes hardware, software and services. This is a bold but necessary step to exploit the full market potential.

This disruptive approach brings new competition to the long-tail business. However, large enterprise customers are unlikely to subscribe to software through an app store. They will continue to work with specialized integrators who can develop and deliver customized solutions that interface with complex third-party platforms.

But to make digital signage a B2B mass market, the industry must break new ground. Samsung is challenging established processes and roles in the value chain to exploit the full potential of digital signage.

Rising Star: Nexmosphere

Nexmosphere, this year’s Rising Star winner, has actually been in business for quite some time. Founder and CEO Hubert von Doorne pursued the vision of “a sensor on every screen” long before it even came close to becoming a reality.

Understanding the space, movement and behavior around digital signage screens is critical to delivering personalized and engaging experiences. This includes interactions in physical spaces and with objects, as well as collecting and delivering data in a standardized form known in the IT and consumer electronics industries as IoT.

Nexmosphere is a leader in making digital signage smarter, more interactive and more dynamic. The company is a pioneer in developing professional sensors, hubs and an ecosystem for digital signage. These innovations have earned Nexmosphere the title of invidis Rising Star 2024.

Special Award: Andy Bohli, Imaculix/Cingerine

Andy Bohli, CEO of Imaculix, is known for challenging conventional industry wisdom. He loves to shake things up with his predictions, like the end of the playlist or the end of Android for digital signage. Andy constantly challenges us to step off the beaten path and think outside the box. He plays a crucial role in helping us analysts and consultants identify and categorize new trends.

Disruption is in Andy’s DNA. With a small Linux box, he can control everything from digital signage screens to entire cinema centers. Even in the area of ​​retail media, he develops solutions faster than regulations are created. With the help of sensors that recognize the socio-demographic characteristics of approaching customers, his media player plays the right advertisement in milliseconds.

We encourage Andy to stay true to himself. The digital signage industry thrives on lateral thinkers, pioneers and doers who don’t hesitate to try new things. That’s why the Special Award 2024 rightly goes to Andy Bohli.