Online Direct piggy-backs on popular sites

Why build an audience when someone’s already gone to the trouble for you?

That seems to be the thinking behind Online Direct, a Toronto company that identifies small to medium-sized vertical-interest Web sites, gives them a leg up in the interactive department, and then promotes them to advertisers willing to pay for the chance to get closer to a loyal, targeted audience.

‘We don’t go cold turkey and say, ‘This is a nice topic, let’s create a Web site and hope people come,” says David Cravit, sales and marketing director for Online Direct. ‘We want to piggy-back on an already established audience.’

It’s a model that Cravit is confident will appeal to advertisers who are fed up with paying for general interest banner ads that typically generate clickthrough rates of less than one per cent.

To that end, Online Direct recently announced the first two of its ‘private brand’ Internet communities with the launch of WellnessWeb – a Philadelphia-based site that has been offering health information over the Net since 1995 – and the Ben Wicks children’s literacy site.

More than a dozen other sites are in the works, says Cravit, six of which are in Canada, including that of a major Canadian retail chain, a large financial services company and a major paint manufacturer sponsoring a home décor and improvement community.

As the subject matter of the first two sites suggest, they are the embodiment of ‘vertically oriented’ Web vehicles, with features pertaining to very specific audiences. In many respects, they are typical of the small to medium-sized, information-based Web sites on the Net that draw a considerable amount of traffic but are without the wherewithal to generate their own revenues. Online Direct converts those sites into fully interactive and transactional communities by attracting advertisers craving the opportunity to target their Web advertising directly toward a specific audience.

At no cost to the partner, Online Direct supplies the site with a salesforce, as well as chat, messaging, forum, virtual greeting, home-page creator and cybermall tools. Proprietary tools include an online catalogue for vendors, polling and surveying software, and database tracking software. Revenue is generated through several different streams, including banner advertising, opt-in e-mail, couponing, promotions, sponsorships and e-commerce/shopping. A portion of the revenue generated is shared with the partner site.

The key to the no-fee model, according to Cravit, is that the partner site has an existing audience that is valuable to a certain population of advertisers.

As an example, WellnessWeb currently records about 200,000 unique visitors per month. Earlier this year, in a bid to become self-supporting, Lenore Howe, executive editor with the organization, struck up discussions with Online Direct and together the duo launched a bigger, better site in early November.

‘This was a perfect match up between an old, large Web site that didn’t have a clue how to do all this, and a young, new company with all the software and ideas,’ she says.

While it’s a little early for specific results, she says, the community established about 12 online forums on different health topics and reached roughly 1,200 to 1,500 registered members in the first month after its metamorphosis.

‘We can communicate with members in many ways – we still have the e-mail option, but now I can direct the e-mail queries back into the community to post messages on the forum boards. It creates a much more interactive atmosphere among the visitors,’ says Howe.

She says she is now able to tell advertisers exactly who the typical visitor is based on simple registration forms and tracking software. The site currently touts a community centre for members to stay abreast of relevant events, a personal organizer for scheduling appointments and events, a medical directory that lists doctors, hospitals and clinics, and a wellness shop that offers health-oriented products and services. Further opportunities for national and specialty health vendors and advertisers to sponsor live chats or educational programs, or even conduct focus groups online, are in the works.

‘So far we’ve kept things like our polling feature very general with a question about health concerns, but we can well imagine working with companies in the future to formulate survey questions about specific topics, areas, and products, for example. It’s the perfect medium for that,’ Howe says.

Cannes Lions 2025: Canadians nab more medals on final festival day

Strategy is on the ground in Cannes, bringing you the latest news, wins and conference highlights all week long. Catch all the coverage here.

Friday’s batch of Silver and Bronze winners included the oldest category at the Cannes festival, Film, as well as Sustainable Development Goals, Dan Wieden Titanium, Glass: The Lion for Change and Grand Prix for Good. Canadians were recognized with four Lions today: two Silver and a Bronze in Film, as well as a Bronze in Sustainable Development Goals.

FCB Toronto was given yet another nod for its work, “The Count,” for SickKids, bringing the medal count for that campaign to four, including a Gold for Health & Wellness. Another Canadian agency recognized on the final day of the festival was Klick Health Toronto, which earned a Silver in Film for its work “Love Captured” for Human Trafficking Awareness and a Bronze for “18 Months” for Second Nurture. And over in Sustainable Development Goals, the Bronze went to Publicis Canada and its “Wildfire Watchtowers” work for Rogers.

Another massive win for Canada included not one, but two Young Lions (pictured above) taking home medals in the annual competition. In Design, the Gold Young Lion was awarded to Rethink’s senior motion designer Jesse Shaw and ACD Zoë Boudreau. The second, a Bronze in Media, went to Cossette Media’s business intelligence analyst Samuel David-Durocher and product development supervisor Tristan Bonnot-Parent.

Film (2 Silver, 1 Bronze)

1 SILVER: “The  Count” by FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation

“The Count,” a striking campaign from FCB Toronto for SickKids Foundation, has earned 1 Gold, 2 Bronze and now 1 Silver for Film at Cannes. If you watch it, it’s easy to see why. The collaboration between brand and agency honoured the hospital’s “VS” platform, while steering it in a new direction from its initial development by previous AOR Cossette. The creative celebrates childhood cancer patients who have to fight for every birthday, while honouring the hospital’s own milestone – 150 years and counting.

 

1 Silver: “Love Captured” by Klick Health Toronto for The Exodus Road

Klick Health Toronto added to its medal tally with a Silver in Film for it’s work “Love Captured” for The Exodus Road. The creative features a romantic getaway that isn’t what it seems in an experiential short film for the global anti-trafficking organization. The experience takes viewers through a tragic and twisting experience of exploitation.

 

1 BRONZE: “18 Months” by Klick Health Toronto for Second Nurture

Klick Health Toronto also won a Bronze in the Film category for its work, “18 Months,” done for the charity organization Second Nurture. The animated film is based on a real-life story in which a same-sex couple adopts a baby found in a subway station, and the 18-month journey into a story of hope.

Sustainable Development Goals (1 Bronze)

1 BRONZE: “Wildfire Watchtowers” by Publicis Canada for Rogers

Publicis Canada landed on the winners board for its work, “Wildfire Watchtowers,” for Rogers. The Canadian-developed wildfire-detection tech – which has been billed as “a fire alarm in the forest” – uses AI-powered sensors installed on 5G towers to monitor vast remote areas in real time. By scanning, identifying and reporting early signs of wildfires (up to 16 minutes faster than other systems), the technology helped prevent 54 fires in 2024 alone.

Catch the Gold winners later today when they’re revealed at the gala in Cannes.