Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC) has set up a Data Division at Corporate level, described as “inaugurating a new phase in the transformation and development of its business”.
Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said “By launching this new Data Corp Division, operating on a global scale, the Group is seeking to accelerate the transformation of outdoor advertising and company by maximising its ability to improve knowledge, and hence design, of innovative products and services, creating new sources of value throughout the eco-system: for citizens and consumers, advertisers and agencies, local authorities, cities and transport and retail partners”.
Albert Asséraf, Executive Vice-President, Strategy, Data and User Innovation, France, will oversee the launch of this activity with the support of a steering committee that includes:
David McEvoy, Head of Marketing, JCDecaux UK
Neil Eddleston, Managing Director JCDecaux OneWorld
Mark Costa, Chief Digital Officer, North America
Ludovic Bertrand, Chief Technical Officer.
The rise of big data has propelled the communications, media and advertising sectors into a new world of profound and ongoing change. Market research, knowledge of city partners and advertisers, media strategy, media planning, audience measurement, ways of measuring impact and ROI, working methods and decision-making processes, all are being heavily impacted by data and the potential it offers.
Already over the last few months, JCDecaux has been rolling out many initiatives that put data at the heart of its processes and support ever more effective solutions for cities, airports, transport authorities, retail and advertisers. These have been bolstered in recent weeks by new projects, run in different Group subsidiaries, on innovative ways to measure audiences, or to collect and analyse internal and external data.
By setting up a dedicated Division, reporting to the Executive Board, JCDecaux is moving the strategy up a gear. The Data Division’s mission will be to develop a Group-wide strategy to exploit the considerable potential of collecting, analysing, modelling and exploiting data. This will always comply strictly with personal data protection rules to safeguard citizens and users, which in Europe, for instance, will very shortly be strengthened by the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation. The strategy will benefit all JCDecaux’s partners: Advertisers, Agencies, Cities, Airports, Transport Operators, etc… Work is already under way on many projects. Some have already yielded results, whether in measuring audience, impact and effectiveness, etc. or in developing smart and context-aware dissemination of content on digital screens. Likewise, a number of local authorities are already taking advantage of this Data-led approach to optimise their own communications through Digital Information Panels.
The Data Division will soon be strengthened by the arrival of a Chief Officer in order to manage this activity and increase the deployment of skills and know-how within the Group. He will rely on teams of Data Scientist, Data Analyst and Data Engineer who have already joined the company and on staff currently being recruited.
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