Dauphin Billboard Advertising
Dauphin Billboard Advertising (or Dauphin OTA - Office Technique d’Affichage) is a French billboard advertising company created in 1921 in Paris and runned by Jacques Dauphin. The company specializes in macro formats, mainly billboard murals and 4x3 billboards..[1]
History[edit]
1920s - 1940s: Company's creation[edit]
Dauphin billboard advertising is created in 1921 by Eugène Dauphin.[2]
The Dauphin family closed the company during WWII to prevent the Nazi propaganda as France was an occupied territory at the time.
Jacques Dauphin re-opened the Parisian-based office after the French Liberation in 1944 and posted throughout Paris the now famous images of the Liberation by Paul Colin depicting Marianne with stigmata.
1950s: National development[edit]
In the 1950s, Dauphin consolidates its leading position in France and takes over local companies that specialised in highway billboard advertising. This leads Dauphin to open its first subsidiaries throughout the French territory.
1960s: First billboard advertising networks[edit]
In 1960, Dauphin upgrades its national billboard network to the 4x3 standard format it created and allocates a yearly 7% of its turnover to their technical improvement.
In 1962, Jacques Dauphin created the first billboard advertising network in Paris. The company defies time and is able to change the content of its billboard networks within a short period thanks to the employment of former acrobats and circus workers who diligently stick the graphic reproductions. This has led Jacques Dauphin to say about his company: “Our billboards are our stage, our trestles: we are an entertainment business, a performing art company.”
1970s - 1980s: International development[edit]
Between 1972 and 1983, the company implements billboard advertising networks in cities of more than 50.000 citizens and in 1982 Dauphin creates the first national advertising network.
In the 1970s, Jacques Dauphin develops the company to other European countries including the UK, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, etc. He creates City Advertising in Belgium and takes over Poster, the Spanish outdoor advertising leading company, followed by IGAP and TECNE in Italy that will then merge into Affitalia. Dauphin buys many companies and eventually becomes the European leader of billboard advertising in the 1980s.
In 1983, Dauphin enters the Paris stock exchange.
1990s: Dauphin, the leading European billboard advertising company[edit]
In 1996, Dauphin takes over Marignan outdoor advertising[3] and becomes the only billboard advertising company to offer a nationwide network in France.[4]
In 1998, the Dauphin group installs the first bike share service in the world in Rennes and develops its activities in public transportation, namely tramway, subway, bus and parkings.[1]
Jacques Dauphin dies on 1 Avril 1994. After his only son died in a tragic car accident in 1988, and due to the young age of his only granddaughter and heiress Charlotte Dauphin,[5] Jacques Dauphin had no heir to rule the Dauphin group. This led to the sale of the company in 1999, leaving an opportunity for its main competitor JCDecaux to conquer the billboard advertising market - at the time, JCDecaux was specialist of bus shelters. JCDecaux enters the billboard advertising market only a couple of months after the Dauphin sale[6] to Clear Channel/IHeartMedia[7]
2000s: Digital billboard advertising[edit]
In the 2000s, Dauphin pursues its development within ClearChannel/IHeartMedia and the Dauphin billboard are slowly turned into digital ones.
Techniques and Formats[edit]
Since its creation in 1921, Dauphin has greatly invested in the research and development of new innovative formats and billboard advertising techniques. The company has initiated every single evolution of the media in France, from the painted murals up to the digital billboards.
Through its dedicated R&D department in charge of prototyping, Dauphin has developed various techniques throughout the years, including the metal mesh billboards, the trivision and scrolling displays, the kinetic or the digital billboards. With a full time team of dedicated architects, Dauphin guarantees that the company's billboards are fully integrated to the urban landscape. Dauphin therefore maintains its leading position with a visually coherent billboard advertising network, challenging techniques, while simultaneously pursuing a more experimental approach with the development of a 'niche' outdoor advertising offer: reliefs, painted murals, multiple panels,[8] etc.
Most of the leading companies in their own fields exclusively collaborate with Dauphin for their European outdoor communication: Danone,[9] the Mars group[10], Hollywood[11], for the agri-business; L'Oréal, Hermès, or Rochas[12] for the luxury industry; Air France, etc.
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Murals[edit]
The company specializes in macro formats and develops billboard murals since its creation in 1921.[1]
Billboard murals are adapted to a mid term or long term strategy. Dauphin collaborates with prominent French companies (Ricard, Danone,[13] etc.) to develop mural projects throughout France.
In 1983, Dauphin organises the first 'Dauphin d'Or' award for the best mural project at the Salon des Artistes at Grand Palais in Paris.
4 x 3[edit]
Specialising in macro format since its creation in 1921, Dauphin focuses on transforming the 4x3 (12m2) into the standard billboard advertising format. Jacques Dauphin believes that only large scale billboards can guarantee a greater audience and a better reach. He conceives billboards as visual events, advertising proclamations.[14] · [15]
Reliefs[edit]
In 1985, Dauphin develops a new performative billboard technique and creates the first outdoor advertising campaign in relief (3D format).
This new format attracts a various range of advertisers and agencies, pushing their creative boundaries even further.
Other media[edit]
On top of its billboard advertising activities, Dauphin also works in television, radio[16]and cinema.
The Dauphin group also develops its public transportation activities by creating the first bike share service in the world in Rennes, and is active in tramway, subway, bus and parkings.[1]
Dauphin and the arts[edit]
Supporting the arts has been a core element of Dauphin's vision since its creation. As a consequence, the company supports various artistic initiatives, such as Fiac, the Cannes Film Festival, the Caméra d'Or, the Salon des Artistes, or the Festival international de l'Affiche.
The company has commissioned and inspired many artists, such as Daniel Buren[17], François Morellet[18], Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, etc.
The life and career of Jacques Dauphin, his personality, leadership, and his passion for sailing have inspired French film director Claude Lelouch for his film Itinerary of a Spoiled Child and its lead character Sam Lion.[19]
Jacques Dauphin has turned billboard advertising into a popular art form, a witness of the contemporary society, and one of the leading media of the XXth century in Europe.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Notre histoire, 'Création de la société Dauphin OTA (Office Technique d’Affichage), spécialisée dans les murs peints publicitaires et les panneaux Grand Format, Site de ClearChannel.
- ↑ Décès du PDG de Dauphin, Les Echos, 6 avril 1994.
- ↑ Marignan aux normes Dauphin, Stratégies, 30 janvier 1998.
- ↑ Notre histoire, "Dauphin devient l’unique afficheur France entière en prenant le contrôle majoritaire du capital de Marignan Publicité", Site de ClearChannel.
- ↑ Dauphin showroom visit, The Window Barney's, 2 novembre 2017.
- ↑ JCDecaux réorganise Avenir, Stratégies, 23 juin 2000.
- ↑ Avec le rachat de Dauphin Clear Channel devient leader mondial de l'affichage, Les Echos, 14 juin 1999.
- ↑ En France la publicité donne dans le panneau, "L'affiche double donne au message politique l'ampleur exigée par l'enjeu", La Croix, 7 Avril 1997.
- ↑ Mur Peint Gervais rue Rambuteau, Mai 1986, Paris 4e arrondissement, France, Getty Images.
- ↑ Publicité Twix, Paris, France., Getty Images.
- ↑ Campagne publicitaire pour les chewing-gums Hollywood, 4 mars 1987, à Paris, France., Getty Images.
- ↑ Affichage Dauphin pour Rochas, 1988, Paris, France., Getty Images.
- ↑ Mur Peint Gervais rue Rambuteau, Mai 1986, Paris 4e arrondissement, France., Getty Images.
- ↑ Panneaux d'affichage Dauphin, Getty Images.
- ↑ Panneaux d'affichage Dauphin, Getty Images.
- ↑ Publication, FM La Folle Histoire des Radios Libres, Annick Cojean, 1986, Grasset.
- ↑ Daniel Buren, Catalogue Raisonné
- ↑ François Morellet, Centre Pompidou
- ↑ Claude Lelouch, Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté
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