Evolve Media has expanded its Quebec offering with a series of new partnerships with several “marquee” publishers that push its French-language portfolio to 23 sites.
The new publisher partners include the movie-focused Cinoche.com and Allocine.com, which complement existing English-language partnerships with RottenTomatoes.com and Flixster.com.
Other new partners include the male lifestyle focused JeuxVideo.com and PoolExpert, which cater primarily to males 18-34. Other partners include PurePeople.com, Showbizz.net, 750g.com and SohoSport.
The sites boast a combined reach of 1.5 million unduplicated unique visitors per month. Khatir Soltani, who joined the company in May as vice-president of strategic partnerships, was responsible for securing the deals.
Walder Amaya, Evolve’s Toronto-based executive vice-president of international sales and operations, said the new publisher partners enable Evolve to increase both market share and revenue while maintaining its focus on the lifestyle and entertainment verticals, which he called the “cornerstones” of the company.
Evolve has grown steadily since its Canadian launch in 2007, and has spent the past year building out its Quebec offering. “As we continued to establish a foothold in the English Canadian market and establish some long-lasting relationships, one thing that became very clear to us was that need for us to have a similar offering in Quebec,” said Amaya.
In January, Evolve announced a partnership with Aufeminin, the world’s largest French-language lifestyle publisher. That deal significantly expanded what Amaya called a “very limited” French offering, adding 1.1 million unique visitors and 5 million monthly page views.
The company is also in discussions with other French-language publishers in both Quebec and France, said Amaya.
Evolve has also hired former Say Media sales executive Patrick Landry as a account executive with its Montreal office. Landry arrives at Evolve from Montreal start-up DistrictM, where he focused on programmatic, data management platforms and demand-side platforms.
Landry’s sales experience also includes Eastern Canada, an area Evolve has not had prior representation. Evolve currently employs four people at its Montreal office, up from one at the start of the year.
The company recently signed a long-term lease for 1,200 square feet of office space in central Montreal. “We’re not going anywhere,” said Amaya. “We’re committed to the [Quebec] market, just as we’ve been committed to the Canadian market for the past nine years, and we see great potential for growth.”
He called Canada a “jump-off point” for the company’s international expansion into the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
The company currently employs 38 people in Canada, with Amaya predicting further growth in 2016. “We have seen adoption of our programs in the Canadian market and have been able to cement long-lasting relationships with agencies and brands,” he said. “We believe the future looks very bright for us in the Canadian market.”
