JCDecaux wins Sydney Trains advertising contract
JCDecaux has won the Sydney Trains contract, one of the largest out-of-home advertising contracts in Australia, and dislodged incumbent oOh!Media.
The company is now the main advertising partner across the concourses and platforms of train stations for up to ten years.
The win also represents the largest individual roadside large format contract in NSW. oOh!Media has previously said that no one contract represents more than 6% of its revenue.
Secretary for Transport for NSW, Rob Sharp, says the new contract promises to declutter stations while generating record revenue. He says: “Valued at more than half a billion dollars, these are the largest public transport advertising contracts in Australia, and will more than treble previous outdoor advertising revenue on the Sydney Trains network.”
JCDecaux CEO Steve O’Connor: “The sheer scale, quality and impact of our new portfolio across Sydney Trains’ stations and surrounding roads, presents a wealth of new advertising opportunities for brands to connect with people travelling around Sydney.
“The reach of this network extends not only across Sydney’s CBD, with over 40% of all new sites falling within the City of Sydney, but through to North Sydney, Chatswood, Parramatta and into regional NSW. This is a triumphant win for JCDecaux and testament to our long relationship with Sydney Trains, as well as our experience in this market.”
The contract will see JCDecaux invest in 1,500 displays across the Sydney Trains OOH network, covering all steps of the passenger journey, from rail concourse to platform, and more than doubling its current digital roadside footprint in NSW.
Many of the developments are architecturally designed with JCDecaux engaging award-winning architect Tzannes to develop the highest-quality aesthetic and sustainable solutions. This includes new high-definition audio visual XTrackTV screens at ten of Sydney’s busy commuter hubs such as Circular Quay station, as well as new digital roadside Large Format portrait and landscape designs.
JCDecaux’s reach will extend across key entry and exit points from one end of the city to the other, including station domination opportunities at Bondi, Martin Place, Town Hall, Central and Parramatta. Exciting new developments will include the addition of high-profile Large Format locations including Barangaroo, the Anzac Bridge, Hills M2 Motorway, Artarmon, Chatswood and Rhodes.
Stations will see the upgrade and development of all assets with a consistent creative ratio, using cutting edge technology, making the messaging across environments seamless. Some of the rail concourse areas will have never-before seen high impact 4.5m x 2.5m digital video screens suspended from the wall.
In Wynyard these will be positioned above the York Street escalators, capturing the thousands of pedestrians walking through to Barangaroo each day. Existing portrait digital assets will be replaced with close to 300 new 75-inch screens, providing high resolution, quality viewing of campaigns.
The contract starts December1, a few weeks after the NSW Government has signalled an end to lockdowns from mid-October. New developments will start as early as January 1, 2022.
O’Connor: “Post lockdowns, as people jump at the opportunity to finally make the most of their newfound freedom, we expect to see rapid audience return to the road and rail environments, making it the place to be for advertisers to connect in the real world. In 2019, pre COVID, Sydney Trains recorded 420 million journeys per year. We are set to see people get out of their homes and travelling outdoors again, whether that’s back into the office, being a tourist in their own city or visiting friends and family.
“Rail environments are becoming more and more valuable across the world, as they offer exceptional digital development opportunities with high dwell time audiences. We can’t wait to see people moving around our state again soon.”
An oOh!media spokesperson: “We’ve had a great relationship with Sydney Trains over many years, and put in a bid commensurate with the revenue opportunity this tender represented.
“While we’re disappointed we weren’t renewed, it will not have a material effect as no single contract represents more than 6% of our revenues. Our network provides advertisers with significant reach of over 98% of Sydney’s metropolitan area without any Sydney Trains assets, demonstrating our very strong presence due to our extensive retail, office, street furniture, hospitality and billboard assets.”
Source: Chris Pash
