Quebec portal drawing users at home, abroad

After a painfully slow four-year period of development, a Quebec-based Web portal that features an abundance of French-language content is finally starting to attract enough visitors to interest a growing number of international advertisers.

While French-language consumers in Quebec and Europe have been relatively slow to take to the Net – only 10% of French citizens and 29% of Quebecers have home Internet access, compared to 43% in the U.S. and Canada as a whole, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers – i3d Internet Communications has no complaints about its online experience thus far. The St-Georges, Que.-based company’s portal, www.francite.com, recently yielded over three million unique visitors in a single month.

Although it may be less well known among Quebec Web surfers than La Toile du Quebec or

infiniT.com, which are owned by a company controlled by TVA and Le Groupe Vidéotron, respectively, francite.com draws Francophone Web surfers from around the world, with about 40% originating in Europe and another 40% from North America, predominantly Quebec.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of francite.com’s advertisers are based in Europe, according to Michel Begin, a spokesman for i3d, who adds that the look and feel of the site is decidedly European. Among the Canadian advertisers currently on the site are Remax, and Quebec-based hardware chain Rona.

‘There are 80 million French-speaking people in Europe, so it’s more natural to go that way. But we will not neglect the North American market,’ Begin says, pointing out that i3d will soon be reworking the design of its site to appeal to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

Faced with a lack of hard numbers about who’s on the Web, Canadian advertisers still don’t entirely trust the Internet, but Begin says he’s confident that as more detailed demographic information becomes available, more advertisers will take a look at what francite.com has to offer.

Although he won’t disclose details, Begin says i3d will soon be beefing up its own on- and offline advertising efforts to boost awareness of and traffic to its site. So far, it has mainly targeted the European market with modest marketing efforts that include banner exchanges with other sites, outbound e-mail campaigns, listings on search engines and word of mouth.

In future, though, 75% of its advertising will be placed in Europe, with the remaining 25% in North America, Begin says. The company also plans to continue adding new features to its site, like travel guides, weekly contests and event ticket sales. It may also launch a Spanish-language site in the not-too-distant future.

Begin says the company plans to hire an advertising agency in the next few months.

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.