Though HookLogic had dipped a toe in the Canadian waters via its partnership with Walmart over the past couple of years, the performance marketing platform is now taking the plunge with a full Canadian launch.
The New York-based company facilitates paid search results on ecommerce websites to provide brands with increased exposure to online shoppers.
“We were getting a lot of requests from our brand advertisers [to launch in Canada]” said Jonathan Opdyke, the CEO of HookLogic. “We recognized the need to put a bigger focus on the market, sign up more retail partners and also put in place feet on the street in order to work with the Canadian ad agencies and clients directly.”
The company has partnered with retailers to get access to transactional data “so that we can show that a click on a brand’s product resulted in a sale, and they can market on an ROI, performance-marketing basis just like direct marketers could.”
Opdyke likens the approach to improving a brand’s visibility on a physical store shelf, adding that online shoppers aren’t typically exposed to as many options as they would be in brick-and-mortar retail outlets.
“When you go online, and particularly on a mobile device where there’s a single column of results in a vertical scroll, when you search you may only see three products,” he said, so being among the top results in ecommerce search is hugely advantageous for brands. “We brought a true, real-time auction to that model, enabling brands to get in front of customers and then measure whether or not it actually generates sales.”
HookLogic will launch in Canada with a number of major retail partners, including Walmart, Sears and Costco, as well as brands and agencies that include iProspect Canada, Catalyst and Bam Strategy.
HookLogic’s entrance into the Canadian market adds another player to an increasingly competitive field.
“In 2016, we’ve seen a significant shift towards attribution modelling as a key priority for marketers and agencies,” said Sonia Carreno, the president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. “With sustained growth on the performance media investment side via paid search and affiliate marketing, advertisers are naturally looking to close the loop on their media investments.”
Carreno added that she believes performance marketing is “poised for tremendous growth” in the coming years.
“While offline performance attribution remains somewhat elusive, networks that provide a level of clarity on purchase behaviours online may provide some welcome early insights into cracking the offline code,” she said.
