Integrated Systems Events today announced the successful return of the Digital Signage Summit Europe (DSS Europe) to the Hilton Munich Airport hotel. DSS Europe, which took place this year 3-4 July, is Europe’s leading strategy conference for the digital signage and digital-out-of-home (DooH) industry.

In a packed two-day, two track conference programme nearly 500 attendees had registered to hear over 50 expert speakers discuss the latest developments in the digital signage and digital-out-of-home market.

In their keynote presentation, Florian Rotberg, Managing Director, invidis consulting and Stefan Schieker, a partner in the company, presented the most important market trends and current market figures. The global market for large format displays grew 18% to reach a value of €14.6 billion in 2018: EMEA growth was 14%. In EMEA, Germany, Austria and Switzerland accounted for 16% of the market, up 13%, followed by the UK and Ireland with 14% (up 3%) while the Nordic countries comprised 12%, growing by 13%.

In the exhibition area, close to 25 exhibitors — including Diamond Sponsors DynaScan Technology and NEC and Gold Sponsors iiyama, Kitcast and Samsung — were also there to showcase their latest digital signage solutions.

Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events, said, “We mixed the elements of the conference that have always been enjoyed by attendees with new initiatives designed to keep it fresh. And, recognising that networking opportunities are an invaluable element of DSSE, we launched a free MeetToMatch service to make it easier to arrange meetings ahead of the show. The Hilton Airport Hotel was always a firm favourite with attendees because of its location, ease of access, ambience and world class facilities – so when the hotel created additional capacity, we were delighted to be able to return. Our decision to go back was fully justified: the conference was a huge success.”

“There is no doubt that the digital signage market is thriving – and that was confirmed by those who presented at, and those who participated in, this year‘s DSS Europe,” said Florian Rotberg, managing director, invidis consulting. “The theme of this year’s conference was how our industry is rapidly becoming more customer-centric and delivering more individual encounters in an age of personalisation, experiences and AI. Technology is enabling digital signage to communicate with consumers in a way that resonates with and engages consumers like no other medium can – and we’re seeing the results of that in the way the digital signage market is growing.”

Session highlights included, Cloudy Outlook for Physical Retail? A View on the Store from the Cloud, presented by Nino Bergfeld, Salesforce’s Senior Manager Retail Industry Go to Market. He explored how the digitisation of (physical) retail and the changing role of the store is a priority for any omni-channel retail executive today. The session showed how many retailers are working hard to change the role of the store from a transactional space to an experience hub

Senior representatives from RCD, Trison, Umsdach Seem Media, Zeta Display and JLS Digital took part in The M&A Panel: Consolidating the Digital Signage Industry. They examined how the consolidation of the Digital Signage market is increasingly picking up momentum. The session revealed how Pan-European players are emerging as an answer for customers expecting international integrators.

Gary Kayye and Sara Abrons, co-founders and directors of THE rAVe Agency, revealed how a comprehensive compilation of best practices for digital out of home (DooH) media has been published by five leading industry trade groups. DooH Best Practices is a collaborative joint venture between the Digital Place Based Advertising Association (DPAA), Digital Signage Federation (DSF), Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Geopath and Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA).

Dominant topics this year also included the customer journey and customer experience; market consolidation; the emergence of the first digital experience platforms (DXP) that will progressively take over from traditional digital signage content management systems; the growing importance of LED as a screen technology; and how screen prices are expected to see a rapid decrease.

DSSE 2019 saw the return of the Global Round Up Panel, in which a panel of five key figures in the digital signage industry discussed topics including the challenges of doing business in Russia, where there are nine time zones; the impact of Brexit and of a potential trade war between the USA and China; the expectation that, by 2024, digital signage will be the largest of all the professional audiovisual industry segments; the dynamic museums and exhibitions market; and the likelihood of integrators creating truly global alliances.

For further information on the Digital Signage Summit events, go here, and to see our coverage of the DSS show — including all the videos we shot, here.