1964 - 1972
The beginning
1964
Jean-Claude Decaux invents the new concept and business model of Street Furniture with bus shelters financed by advertising. JCDecaux is born, and also a brand new 2 m2 advertising format.
Lyon (France) is the first city to adopt JCDecaux's business model.
1971
JCDecaux installs its street furniture in Lisbon. JCDecaux Portugal becomes the first subsidiary in a non-French speaking country.
1966
2 years after its creation JCDecaux expands beyond France and installs its bus shelters in Brussels (Belgium) where the first subsidiary is created.
1967
The company establishes its headquarters in Plaisir, near Paris. 50 years later in 2014 the site welcomed over 700 employees of more than 100 professions, from the poster preparation to the R&D.
1972 - 1982
Innovations for brands and cities
1972
JCDecaux revolutionizes the advertising panels by replacing all the sheet metals by back-lit panels.
The advertisement becomes more colourful and luminous, able to render the finest details of photographs, which were just started to be used in advertising.
1972
Wishing to improve its growing urban environment and to provide more public services Paris adopts JCDecaux's bus shelters in 1972.
1975
JCDecaux designs new signposts and offers them to cities alongside its bus shelters and City Information Panels. French authorities later would make them the standard for all signage in France.
1980
JCDecaux invents the Electronic Information Board. Cities can now communicate their messages to their citizens, 24/7 in real time.
1972
JCDecaux invents the City Information Panel. A street furniture displaying city information on one side and advertising on the other. A new division is formed 3 years later to help cities create their maps and communication.
1973
JCDecaux introduces the seven-day campaign, which offers more flexibility and impact for advertisers.
1976
The "PISA" is invented. A new model of Street Furniture to combine city information and advertisement on the same side of the panel.Meanwhile JCDecaux invents the 8 m². This format will outlive the "PISA",After 1988 being replaced by the "Senior" .
1980
JCDecaux's automatic public toilets are first tested and then installed in Paris in 1980 and 1981.Designed to be perfectly clean and operational and with energy and water saving features, which were a novelty at the time.
1982 - 1999
Design and Business Development
1982
In 1982,Hamburg JCDecaux installs its first street furniture in Germany . JCDecaux would be one of the first companies to invest in Eastern Germany by signing a contract a contract with the city of Leipzig. A few months before the countrys' reunification in 1990.
1992
Sir Norman Foster is the first designer to design of street furniture lines for JCDecaux. Now over 50 designers have worked with JCDecaux. Mario Bellini, Philippe Starck and Jean-Michel Wilmotte being among them.
1997
JCDecaux wins the tender for the City of Sydney. Thanks to its close collaboration with the designer Philip Cox and the quality of its maintenance service the company enters Oceania.
1982
The JCDecaux teams designs the Murano bus shelter.
1991
JCDecaux acquires the Morris Columns.
1993
San Francisco is the first American city to partner with JCDecaux, who installs its first model of automatic public toilets accessible to people in wheelchairs.
1998
Infoscreen installs in the metro of Vienna. JCDecaux's first digital displays.
1999 - 2013
From challenger to number 1 worldwide
1999
JCDecaux wins the first advertising concession and installs bus shelters on Orchard Road in Singapore . City, which used to forbid advertising in public spaces.
2001
JCDecaux becomes listed at the Paris stock exchange. In anticipation,the year before the Group has set up what is still today's governance: a supervisory board and an executive board with a rotating annual chair held alternately by Jean-François and Jean-Charles Decaux.
2004
JCDecaux UK starts to challenge the conventions of outdoor advertising, and spices up traditional campaigns with bespoke and out of the box elements. In 2004, JCDecaux Innovate is officially created.
2013
JCDecaux buys 85% of Eumex, a Mexican company founded in 1995. Over 500 people join JCDecaux who strengthens its position in Chile and Argentina and makes its entry into seven new countries.
1999
JCDecaux buys Avenir, the outdoor communication division of Havas Media Communication. The group welcomes the two new activities of Large Format and Transport Advertising.
2003
To answer cities' needs for better urban mobility, a new service joins the JCDecaux portfolio, . The first self-service bicycles scheme is installed in Vienna, Austria.
2008
JCDecaux signs its first contract with Dubai International Airport. Other deals in the region would follow and JCDecaux Middle East will grow to over 250 employees in 2014.
2011
Then present in 56 countries, JCDecaux becomes #1 worldwide in outdoor adverting.
2013 - onwards
Developing interactivity and connectivity
2013
Aiming at delivering more interactive and engaging campaigns, a new division, JCDecauxLive, is created at JCDecaux UK. This new experiential division activates the full potential of the latest digital screens.
2014
JCDecaux acquires Continental Outdoor Media. With a presence in 16 countries.JCDecaux becomes the number one outdoor advertising company in Africa.
2014
JCDecaux puts its networks at the service of urban connectivity by partnering with Vodafone, Huawei or Alcatel-Lucent for small cells deployment. Amsterdam is the first city to equip over 400 bus shelters.
2013
JCDecaux begins creating bespoke digital screens: Waterloo Station (UK), Chicago, Los Angeles Airport (LAX)
2015
Smarter and greener bus shelters arrive in the cities, beginning with Paris new bus shelter equipped with photovoltaic panels, green roofs, USB chargers and digital information screens providing real-time and localised information.