DisplaySearch Flat Panel Digital Signage Conference indicates the digital signage industry has reached the tipping point

Signs literally indicate that the digital signage industry has reached the tipping point, according to several presenters at the DisplaySearch inaugural Flat Panel Digital Signage Conference, which took place last week in Chicago. Specifically, many companies agreed that this market segment has transitioned from “perpetual pilot programs” to a business segment that is finally positioned to take off.

For example, JC Decaux, one of the world’s largest out-of-home media companies, has been actively working for over a decade to find alternate solutions to its typical printed poster boards, principally dynamic digital signs. They are now finally featuring digital signage rollouts from LAX to JFK to London’s Heathrow. Yet another sign that the market is beginning to mature, Omnivex, a worldwide leader of software content management administering the content displayed on the screen noted that they are seeing their partner-companies now actually generating revenue through advertising on their various digital signage networks. Typically, these companies might have entered into the digital signage space simply as a “branding” technique or as a more eye-catching form of point of purchase (POP) in an effort to simply achieve up-lift in sales of a particular product being promoted. But, they are now finding that the “real estate” space on the screen can be used for so much more and are thus finding new and sustainable business models through the sales of advertising.

“All the indications are there that the digital signage industry is finally starting to emerge from an indefinable market to one where high-level partnerships are being formed and sustainable revenue flows are being realized,” noted Chris Connery, Conference Moderator for DisplaySearch’s Digital Signage Conference. “Continued collaboration is still needed throughout the digital signage industry, with the $100B display industry quite possibly at the heart of it, in order to build upon the momentum profitably.”

The conference featured a stellar line up of presentations from key players in the digital signage space, including the presidents of both Panasonic Professional Display division and NEC Displays Solutions and executives involved in the current how-to-market supply chain, including distribution powerhouses such as Electrograph and Ingram, and solution providers such as C-Nario, Richardson Electronics, Scala, Omnivex and Hammond Communications Group.

A highlight for many that presented a potential future opportunity for the industry was a call from the CIO of JCDecaux North America for an even closer connection between display and technical companies and the advertising world. Many of his calls to action were echoed by the president of one of the top emerging industry resources looking to bridge this gap between the electronic display world and the advertising world: OVAB, the not-for-profit Out-of-Home-Video Advertising Bureau. The conference was topped off with an insightful look at one company’s perspective of how to move the industry forward presented by an OVAB member and Reactrix, which has significant experience in bridging the gap between technology and consumers.

The 2008 Flat Panel Digital Signage Conference Proceedings are now available for $495, which includes an electronic download of all presentations. To purchase, please visit www.displaysearch.com/digitalsignage08.

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