Three questions for Dirk Hülsermann (President OVAB Europe)

Mr. Hülsermann is President of the European Digital Signage industry association OVAB Europe since its founding in 2008. He is very active in promoting the DooH industry standards. These standards will ensure that the new media becomes more relevant for advertisers, media buyers and agencies. OVAB Europe is also sponsor and partner of the leading industry event – the annual OVAB Digital Signage Conference Munich on 17./18. September 2014.

invidis: You have taken part in the first DBCI survey in 2014, how do you rate the results and their relevance for the Digital Signage industry?

Hülsermann: The results are quite representative for the business climate in the industry, this is what we experienced in the last months and years after launching the DBCI, so the relevance for the industry is very high and I can only encourage all industry folks a) to read it carefully and b) always participate in the DBCI questionnaires’.

invidis: The analysis of the DBCI shows a very positive trend, what are your business expectations for this year?

Hülsermann: My business expectations for this year are very similar. The digital signage, as well as the DooH industry is on a very solid growth path, especially in the leading countries such as Germany and the UK. Therefore 2014 will be a very positive year for the industry. In order to cement that, I am calling for an industry initiative in May in London. I would like to encourage all of the players in the Digital Signage industry to participate. Further details about this event will be made public in due course.

invidis: Which main challenges will the Digital-out-of-Home industry be facing in 2014?

Hülsermann: The DooH industry needs to prepare for the next era, which is the online era. More and more advertiser realize that Online and Mobile is the digital graveyard of advertising. Users are bombarded by tons of advertising, but the impact for brands is very low. Therefore it is the right time for the DooH industry to educate brands and advertisers about the advantages of DooH media. Only if we do that, we will be able to grab a big piece of the online and mobile budgets. This is exactly what we have been waiting for all the time. On top of educating advertisers and brands we need to use the right tool to play within the online league. programmatic buying and real-time-bidding will be the biggest challenge for the DooH industry in 2014. The good news is, the technology is already there, the media owners only need to adopt it

Download the complete DBCI January-February 2014 survey here.