Start with Strategy for Smarter Signage: Key Takeaways on Airport Content Strategy from FTE 2024
- Abagael Rudock
- Aug 14
- 5 min read
As we prepare for FTE Global 2025, we’re thinking about one core idea: smarter airport signage doesn’t start with screens. It starts with strategy.
Synect introduced this idea during last year’s show, and we’re delighted to return to FTE Global as the Diamond Sponsor for the second year in a row! We’re bringing fresh ideas on smart systems and bold content strategies that are already supporting some of the world’s busiest airports.
We’ll be sharing even more of our favorite tips and tools to create and support smarter content strategy. Our talk, “Smarter Signage Starts Here: Strategy, Content, and Systems that Deliver” will explore how strategic content planning, collaboration, and smart tools can transform airport communication. If you’re attending the show, make sure to catch our panel live on September 11th at 11:30 AM.
Not sure if you’ll make the panel? Not to worry—we’ll share a recording afterward. Just drop us a line if you’d like us to send it to you once it’s available. If you’d like to meet us at another time during the event, you’ll have plenty of opportunities:
Stop by Booth D5 to chat with our team.
Use the FTE app to book a meeting with us.
Join the Accessibility Tech & Innovation Briefing Tour on September 10th at 3:30 PM.
Can’t wait to learn more? Keep reading to get the insights that drew the biggest crowd at FTE Global 2024.
The Growing Role of Airport Content Strategy
“This is the essence of content strategy: the ability to affect the behavior of the viewers. With that, we can affect how actions are taken, decisions are made, and we can start creating better engagements.”
At FTE Global 2024, we emphasized that content strategy is about more than defining your message.
It’s about transforming how passengers experience your airport and influencing their behavior.
Effective wayfinding, smooth security screening, and integrated concession recommendations all work in concert to create meaningful connections. Together, they deliver the connected experiences modern passengers expect, enhance operations, and increase ROI for the airport.
Strong content strategy helps airports decide what to say, where to say it, and how to say it. Clear passenger communication streamlines airport experiences, making lines move faster and feel shorter. As more airports implement smart, content-first communication strategies, new levels of engagement and efficiency are just waiting to be unlocked.
Content Strategy is Essential
Content strategy is changing the way airports communicate.
Passenger volumes are growing, and so are airports—but that growth isn’t always physical. As Austin Gould, President of Gould Strategic Solutions and former Acting Executive Assistant Administrator Operations Support at the TSA, said during our 2024 panel:
“Passenger volumes are going up anywhere from three to five percent a year. But the airport’s not getting any bigger. The only way to get more people through the same amount of stuff is to do it more effectively. Having passengers that understand what the expectation is, what the rules are, where to go, and what line to get in is critically important —and it’s only going to get more important.”
As we demonstrated during our panel, improving passenger communication is critical for increasing throughput. And it starts with a robust content strategy.
Better Content Requires Timely Collaboration
Creating an effective content strategy requires careful analysis and clear prioritization of the passenger experience. A core component of this is cross-team collaboration: input from passengers, airport operators, key concessionaires, TSA, and other stakeholders is crucial.
Delaying these discussions comes at a cost: missed opportunities, reduced revenue, and persistent inefficiencies all compound to leave airports at a disadvantage. As Faith Varwig, founder and Managing Principal at Faith Group said during our panel at FTE Global 2024:
“If you have a true digital content strategy about how you’re communicating with passengers and other customers, you can right-size your investment. The cost of not right-sizing the investment is just bad design and bad signs. Without thinking about what data we need where, you can make a lot of big mistakes.”
Early alignment ensures every message and display work together to build a better passenger journey.
Smarter Strategy, Smarter Systems
“Good content strategy is good IT strategy. It’s more cost effective—you're reducing costs, you’re not supporting multiple systems. You don’t have to go out and boil the ocean, either. You can build around a certain use case.”
Mike Youngs, VP of IT at DFW, pointed out that better content strategy helps airports select systems to support their long-term goals. As more airports shift away from traditional FIDS and toward modern digital content management systems (DCMS) to power their content, factors such as scalability, flexibility, and ease of integration are all key considerations.
Well-planned content strategy helps airports set clear priorities for their IT investments and right-size the purchase of new screens and new systems. When physical infrastructure can’t change, digital communication becomes the bridge, closing communication gaps and enhancing operational efficiency.
Prioritizing Personalization
The future of content is changing. Passengers expect personalized experiences, and airports are rising to meet the challenge with new tools and techniques from other industries, as Rob Bischoff, Global Head of Digital Experience Design at Gensler, described on stage at FTE Global 2024:
“It’s time to rethink the customer journey. All our customers in aviation are omnichannel now—they're on their phone, they’re on their laptop, then they get to the airport and they’re dropped in. When we’re screaming the same message to everyone at the same point of the journey, they’re not really equipped to receive that. The traveling mom is different than the person who travels every week or every month. We have to understand the user and deliver information at different times based on their needs.”
Personalized content helps passengers navigate complex environments with confidence. General guidance isn’t enough to help them find their gates in sprawling airports.
Spatial intelligence and accessible information are both helpful components for modern airports’ wayfinding strategies. With the right content and the right tools, airports can deliver personalized information to help passengers prepare for the next stage of their journey.
Content Changes Communication
Airports must prioritize content strategy to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape. By focusing on flexibility and scalability, airports can leverage new tools to push their passenger experiences to greater heights. Using stakeholder input, passenger feedback, smart measurement tools, and strategic choices from across the airport, building smart, custom content becomes simple. However, it requires proactive communication—both across internal teams and with passengers.
To learn how Synect is helping shape the future of visual communication, speak with our team today.
Ready to dive deeper? Watch the full recording our FTE Global 2024 panel and hear our experts’ advice for yourself.
See Synect at FTE 2025
If you’ll be in Long Beach, we’d love to see you! There are plenty of ways and days for us to connect:
📍 See us Booth D5
📆 Schedule time using the FTE App
🚶Join the Accessibility Tech & Innovation Briefing Tour on September 10th at 3:30 PM
📣 See our panel: September 11 @ 11:30 AM
Komentar