Spencer Berwin, Co-CEO at JCDecaux UK told ‘Campaign‘ that the company wants to be seen as a leading media owner beyond its out-of-home reach. To to achieve this, the company wants to double its number of digital impressions in the next year by investing in large format, retail, rail, cities and airport with the aim of becoming the fourth media company with the highest weekly digital reach, behind ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
One of the initiatives is a deal with Telefónica, which owns the O2 wireless network, to work on data about audience behaviour at 125 geo-fenced locations in the UK to further optimise the targeting of campaigns.
At the UAB Digital Upfronts event, the company said that it planned to develop its digital displays to support UltraHD in 2017. The company also said that it does not plan to pull out of traditional non-digital billboards.
Analyst Comment
The comment was made in the context of comments from Clear Channel which told the Sunday Times that it will not pay rental for 800 roadside sites in the UK, apparently allowed under the contracts it has with site owners. The move is because the company wants to move more rapidly to a digital-only strategy. Earlier this year, Clear Channel UK said that it would increase the size of its Adshel Live digital network to 1000 units, from 600 in current areas and new towns and cities. The company also announced a deal with Sainsbury’s supermarkets for 350 ‘six-sheet’ digital displays, to be branded as the Sainsbury’s Live network. Also this year, the Walmart-owned British retailer Asda signed a seven-year contract with Clear Channel to digitise up to 500 of its outlets.(BR)
