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| Simon Property Group and Publicis Groupe Launch OnSpot Digital Network, Major New Digital Channel |
| First National Mall-based Digital Broadcast Network Aims to Revolutionize the Shopping Experience by Driving Marketing Closer to Upscale Consumers PARIS and INDIANAPOLIS, May 12, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Publicis Groupe (NYSE: PUB), the world's fourth largest communications company, and Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG), the largest publicly traded retail real estate company in North America, announced today the launch of a new, high- definition digital network, offering lifestyle programming, news, shopping center content and consumer advertising to Simon Mall shoppers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other major American markets. OnSpot Digital Network is a 50/50 venture between Publicis Groupe and Simon Property Group and is a direct initiative of David Simon, chief executive officer, Simon Property Group, and Maurice Levy, chairman and chief executive officer of Publicis Groupe. OnSpot will be headquartered in Chicago and led by Simon Badinter, chairman and chief executive officer of Publicis' Medias & Regies Europe and North America, and Stewart Stockdale, chief marketing officer, Simon Property Group and president, Simon Brand Ventures. Both Badinter and Stockdale will serve as co-chairmen of OnSpot Digital Network. According to Badinter, "The OnSpot network offers prime time all the time, and with this new joint venture, Publicis Groupe is once again at the forefront of digital innovation. Together with Simon Property Group we are offering marketers a new and unique opportunity for ongoing brand awareness with extremely upscale consumers. By extending the dialogue between a brand and a consumer directly into the shopping environment, we can help brands make a tremendous impact at the time that it matters most: when consumers are poised to make a purchase." "Our exciting deployment of this first-of-a-kind digital network is specifically designed to reach consumers at the ever-important point-of- purchase," Stockdale added. "Our shopping centers are excellent venues in which to sell impressions because they are extremely targeted, high traffic locations. "We have undergone an extensive process during the past year of testing the digital initiative at Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, NY, measuring consumer reaction and ad recall of major brands. Earlier we announced that Simon shopping centers will be measured for reach and frequency by Arbitron, which will address marketers' questions on advertising metrics through this channel." OnSpot Digital Network will broadcast content in high-definition on nearly 2,000 screens at 50 premier Simon Malls covering most of the nation's Top 10 markets by the end of the summer. OnSpot enhances the shopping experience by airing messages not only visually but audibly, and by airing content designed specifically for these point-of-sale locations. OnSpot's state-of-the-art, digital, high-definition screens will be positioned at strategic locations throughout the malls, including major entrances, center courts, food courts, escalators, major corridors and other high traffic areas, to ensure high frequency and optimal consumer contact. OnSpot segments will incorporate lifestyle, news, entertainment, shopping center and advertising content that will appeal to an estimated 500 million shopper visits per year at the 50 malls served by the new network. (Simon's nearly 300 shopping centers around the country have about 2.2 billion consumer visits a year.) About OnSpot Digital Network OnSpot Digital Network is a 50/50 venture between Publicis Groupe, the world's fourth largest communications company, and Simon Property Group, the largest publicly traded retail real estate company in North America. OnSpot Digital Network is a new digital media channel that will transmit digital advertising via broadband networks to air on high-definition plasma displays in premier Simon Malls. OnSpot Digital Network will launch in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other major markets, and a nationwide implementation to over 50 malls across the U.S. is expected to be completed by late summer 2006. About Simon Brand Ventures Simon Brand Ventures (SBV), Simon's business-to-consumer arm, has pioneered the transformation of shopping malls into a medium, where consumer brands can build one-on-one relationships with shoppers, who make 2.2 billion visits to Simon Malls each year. Simon's vast franchise of market-leading shopping centers nationwide provides SBV the foundation to monetize the distribution system through numerous consumer ventures, including the new OnSpot Digital Network. Seeds for OnSpot Digital Network were planted in 2003 when SBV commissioned Arbitron to validate its mall pedestrian traffic (www.simon.com/arbitron). SBV is engaged in a number of other initiatives, including the Simon Giftcard(R), the launch of Simon platform programs such as Simon Kidgits Club(R), Simon Super Chefs Live!(R), Simon DTour Live(R), and Simon Evening of Giving(R); additional national media delivery channels including static, outdoor digital and experiential marketing and advertising vehicles; and multiple national and local marketing alliances with Coca-Cola, Visa U.S.A. and Cingular Wireless, among others. About Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership, development and management of retail real estate, primarily regional malls, Premium Outlet(R) centers and community/lifestyle centers. The Company's current total market capitalization is approximately $42 billion. Through its subsidiary partnership, it currently owns or has an interest in 285 properties in the United States containing an aggregate of 200 million square feet of gross leasable area in 39 states plus Puerto Rico. Simon also owns interests in 51 European shopping centers in France, Italy, and Poland; 5 Premium Outlet centers in Japan; and one Premium Outlet center in Mexico. Additional Simon Property Group information is available at http://www.simon.com . About Medias & Regies Founded in Paris, France in 1938, Medias & Regies is a media sales entity covering press, radio, cinema, outdoor, Internet and mall media, with 750 employees in France, Europe and the U.S. Clients include advertising agencies, centralized purchasing organizations, advertisers and media buyers. Additional information is available at http://www.medias-regies.publicis.fr About Publicis Groupe Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577 and member of the CAC40 Index - NYSE: PUB) is the world's fourth largest communications group, as well as the world's second largest media counsel and buying group. Its activities span 104 countries on five continents. The Groupe's communication activities cover advertising, through three autonomous global advertising networks: Leo Burnett, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as through its two multi-hub networks Fallon Worldwide and 49%-owned Bartle Bogle Hegarty; media consultancy and buying through two worldwide networks ZenithOptimedia and Starcom MediaVest Group; and marketing services and specialized communications including direct marketing, public relations, corporate and financial communications, event communications, multicultural and healthcare communications. Web sites: http://www.publicisgroupe.com and http://www.finance.publicisgroupe.com SOURCE Simon Property Group, Inc.; Publicis Groupe Billie Scott, Public Relations |