Regarding That Vitaminwater Wrap
JCDecaux is our bus shelter ad overlord. Here’s their latest Chicago video upload.
Please note:
* Nobody’s really looking at the ad. How is effectiveness measured?
* The skateboard kid is cool in an ad but would scare many Chicagoans if seen on the street – which is their problem, not Vitaminwater’s.
* No audio; maybe talk about the marketing packages and costs.
* On YouTube, this video category is listed as Nonprofits & Activism. Really, Decaux?
Background:
From the <em<>Tribune, 2001:
“Selecting from a list of companies represented by influence-heavy local lobbyists, the Daley administration announced Friday that it has chosen a European firm to install nearly 2,200 pieces of fancy ‘street furniture,’ from bus stop shelters to newsstands.
“Officials insisted that clout played no role in the selection of JCDecauxCo. of France. The firm’s local representatives include the law firm of Gery Chico, former Board of Education president and one- time chief of staff to Mayor Richard Daley, and other political heavyweights.
“David Malone, the city’s purchasing chief, and Chicago Transit Authority President Frank Kruesi said JCDecaux offered the best deal among proposals submitted by five companies.
“Under JCDecaux’s proposal, the firm will construct, install and maintain 2,000 shelters to be placed at selected Chicago Transit Authority bus stops; seven bus supervisor kiosks; up to 110 newspaper vending racks in the downtown area; 21 newsstands; and 10 vending kiosks, some in city parks.
“The items will cost the city nothing under a 20-year contract. But the city will receive $200 million over the next two decades as JCDecaux shares revenues from advertisements that will be placed on the street furniture, officials said.”
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From the Tribune, 2003:
“A media conglomerate seeking a lucrative contract to erect bus shelters on Chicago’s streets guaranteed $39 million more in payments to the city than JCDecaux, the French advertising giant chosen by the Daley administration.
“Records obtained by the Tribune show that Infinity Outdoor Inc. promised $314 million over the two-decade life of the contract, even with no assurance that it could install shelters on the desirable State Street and North Michigan Avenue shopping corridors where advertising on the shelters would command premium rates.
“JCDecaux was declared the winner in November 2001 with a bid that guaranteed the city $275 million, though city officials said that they did not like some of the package and stripped it down. The city’s official announcement in 2001 calculated the value of JCDecaux’s winning bid at $200 million.
“After that announcement, the company’s representatives and city officials began lengthy negotiations on details of a final contract that then increased the money offered to $307.5 million.
“But critics contend the city gave away the store, dramatically sweetening the terms of the deal for JCDecaux and, in the end, settling for a figure that was lower than what Infinity offered from the start.
“David Malone, the city’s purchasing chief, said that the Infinity bid, like that of JCDecaux, included items that the city did not want. But Malone said he did not know the value of those unwanted Infinity add-ons.”
*
From the Tribune, 2005:
“After strong opposition from downtown property owners killed a recent proposal that would have required them to pay the $7.4 million annual operating expense of Millennium Park, the Daley administration has decided on another source of revenue to cover the park’s costs: street furniture.
“Escalating annual receipts from a contract awarded several years ago to a company that has installed more than 2,000 bus shelters, newsstands, newspaper vending racks and other items citywide will be used to pay the bill for everything from security to janitorial services associated with the park, Budget Director Paul Volpe said Wednesday.”
*
From the Tribune, 2006:
“The city has lost more than $640,000 in revenue because it failed to meet the timetable laid out in a controversial contract for bus shelters, newspaper boxes and other street furniture.
“JCDecaux recently delivered a certified check to the city for more than $3.2 million as its 2005 payment, but that was nearly 17 percent under the almost $3.9 million called for in the contract.
“But city officials on Thursday acknowledged that the payment amount was accurate because of delays in giving the company the green light to proceed with more than 85 street furniture items that should have been up by now.
“Money from the JCDecaux contract took on added significance late last year when the City Council approved a mayoral proposal to use the cash generated by the pact to fund annual Millennium Park operating costs.”
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Comments welcome.</em<>
Posted on June 5, 2012