TC Media announced Wednesday the launch of a new incubator program that will see the company rapidly experiment on new digital products.
The operation, called TC Media Incubator, will be led by Bruno Leclaire, appointed Wednesday as TC’s new chief digital officer. Prior to the appointment, Leclaire led the launches of TC’s JobGo.ca and Autogo.ca.
The TC Media Incubator, set to launch in November, was created in the vein of a startup incubator and aims to cut down on the time it takes media companies to launch new products.
Like most startups, the incubator aims to make TC more agile than typical large companies burdened by bureaucracy.
“We are going to set up a development process that is efficient, well-structured, flexible and agile that will enable us to accelerate the time-to-market for new digital products and increase our competitive advantage,” Leclaire said. “The current structure, which is one of a big company, doesn’t allow all the required flexibility and agility. In order to adjust more quickly to the changing market and focus teams on key projects, the creation of the incubator was necessary.
“This lab will have many of the advantages of a small startup while benefiting from the strategic framework and support that can only be provided by a large company.”
Leclaire said the incubator will be working on new ad products to go along with the new digital products. “We will definitely integrate new advertising opportunities, but these still need to be defined as we select projects. The incubator team will ensure each new product development initiative is aligned to operational and customers’ needs,” he said.
The incubator will work on ideas culled from the TC Transcontinental Innovation Challenge, an internal program that asks employees to brainstorm ideas for new products the company could launch. An external advisory committee is also being set up to help guide the incubator.
Leclaire said he will be looking for new talent to staff the operation in the coming weeks.
