Digital Signage Summit Europe casts critical eye on industry

Digital Signage Summit Europe celebrated its 50th edition at Hilton Munich Airport in Germany, earlier this month, attracting over 350 delegates, exhibitors and speakers.

A joint venture between Integrated Systems Events and German digital signage consultancy invidis consulting, DSS Europe featured speakers from First Impression, Futuresource, Google, M-Cube, Trison, Visual Art and ZetaDisplay and spanning a wide range of sectors such as media, retail, and corporate, addressed the current market outlook and the impact of major trends.

Opening the summit, Florian Rotberg, Chair of DSS Europe and Managing Director of invidis consulting, presented a comprehensive market overview in which he revealed that global advertising markets have increased by 6 per cent year on year, driven by a DooH growth of 26 per cent. Florian also revealed that the overall market forecast for 2024 is looking to be flat.

Further insights revealed that market growth in Europe is tracking ahead of the US and Asia, thanks to a wider implementation of smart digital signage and experiences. The creation of unique, immersive experiences in a physical space is increasing with ‘Pop Up’ and concept stores growing in popularity.

“There needs to be a balance between the things you want to present and the stories you want to tell,” says Hubert van Doorne, Nexmosphere, on the ideal placement of screens and sensors in the retail space.

Generative AI formed the basis for many of the conversations, both on the main stage and at the networking sessions, during the summit. “Digital signage must bring something new and deliver added value to companies. Not just videos that play on a loop,” says Christophe Billaud, Telelogos.

On day two, the invidis team opened with a ‘Wake Up Call’ keynote, highlighting some of the worst practices in digital signage, including content that doesn’t inspire, blank and poorly calibrated screens, poor visibility, 24-hour power consumption, light pollution, and installation failures such as visible cables.

DSS Europe 2024 is scheduled to take place in Munich next July.