Strategy, Not Screens: Upgrading Airport Digital Signage and FIDS

Last year, our team was delighted to collaborate with an amazing group of industry experts to present a panel discussion, “Upgrading from Traditional FIDS and Legacy Digital Signage? Why Content Strategy is Vital When It’s Time to Invest in a Digital Ecosystem.”

After a standing-room only event, we received glowing feedback from our attendees—and by popular demand, we are making a copy of our star-studded panel from FTE available to airports and partners. We spent a full hour diving into the details in the panel - here are the highlights in two minutes:

Want to learn more? You can get all the insights by watching the full panel recording. Complete the form below to get request access to the full video now: 

Curious about what to expect? Wondering where to start with your next airport digital signage project? You can read more about the panel here, or get a brief overview below.

Our Panel of Experts

Our panel on stage at FTE, from left to right: Royce Holden, Yahav Ran, Mike Youngs, Faith Varwig, Rob Bischoff, and Austin Gould.

Our presentation wouldn’t have been possible without our rockstar panelists. We can’t thank them enough for sharing their expertise at experience with us.

• Royce Holden, Cybersecurity Market Leader at Mead & Hunt (Moderator)

• Yahav Ran, CEO of Synect

• Mike Youngs, VP of Information Technology at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

• Faith Varwig, Founding Principal at Faith Group

• Rob Bischoff, Principal and Global Digital Experience Design Leader at Gensler

• Austin Gould, Retired TSA Acting Executive Assistant Administrator and President of Gould Strategic Solution

Key Points from Our Panelists

Keep reading for highlights from the session, which overflowed with expertise and unique insight thanks to our panel of experts.

Content-First Strategy is Powerful

Synect’s CEO, Yahav Ran, opened the panel by defining the essence of content-first strategy: the ability to affect viewer behavior. Delivering the right content in the right context improves passenger experiences and enhances airport operations:

“If you’re capable of influencing 25% of your passengers to direct them into a certain action, that’s your ROI. Whether it’s coming from operational efficiency or promoting certain aspects of your airport, your ability to communicate better – stronger – is return on investment.”

Systems & Infrastructure Shape the Passenger Experience

Mike Youngs highlighted the impact of content-first strategy at DFW. After a successful launch of Synect content and systems at the airport's Terminal D expansion project, this approach was extended at the airport. In response to international passengers’ feedback, DFW partnered with Synect to introduce multilingual, dynamic wayfinding, leading to fewer missed flights, happier travelers, and increased revenue from concessions. Later, we extended the approach and the Passenger360® system to a FIDS of the Future implementation.

DFW's FIDS of the Future made finding flights easier, reducing congestion around the display.

As Mike discussed later in the panel, content-first strategy amplifies the impact of simple changes:

"A good content strategy is a good IT strategy. For my CIOs in the room, we don't want a different display technology for smart restrooms and for the security checkpoint signs and for FIDS. It's more cost effective to have a coherent enterprise content strategy so that you're not putting as many displays out there. You're reducing costs. You're not supporting multiple systems."

Delaying Content Discussions is Expensive

Faith Varwig stressed the risks of delaying content discussions. Digital displays are one of the most expensive investments airports make—but airports often invest in the wrong order:

"We do everything backwards today. We select and put up a whole bunch of digital displays, and ... then everybody's like, we'll figure out what we put on them later. If you have a true digital content strategy ... you can right-size your investment. The cost of not right-sizing the investment is just bad design and bad signs."

Prioritizing Content Strategy Benefits Everyone

Prioritizing content-first strategy unlocks layers of benefits for airports and their passengers, as Rob Bischoff shared:

• Content creation is streamlined, and costs are reduced by using the same content across multiple channels.

• Cohesive content creates a recognizable brand for the airport, fostering familiarity and trust with passengers.

• Content is delivered when and where passengers need it, which improves their experiences.

• Happy passengers spend more time and money on concessions, increasing non-aeronautical revenue for the airport.

  
  

Dynamic Content Enhances Operations & Responsiveness

As passenger volumes continue rising, airports are seeking innovative strategies to maintain their operations. Clear, pro-active passenger communication is one of the best ways to drive new efficiencies. By delivering timely, actionable information, airports can reduce bottlenecks and improve passenger experiences. As Austin Gould said:

“Do not underestimate the security benefits of effective communications. The key is to communicate early and often, and I cannot stress that enough.”

ABE created a faster, friendlier security checkpoint with ReadySeeGo®.

Airports Ask About Signage and Visual Communication

All of Synect's panelists shared incredible information, but our attendees helped us close the panel with some excellent questions. Watch the recording to hear our replies to these questions and more:

• Do you foresee effective content strategy replacing traditional point-to-point wayfinding tools?

• What should an airport do if they're in the middle of a procurement process for hardware or digital hardware design, and they don't have a content strategy?

• Since the content strategy covers multiple functions and departments at an airport, where do you think the content management platform and the strategy, where does reside? In other words, who owns the airport's digital strategy and CMS?

• Do you foresee leveraging precision marketing and ad media networks on digital signs around the airport to improve that ROI?

Speak with the Synect Team about Airport Digital Signage and Content-First Strategy

Still have questions about the future of content-first strategy? Watch the full panel to learn more—our team would love to discuss it with you. Contact us today to start the conversation.