Jean-Claude Decaux elected as "Homme des Médias de l'Année" at Cannes

Jean-Claude Decaux elected as "Homme des Médias de l'Année" at Cannes Lions 2000 The 47th International Festival of Advertising, Cannes Lions 2000, which is currently taking place in Cannes has just awarded the "Homme des Médias de l'Année" [Media Person of the Year] Prize to Mr Jean-Claude Decaux. This inescapable meeting of the whole advertising profession wanted to honour not only the inventor of Street Furniture but also, and primarily, the company head who has developed one of the world's leading companies in Outdoor Advertising. This prize crowns the success of the company's founder who started from nothing and has developed a market which he created in all its aspects. Jean-Claude Decaux is particularly the visionary who quite simply invented a new advertising medium, introduced a new unit into urban aesthetics and completely changed street advertising by creating a concept which now exists around the globe. Moreover, this prize comes a year after the take-over of the Outdoor Advertising arm of Havas or, in other words, one year after the birth of the JCDecaux Communication Extérieure Group. Now established in 33 countries, the JCDecaux Communication Extérieure Group achieved a turnover of 7.9 billion francs in 1999 (60% of which was made outside France), has 6 600 employees (with 3 000 outside France) and markets 460 000 advertising faces in 1 300 towns and cities, 450 shopping centres and 155 airports and underground stations. Composed of several very well-known brand names with acknowledged know-how - JCDecaux, Avenir, JCDecaux Publicité Lumineuse, AP Systèmes, Sky Sites, Pearl & Dean and RCI - the JCDecaux Group enjoys leading positions in the following markets: world n°1 for urban street furniture, world n°1 for airport advertising, European n°1 for large-format billboards and n°1 in the USA for advertising in shopping centres. On being awarded the prize, Mr Jean-Claude Decaux was keen to share this distinction with all the employees of the JCDecaux Communication Extérieure Group and paid tribute to his sons who work every day to pass on his "feeling for the town".