Ana Célia Biondi, general director of JCDecaux, says that the company went from 509 to 3,684 digital assets
The only woman to lead an out-of-home company in Brazil, Ana Célia Biondi, general director of JCDecaux, talks in this interview about the evolution of the world’s leading OOH company, which turns 60 in 2024. The executive comments on the founder Jean -Claude Decaux, who was the pioneer.
“He created a business model that still serves as the basis for our sector today: urban furniture financed by advertising”, she highlights. Six decades later, “the market has evolved a lot and diversified, but maintains the essence established by JCDecaux, which is to bring innovation, services, information and business opportunities to cities”.
The time is to digitize assets. “From 2019 to 2024, we increased our number of digital equipment by 400%, going from 509 to 3,684 digital assets,” he says. Check out his interview below.
What is JCDecaux’s assessment of these 60 years of operation in the out-of-home market?
The main legacy that JCDecaux created and maintains includes the entire global and national OOH market. Jean-Claude Decaux was the pioneer. He created a business model that still serves as the basis for our sector today: urban furniture financed by advertising. Six decades later, the market has evolved a lot and diversified, it is more consistent than ever, but maintains the essence established by JCDecaux, which is to bring innovation, services, information and business opportunities to cities. JCDecaux celebrates 60 years with the same purpose as when it was created, which is to generate increasingly efficient, sustainable and appropriate solutions for the millions of people who circulate daily on the streets, in public transport, in airports and supermarkets in the main cities of the world. world. Since creating the concept of advertising-funded bus shelters and the traditional 2 m2 billboard format, JCDecaux has established itself as a global reference in consistent, creative and technological solutions for outdoor advertising. Today, we are global OOH leaders, we are in more than 80 countries, in almost 4 thousand cities with more than 10 thousand inhabitants and we have a daily audience of 850 million people, with a strong vision for the future.
What makes JCDecaux the world’s leading company in the sector?
JCDecaux’s DNA has always been shaped by the constant search for innovation, entrepreneurship and passion for the business model created by Jean-Claude Decaux. Our major differentiators have allowed the company to consolidate itself as a global leader in OOH. Our founder has a phrase that we use as a reference: “Every job that deserves to be done, deserves to be done well”. In other words, he and all generations of the Decaux family who expanded our business believed that anything is possible if you dare to dream, work tirelessly and take advantage of every opportunity, making cities more welcoming and promoting the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people. people in the world. Furthermore, we are the main reference in the OOH sector in relation to programmatic media. We have exclusive platforms that allow advertisers to plan global, personalized and contextualized campaigns for each moment of our audience’s journey. Another important aspect is that we maintain a strong presence in ESG, promoting sustainable practices in all our markets, with a presence in strategic locations and large urban centers.
Is the company a leader in OOH in Brazil too? Name some numbers.
Brazil is among JCDecaux’s ten largest global markets. We have been operating in Brazil for 25 years and have always focused on the quality of our services and exclusive contracts. In the airport sector, for example, we manage advertising at the country’s largest airport, Guarulhos, which has a monthly average of four million passengers, and at the largest domestic hub in terms of number of connections, which is Brasília Airport. . These two exclusive JCDecaux contracts account for 28% of the airport audience in Brazil. In the city of São Paulo, we exclusively operate the largest rail transport system in Brazil, the subway, which has a daily flow of almost 8 million people (source: CCR and Metrô de SP). It is the OOH medium that most impacts and engages the public, according to research on out of home that JCDecaux carried out in partnership with Orbit. In addition to the subway, street clocks are one of the most premium assets in the OOH market: 9 out of 10 people who travel through the capital of São Paulo pass through the neighborhoods where JCDecaux is present, according to a post-sales study we carried out in partnership with Offerwise. We are present in 13 states in Brazil, in addition to the Federal District, which gives us an enormous reach in the Brazilian market and a potential audience of 32.6 million people per week (source: Ibope TGI R4 People + Census 2022), in our verticals of activity: urban furniture, subway, airports and retail media.
How important is it for Brazil to be among the company’s ten largest global markets?
Being among JCDecaux’s ten largest global markets is an achievement that demonstrates Brazil’s potential and relevance in the international OOH scenario. This reinforces our ability to lead innovations in the sector, generate value for brands and connect the public to the diverse and relevant urban scene. Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and one of the largest in the world, therefore, it has enormous reach and influence. Our global and prominent presence in Brazil allows JCDecaux to remain a leader in the OOH market and be a reference for the future of outdoor advertising.
Read the full interview in the issue of propmark October 28, 2024
