INTERNATIONAL. JCDecaux UK has appointed David Hawkins to the newly created post of Director of Commercial and Partnerships – JCDecaux Airport. He was previously Partnerships Director for the UK arm of JCDecaux, the world’s leading Out of Home advertising company.
In his new hybrid role, Hawkins will add the management of the Airport Commercial team to his current remit, continuing to report to Chief Partnerships Officer Helena Kavanagh. He will join the senior commercial leadership team headed by JCDecaux UK Chief Commercial Officer Mark Bucknell.
Hawkins boasts more than 16 years of experience with the company. Earlier, he oversaw the Airport and Roadside Commercial divisions of JCDecaux for four years, and spent three years in JCDecaux Dubai as a Sales and Partnership Director. Prior to this promotion, he previously served as Partnerships Director of Airport for the company’s UK business for four years.
Kavanagh welcomed Hawkins’ promotion. “This appointment covers both the Commercial and Partnership functions of our Airport business and thanks to his experience in the UK and in Dubai, David is ideally suited to this exciting new hybrid role. Airports continue to be a key channel for brands, with a high-quality digital portfolio that delivers relevant, targeted campaigns and enhances the journey for passengers.”
Bucknell commented: “This is an important new senior role and reflects the importance of our airport portfolio as we move into 2023. Travel is back, audiences have returned and the airport is a key environment to reach the influential and business audiences that brands need. I’m delighted that David has accepted this role in what is set to be an exciting year at airports.”
Hawkins said, “2023 is set to be the ‘Year of the Public Screen’ when the core attributes of Out of Home including brand fame and trust combine with the new digital capabilities of programmatic, allowing clients to create highly targeted, flexible and measurable DOOH campaigns at the airport. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to work with our team to promote JCDecaux’s premium airport portfolio and to help even more brands capitalise upon the new opportunities at the airport.”
JCDecaux operates advertising in 38 countries and in seven of the top ten airport hubs worldwide. Its portfolio includes the most popular airports in the UK, among them Heathrow and Edinburgh, in addition to Heathrow Rail and Signature Private Jet Aviation, Luton.
 This feature forms part of our new Sight Lines section, dedicated to the world of airport and other travel-related Out of Home advertising and communications. The section takes the same name as a successful ezine of the same name we published from April 2019 until the pandemic brought much of world travel to a halt. We are delighted to restore it, initially in column form, as the airport advertising sector bounces back with encouraging speed and vigour. All stories are archived under ‘Airport Advertising’ on the home page drop-down menu under ‘Other Revenues’.  Nowhere do the worlds of aviation and advertising converge more than in airports, often to riveting effect. Given how airports serve a crossroads of humanity, across geographies, cultures, religions, ages, advertising serves as a kind of Esperanto of the travel and communications world, a universal language that speaks to a population constantly on the move. Digitisation, once viewed as a threat to traditional airport advertising as millions of consumers looked down at their mobile devices rather than ahead (or up) at traditional advertising formats, has proved instead to be a positive game changer. Airports companies (and other travel infrastructure operators) and their concessionaires are increasingly deploying the flexibility and targetability of digital communication with riveting impact. We’ll be devoting extensive coverage to this once again burgeoning sector with a surprise or two along the way. To borrow from both journalistic and advertising parlance, watch this space. * Send us your Out of Home advertising and communications stories to Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com |
