JCDecaux


JCDecaux Group is a multinational corporation based in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France, known for its bus-stop advertising systems, billboards, public bicycle rental systems, and street furniture. It is the largest outdoor advertising corporation in the world.
The company was founded in 1964 in Lyon, France by Jean-Claude Decaux. Over the years it has expanded aggressively, partly through acquisitions of smaller advertising companies in several countries. JCDecaux currently employs more than 13,030 people worldwide and maintains a presence in over 75 countries. In France alone, JCDecaux employs more than 3,500 people.

History

first created a company in 1955 that specialised in Outdoor advertising alongside motorways. However, as these billboards were heavily taxed by law, Jean-Claude Decaux turned towards a business model in 1964 which was based on city billboards and invented the concept of advertising street furniture - well-maintained bus shelters fully funded by advertisers.
Since the first concept of the bus shelter in 1964, JCDecaux has continued to innovate and offer different types of street furniture. During the 70s, JCDecaux launched its first Citylight Information Panels, a 2m² billboard with signage to indicate directions in cities to drivers. The first fully accessible automatic amenities were installed in San Francisco in 1994, although, in 1981, JCDecaux established a system of automatic public amenities in France. In 1981, JCDecaux also developed the News Electronic Journal, which broadcast news relating to culture, sport, associations and information about the city.
JCDecaux then bought the Société Fermière des Colonnes Morris. The Senior billboards, which measure 8m² and allow multiple ads on a single site, were created in the 1980s. The first scrolling billboards appeared in 1988, which increased the number of advertising panels without raising the number of structures.
In 1999, the group acquired Havas Media Communication and Avenir. This acquisition allowed the Group to expand into the large format advertising market and into advertising in airports. In 2001, JCDecaux entered the Euronext Stock Exchange with an opening share price of €16,50. In 2002, Jean-Claude Decaux passed the management of the company on to two of his three sons, Jean-Charles Decaux and Jean-François Decaux, who then became co-CEOs of the company.
JCDecaux installed its first rental system of self-service bicycles in Vienna in 2003 and then in Lyon in 2005. In 2007, JCDecaux won a tender for Paris’ street furniture and bicycle rental system. Today, JCDecaux is ranked the number one company worldwide in self-service bicycles, with a fleet of 52,000 bicycles now present in 70 cities. JCDecaux operates this service under the brand Cyclocity.
In 2011, JCDecaux acquired MediaKiosk as the main shareholder.
As part of the open data movement, JCDecaux made available its data system of the rental bike service in 2013. The company is also recognized for its commitment to sustainable development and holds an ISO 14001 certification.

Activities

The JCDecaux Group specialises in advertising street furniture, large format billboards, advertising on public transport, and self-service bicycle rental systems.

Street furniture

Advertising street furniture was a concept invented by Jean-Claude Decaux.
Street furniture includes bus shelters, Morris Columns, City Information Panels and kiosks. Such formats enable advertisers to reach city centres, where large format billboards are not available. Cities can retain a portion of the advertising panels for their own use.
In some countries, JCDecaux holds a contract in shopping malls.
In order to adapt street furniture to the environment, JCDecaux works with internationally renowned designers, such as: Mario Bellini, Philip Cox, Peter Eisenman, Norman Foster, Patrick Jouin, Philippe Starck, Robert Stern, Martin Szekely and Jean-Michel Wilmotte. JCDecaux also has a Design Office, which works to improve and modernise furniture.
Street furniture also includes a range of non-advertising sites, such as self-service toilets, electronic newspapers and interactive kiosks next to public benches, bins, columns, road signs, glass batteries and paper containers.

Transport advertising

The term transport includes Outdoor advertising in airports, on the underground, on buses, trams, and on taxis. JCDecaux operates concessions in 150 airports and over 300 subways, trains, trolleys and bus stations.
In 2013, advertising in Transport accounted for 37.9% of JCDecaux's revenue.

Billboard advertising

Billboard advertising includes advertising billboards of more than 8m². These formats can be adapted for many different purposes, such as for event artworks, which is operated by JCDecaux under the brand Artvertising.
Individuals are offered the opportunity to lease part of their property to JCDecaux as a billboard site.

Bicycle rental systems

The public bicycle rental systems are each financed by local advertising operators, in most cases in return for the cities signing over a 10-year licence to exploit citywide billboards. The overall scheme is called Cyclocity by the company, but each city's system is branded under an individual name.
The cities that have implemented its bicycle rental systems are listed below.
To sort this table by any column, click on the icon next to the column title.
CityCountryLaunch dateSystem
name		StationsBikes
Amiens2008Vélam26313
Besançon2007VéloCité30200
Brisbane2010CityCycle1502000
Brussels2009Villo!3605000
Cergy-Pontoise2009VélO242400
Córdoba2003Cyclocity435
Créteil2010Cristolib’10130
Dublin2009dublinbikes1021500
Gijón2003Gijon-Bici864
Gothenburg2010Styr & Ställ50600
Kazan2013Veli’K6120
Lillestrøm2013Bysykkel550
Ljubljana2011BicikeLJ51510
Lund2014Lundahoj17250
Luxembourg2008Vel'oh72742
Lyon2005Vélo'v3484000
Marseille2007Le vélo1301000
Mulhouse2007Vélocité40240
Namur2010Li Bia Velo24240
Nancy2008VélOstan'lib29250
Nantes2008Bicloo102880
Paris2007Vélib'174623845
Rouen2007Cy'clic20250
Santander2008Tusbic15200
Seville2007Sevici2602500
Toulouse2007VélôToulouse2532400
Toyama2010Cyclocity-Toyama15150
Valencia2010Valenbisi2752750
Vienna2003City Bike1161500
Vilnius2013Cyclocity Vilnius36300

Worldwide presence

JCDecaux operates in over 75 countries across 5 continents. 77.9% of JCDecaux’s annual revenue comes from abroad.

Europe

JCDecaux originated in France and was quickly established overseas, with its first foreign contracts in Belgium in 1966 and then in Portugal in 1971.
Thanks to its partnership with Wall AG, the company settled in Germany in 1982 and then in Turkey in 1996.
JCDecaux was founded in the United Kingdom in 1984 and is the market leader in Outdoor advertising.
In 2005, JCDecaux UK has unveiled the UK's tallest outdoor advertising structure: the M4 Torch. JCDecaux won several important contracts during the past 5 years such as: a contract for Outdoor Advertising at St Pancras International in London, National Rail Outdoor Advertising and BAA Advertising Contracts at Heathrow, Heathrow Express, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow Airports.
In 2010, JCDecaux completed the acquisition of UK rival Titan Outdoor. In 2015, JCDecaux won the Transport for London bus shelter advertising contract.
JCDecaux can now be found in most European countries, including Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway, Ireland, Poland and in Hungary.
JCDecaux can also be found in the Baltic countries, Bulgaria, in Ukraine.
JCDecaux is present in Denmark since 1989, in Italy since 1995, in Iceland since 1998, in Switzerland since 1999, in Austria since 2001, in Croatia and in Slovenia since 2001, in Serbia since 2003 and in Russia since 2007 through equity or joint ventures.

North America

JCDecaux has been present in the United States since 1993 in major cities and in 26 US airports, including New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles. JCDecaux was established in Canada in 2002.
Its North America division has its head office in 350 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

South America

JCDecaux was founded in Brazil and in Argentina in 1998. The company is also a part of the Outdoor market in Argentina, Uruguay since 2000 and Chile since 2001. Recently, JCDecaux strengthened its presence in Latin America by winning a contract for 1000 digital clocks in São Paulo, completing the acquisition of 85% of EUMEX.

Middle East and Africa

The company’s operation also covers the Middle East with offices established in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Doha in Qatar, Tel Aviv in Israel, as well as Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, JCDecaux signed recently a 20-year exclusive street furniture contract to provide the City of Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, with a wide range of advertising street furniture.
JCDecaux is present in five African countries: Algeria, Cameroun, South Africa,, Tanzania Botswana, and Nigeria.

Asia and Oceania

JCDecaux expanded to Australia in 1997.
In Asia, JCDecaux can be found in Singapore and Thailand since 1999, Japan since 2000 and in South Korea since 2001. JCDecaux also moved to China in 2004 with 7 airports, including Shanghai and Beijing. The company also has a presence in India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
JCDecaux maintains most of the bus stops and MUPIs in the NDMC area in Delhi.
In 2018, the company acquired Australian outdoor advertising company APN Outdoor.