AOL Canada’s website, AOL.ca, has a new look and approach to delivering Canadian news, entertainment content and articles. And advertisers take note: the refreshed design also offers several new ad opportunities that go beyond standard big box and leaderboard.
Launched today, the revamped homepage spotlights more national news and video content. It includes original content, breaking stories and, as Brad Cressman, head of content at AOL Canada, said in a release “high-quality content with an improved design to increase discoverability.”
BMW is the first advertiser to jump on the new AOL.ca homepage. The BMW campaign is based around the new X1 and uses Project Devil, a new AOL ad format that allows brand interaction within a page.
“From a media perspective, we were able to better communicate our customer’s messages to an unduplicated audience while efficiently reaching the target audience for the BMW X1 launch,” said Karel Wegert, director, digital solutions at BMW’s media agency Media Experts.
AOL.ca also comes with several new features. Spotlight advertorials, for example, link to an AOL co-branded landing page or directly to a partner site. Custom content modules, which are ad units with the potential for in-line video and integrated content, are also available.
Several video components featured prominently throughout the site’s new homepage. One such component is the “You’ve Got…” franchise, in which celebrities and well-known public personalities share timely messages to the site’s users. Today’s featured celebrities are Canadian Olympic Gold Medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
With its recent acquisition of the Huffington Post (which will soon be launching its Canadian version), AOL’s premium properties reach 9.8 million Canadians, according to comScore data from March. And as one of the country’s leading video networks, AOL reaches more than 40% of the video viewing audience in Canada.
