ISE 2025 Sixteen:Nine Digital Signage Mixer Sponsor Profile: Brightsign

January 24, 2025 by Dave Haynes

It is just a few more sleeps before the 2025 edition of Integrated Systems Europe starts in Barcelona, with the digital signage community kicking things off on the eve of the giant trade show with a Sixteen:Nine networking mixer.

The sold out event – that took all of two hours – happens because of great sponsors who help cover the considerable costs of the evening, including tapas and an open bar.

As always, if you have registered but cannot make it because of changed plans, please let me know, as I have a waiting list of people who would love to come. If you are planning to just show up and sweet talk your way in, please don’t. Same with bringing plus ones or a full posse of your colleagues and friends.

I’d love to wave everyone in, but there is a hard cap on capacity and the food and bev arrangements are based on a fixed and capped number.

I like to thank and recognize sponsors by running company profiles, and next up is the industry’s dominant media player supplier, BrightSign from Silicon Valley.

BrightSign built its business first in North America, but I am curious what the European market represents in terms of business?

BrightSign has been a growing player in the European market for years. We’re continuing to expand our footprint globally, and Europe is a big part of that equation. The European market is moving beyond just the transition away from PC to specialized digital media players and signage applications—for example, it is mature in its digital footprint and transformation in digital payments and customer experiences. This makes for the perfect environment for digital media players and BrightSign systems to connect experiences, from first to last touchpoint. We’re seeing interest and opportunity particularly in the transportation, restaurant, and higher education spaces.

Are the use cases and applications different in the EMEA region, and are your customers asking different questions? About sustainability, for example?

We’re seeing similar use cases in the EMEA region, with a particular focus on technology that integrates seamlessly and securely into advanced technology ecosystems. For example, universities have transformed ordinary classrooms into immersive hospital environments for training and development using our players. And corporations and sporting organizations, such as F1, rely on our technology to display diverse content, including sponsorship visuals, dynamic animations, live feeds, and critical real-time data.

Customers are also prioritizing sustainability, with a growing demand for long-term solutions with lower total cost of ownership, while also enabling energy management and reducing environmental impact. The European market shares the US’s growing demand for reliability, security, interoperability, and sustainability.

It looks like BrightSign’s integrated system-on-chip-solutions are becoming a meaningful part of the business now. Is that accurate and if so, what’s driving that?

That is correct. Alongside our industry-leading players, more and more technology partners are coming to BrightSign for the value of our operating system, BrightSignOS™. In 2024, reliability and security took center stage in signage conversations. Purpose-built operating systems designed for efficient and effective content delivery drove significant interest. Coupled with the growing demand for remote management and content control, BrightSignOS delivers on the most critical customer needs.

With BrightSign Built-In solution, our system-on-a-chip technology, we combine BrightSignOS with premium, commercial-grade displays from our manufacturing partners, making our technology available to more customers around the world. Across industries, whenever there’s a need to display information or showcase content, there are displays with BrightSign Built-In that are right for the job.

What’s been the industry reaction to opening up your devices to different operating systems, most notably Windows?

So far, the reaction has been very positive. While BrightSignOS, designed specifically for digital signage, is the recommended choice offering top-tier reliability, security, and performance, Microsoft Windows is an opt for those that require a Windows environment. Having Windows 11 IoT and Windows 10 IoT options means more flexibility for customers and meets the demand for a way for organizations that are required to run Windows to benefit from our industry-leading solutions. At the end of the day, it’s all about choice, while not compromising what makes BrightSign a market leader.

Are you seeing any shifts in how your devices are being used or new vertical markets opening up?

It’s an incredibly exciting time in the world of digital media players and signage applications. Customers across industries are reimagining how they control content, accelerate information sharing, and enhance customer and employee experiences. For example, as the workforce returns to in-person and hybrid models, employers are exploring innovative ways to improve the office experience, streamline operations, and distribute information.

Meanwhile, retailers are reshaping their spaces by blending advertising with shopping experiences, rethinking product displays, and monetizing every corner of their stores with digitally powered in-store media networks, offering brands new ways to connect with potential customers. These shifts underscore how our technology is evolving to meet new demands and how emerging vertical markets are finding innovative ways to leverage digital signage for enhanced engagement and efficiency.

Businesses from big-box retailers to small-to-medium sized popups are rethinking how they can monetize the information displayed within the store. New advertising revenue models and strategies — backed by data captured from these digital touchpoints

What will be new or must-sees at your ISE 2025 stand?

We have new solutions and partnerships on display for the first time, including new form factors and BrightSign Built-In applications. For the European market, this is the first time they’ll be seeing our XC5 solution with Windows operating system options. For customers, partners, and our reseller network, we’ll also showcase new additions to our partner program and software solutions.

The 2025 Mixer Sponsors are …