A talk with Raphaël Palti Chairman and Founder of Altavia More than just a signature, Retail for Humans is a conviction and a statement. It embodies the long-standing commitment we have built over time toward our talents, our partners, and our clients. 1983 Founding of the Group Raphaël Palti forms PBE, an advertising and promotional agency, with two emblematic first clients: Etam and Carrefour. 1984 Creation of iconic Carrefour TV advertisements. 1985 Alongside the development of the advertising and promotion agency, the group diversified its business lines: branding, brand image, packaging, design… With new clients came the need for new agencies: Argile (identity, brand image, design, packaging), Coda (promotion), Vista (advertising). 1988 Creation of the Publishing Services division, later to become one of the Group’s core businesses. 1995 First international expansion opens in Spain—in Madrid, then later in Barcelona. Italy would follow in 1997. 1998 Deployment of outsourced publishing management in Europe. 1999 Birth of the Altavia brand. The Altavia brand was created on 09/09/1999 at 9:09 am, whose name carries a double meaning: “the high way”, but also “the other way”. Its logo takes its inspiration from a sculpture by Emilio Gilioli entitled “Sun on the Hill”—the symbol was first used by the artist in the National Monument to the Resistance at the Plateau des Glières in France. 2003 Acquisition of the Victor group. Altavia is now active throughout France, with offices in Paris, Nantes, Lille and Lyon. 2004 Altavia expands throughout Europe. Altavia’s European development is gaining momentum: in just 5 years, Altavia set up operations in Brussels, Athens, Istanbul, Warsaw, Prague, Düsseldorf and London. 2005 Expansion to Asia. Altavia China opens its first offices in Beijing and Shanghai, followed by Chengdu and Guangzhou. 2006 Development of marketingservices. After expanding into logistics in 2002, Altavia accelerated itsbusiness development with the acquisition of Le Parti du Client, CPO and RVB. 2008 Working closely with consumer customers. Creation of Altavia Shoppermind, the first research and forecasting laboratory on new consumer trends in France. Organization of the first Cité du Commerce et de la Consommation, attended by 3,000 participants at ESC-EAP in Paris. Altavia joins the United Nations Global Compact. 2010 FSC ® and PEFC™ certification. Altavia is the first communications group to be doubly certifiedFSC ® and PEFC™ in continental Europe. 2015 Establishment in North America. Altavia’s arrival on the American continent begins with Altavia Canada in Montreal. Internationalization continues its steady pace with new BUs in Europe, as well as in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. 2016 Altavia launches its retail tech unit. 2017 Digital and dynamic growth. Altavia accelerates the development of its digital activities through numerous acquisitions in France and abroad: Insitaction, Jetpulp, DISKO, Kamikaze. International expansion continues in 2017 and 2018 with new business units in France, Croatia, Kazakhstan and Africa. Acquisitions of Sumis in the Netherlands and CloudRaker in Canada. 2018 Raphaël Palti, Entrepreneur of the Year. Raphaël Palti, Chairman and Founder of Altavia, is voted“Communications Entrepreneur of the Year 2018” by the Agencies of the Year jury. International growth. The Group’s dynamic international expansion continues on several continents with the acquisitions of pan-African digital agency Blue Lions, branding agency Creative Capital and Canadian agency ASK Marketing. In France: Altavia ramps up the diversification of its 360° offering for retailer sales activation with the acquisition of Fil Rouge, a trade marketing agency. 2019 International expansion and digitization of our offer. Altavia strengthens its presence in the Middle East with theacquisitions of ODG, a consulting and design agency specializingin retail, and Active Creative, an agency specializing in the luxurygoods, cosmetics and fragrances sectors. In Europe, the Group pursues its strategy of investment in digital and technology with the acquisitions of RS:Media in Germany and digital agency Pixel and Pixel in Spain. A member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2008,Altavia confirms in 2019 its “Advanced” status – the highest levelof distinction awarded by the Global Compact. 2020 Altavia creates Altavia Consortium, an alternative to traditional agencies, conceived as a marketplace of talents and skills, with service to boot. Headed by Sydney Palti, Altavia Consortium deploys a commando team of experts in digital, communications, design and performance, and collaborates with the best start-ups in Retail Tech. Altavia creates Altavia Foundation, dedicated to micro-commerce. Led by Coralie Abram-Palti, Altavia Foundation works to inspire, accompany and support micro-commerce players in the service of social progress. Through Altavia’s international network, Group employees can benefit from skills sponsorship opportunities. 2021 Altavia launches its new international tagline: Retail For Human This new signature embodies the Group’s founding principles ofradically human and humane business practices. Creation of Altavia Travel Retail Backed by an international team of connected specialists on 3continents, Altavia Travel Retail offers consulting and creativesolutions to airport terminal operators, retailers and brands.Thanks to our global and worldwide vision of the travel retailecosystem, our customers benefit from genuine online/offlineexpertise to better design each touchpoint of the traveler’sjourney. 2022 Altavia reimagines its offices in a former industrial building in Saint-Ouen. Established in Saint-Ouen since 1994, Altavia has reinvented its headquarters. This comprehensive project, led by Raphaël Palti, transformed the historic site into a new kind of working and living space, combining new modes of collaboration, a passion for design, respect for architectural heritage and a strong local footing. Altavia Foundation launches microco.com, the first onlineplatform dedicated to microcommerce as a means of fostering professional integration. 2023 Altavia welcomes For Talents as a shareholder to support thetransfer and development of its business. Altavia Kamikaze joins forces with two of Poland’s best-knownagencies: K2 Precise, a media and martech agency, and K2Create, a creative agency. Altavia strengthens its travel retail expertise with the acquisitionof Asian agency Sina Retail. Opening of Altavia Israel 2024 A passing of the torch. On March 21, 2024 Altavia celebrated a changing of hands— Sydney Palti replaced Raphaël Palti as Chief Executive Officer of the Altavia Group.
