Toronto-based online ad agency Olive Media and The Huffington Post ("HuffPost"), a leading social news and opinion site, announced an exclusive direct ad sales agreement to represent HuffPost in Canada.
The agreement marks the first time the U.S. site has engaged a designated ad representative targeting the Canada market. Greg Coleman, President and Chief Revenue Officer of The Huffington Post, and Theresa Smith, VP, Product of Olive Media, made the announcement.
Just over five years old, HuffPost is an influential and oft-quoted media brand, co-founded by Arianna Huffington. It has an engaged community which posts over 2,000,000 comments per month. The site is fast-growing in Canada, with a three-fold increase in unique Canadian visitors since 2008, per comScore Media Metrix. It has established a presence on social media platforms such as Facebok and Twitter.
"The Huffington Post is a singular media property which combines the best of real-time news and opinion with an engaged and passionate community - one that likes to share as well as be informed," said Smith. "Known for its path-blazing approach to news and blogs -- as well as how they are consumed -- HuffPost also offers a unique approach for marketers looking for new ways to successfully engage audiences online. We're excited to be introducing such a groundbreaking online brand to the Canadian marketplace."
"Canada is a natural market for The Huffington Post," Coleman said. "Canadian marketers will find a valuable audience, one which is affluent, engaged and passionate about news. We plan on offering marketers in Canada a unique way of reaching consumers, one built as much around engagement as smart content."
HuffPost's Canada sales effort is the latest in the company's continued sales expansion.
In September, Coleman, former Executive Vice President of Global Sales at Yahoo!, joined the company. With the announcement last month of nine new sales team hires, the HuffPost sales team has more than doubled since Coleman joined the company.
Olive Media is a partnership between Torstar Digital, a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. and Square Victoria Digital Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada.
comScore Media Metrix (April 2010)