- Paris, November 30, 2006 - JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and the number two worldwide, announced today that MCDecaux (a joint venture between JCDecaux SA and Mitsubishi Corporation, 60% held by JCDecaux), has been awarded the contract for Osaka’s advertising bus shelters following a public tender. MCDecaux submitted a proposal for 500 shelters representing a total of 900 advertising panels for a period of 20 years.
- Osaka, which is Japan’s 3rd largest city with more than 2.6 million inhabitants, is the capital of Kansaï, the country’s second most important economic region.
- With 5 bus shelters planned for installation in the very near future, the first six months will be devoted – in accordance with the usual practice in Japan – to a presentation of the concept of advertising bus shelters to Osaka residents and to a survey of their reactions. If the approval ratings are positive, the contract will be confirmed.
- It was following the same citizens’ consultation process and positive approval ratings from more than 70% of the population that the contracts for Yokohama (Japan’s 2nd largest city with 3.5m inhabitants), Nagoya (4th largest city with 2.2m inhabitants), Kobe (6th largest city with 1.5m inhabitants) and Okayama (19th largest city with 0.6m inhabitants) were confirmed. In these four cities, the bus shelter installation plan is currently undergoing full-scale deployment.
MCDecaux is also the largest operator of shopping center advertising in Japan, managing more than 100 shopping centers on behalf of the 2 largest retailers, Aeon Group and Ito Yokado, and reaching almost 50 million consumers every month.
Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board of JCDecaux and Co-CEO, made the following comment: “We are delighted by this win and the confidence that the City of Osaka has shown in us and the bus shelter advertising concept that MCDecaux has introduced to Japan. This new contract will accelerate our rate of growth in the world’s second largest advertising market where 11.5% of the €39bn spent on advertising is on Outdoor.”