JCDecaux wins 16-year exclusive advertising street furniture contract with the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area with a strong focus on sustainability

JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, announces that its subsidiary, JCDecaux France, has won a 16-year exclusive advertising street furniture contract with the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area. Installation will start on 1 January 2023 to service the needs of this dynamic metropolitan area of 1.9 million people.

The contract covers the provision, maintenance and advertising operation of 1,331 bus shelters, 579 2m2 and 8m2 city information panels, as well as the supply of 100 tram shelters and other street furniture that will further extend the network. The contract also includes the refurbishment, maintenance and operation of 226 tram shelters and street furniture that is owned by the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area.

This new contract will enable JCDecaux to provide the metropolitan area of Aix-Marseille-Provence, its residents and many visitors with a range of stylish and innovative street furniture that will fit seamlessly into the local streetscape, providing a useful and well-maintained public service that respects the environment. As a regional partner, JCDecaux will play an active part in the operation of the public transport service, as well as by providing a channel for council communication enhancing public awareness of the Métropole.

JCDecaux has extended its sustainability commitments following the publication of its new ESG 2030 strategy. The Group was also among the first to sign a climate commitment in July 2022, as part of France’s Climate & Resilience Law, positioning itself at the cutting edge of media best practice to promote the environmental transition and responsible advertising. In line with these commitments, JCDecaux aims to provide the metropolitan area with environmentally-friendly street furniture, most of which is refurbished and equipped with energy efficient solutions: LED lighting for non-digital street furniture, dimming of 2m² billboards, automatic light intensity modulation of digital screens, turning off screens at night, passenger movement sensors in all shelters, etc. As part of this approach, JCDecaux will use a fleet of fully electric vehicles for its servicing, maintenance and advertising services. In line with the Group’s usual practice, street furniture will be washed with rainwater and powered by 100% renewable electricity as it is already the case at the national level and will be before the end of the year at the global level. By contributing to carbon neutrality for its activities in France since the end of 2021, JCDecaux is making resource preservation and environmental protection a reality.

For nearly 60 years, JCDecaux has designed and operated street furniture, the result of constant dialogue between its operations teams, its in-house design studio, its integrated R&D Department, and collaboration with more than 200 designers the world over. In order to enhance the urban landscape and to reflect the Métropole’s identity and vibrancy, all the bus shelters and analogue 2m² and 8m² street furniture will be designed by the globally recognised architect and designer, Norman Foster, who is already well known to Marseille residents through his Ombrière project located at the city’s Old Port. In addition, bus shelters will be equipped with brand new signage, visible from a distance and from all directions of travel, to improve the identification and legibility of key information (name of the bus stop, lines and destinations as well as the logo of Métropole mobilité).

To help Aix-Marseille-Provence meet their sustainable and ‘Smart City’ goals, JCDecaux will deploy the latest generation of digital screens in the region, enabling the provision of dynamic and contextualised content. In line with its climate contract, JCDecaux will supply the metropolitan area with a communication toolbox dedicated to sustainable messaging, providing environmental information and promoting local businesses. To guarantee the future integration of technical devices and to meet the network’s goal of ease-of-use and public satisfaction, the street furniture will include a number of innovations to enhance the service, such as air quality and noise measurement sensors which will collect information in real time on digital screens, benefitting passengers and residents from the very beginning of the contract.

The Innovations Fund provided in the contract will enable the metropolitan area to introduce new features: solar panels, street furniture that includes green roofs, urban Wi-Fi, augmented reality solutions that help people navigate the city, and smart systems to collect, process and recycle cigarette butts. Thanks to the support of JCDecaux, the Métropole will benefit from the latest technological developments, ensuring they stay at the forefront of innovation.

JCDecaux has a strong local presence through its Regional Division in Marseille which is located in the heart of the metropolitan area. This ensures that the local community can rely upon the unwavering commitment of its teams, and in particular its operations teams who will provide an unrivalled service and level of response benefitting everyone in the area.
 Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-Chief Executive Officer of JCDecaux, said: “JCDecaux is privileged to support the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area in its urban, societal and environmental transformation. Our teams are proud to get involved in the development of this important Métropole, as they have been in the past with the various municipalities that make up the metropolitan area. JCDecaux will provide its technical, design, service and environmental expertise to contribute to the development of this outstanding region, with services that are designed to enhance the lives of all residents. Our street furniture is designed to be fully integrated into the urban landscape and guarantees a neutral carbon footprint for the metropolitan area, with JCDecaux achieving carbon neutrality for all its French activities since the end of 2021. Our virtuous business model, which was introduced by our founder in 1964, will enable us to create, install and maintain infrastructure in public areas and transport facilities, as well as providing useful and innovative services, at no cost to communities, financed by Out-of-Home advertising. Through this contract, we are continuing our strategy to focus on the creation of premium advertising networks while also improving the quality of life for the residents of the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area.”