The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group (JPBG) has acquired a minority stake in Edmonton digital agency Lift Interactive.
Founded in 2002 by Micah and Kristi Slavens, the boutique agency has been behind projects for clients like Lululemon, Tourism Jasper, and Edmonton Economic Development Corporation engagement platform Make Something Edmonton. Pattison’s outdoor advertising arm has also tapped its services.
Rod Schween, JPBG President, told Broadcast Dialogue that the company has been looking for a digital partner since an overhaul of its strategic priorities last fall. In addition to having worked on projects for Pattison, the agency was also on the radar of Andrew Snook, JPBG’s Director of Digital, who is based in Edmonton and had previously worked with Lift during his time with Futuri Media and StreamOn.
“The landscape is changing out there. We’ve put a lot of work in the last couple of years into significant company strategy and part of that was also an update to our digital strategy, which up until now has been focused on repurposing existing content,” explained Schween. “Since acquiring Rawlco operations, we’ve gone from one news portal in Prince Albert to where we now operate 17 in Western Canada, and we’ve also expanded our streaming and audio replay. Digital is a growing part of the advertising solution for our clients and is a growing opportunity for us in our organization, so this is a key piece.”
Schween said with multiplying options for advertisers to spend their marketing dollar, part of JPBG’s enhanced company strategy is determining how to offer a multi-platform solution for clients and drive long term organizational growth. Going forward, JPBG will work with the Lift team on a rollout strategy to determine what product mix is right for each of its markets.
“They’ll be working with us to expand our digital offering. Our big thing around this is it has to be a client-based solution. And of course we operate in 28 markets, five of those being metro markets, and we’re going to have very different requirements…we’ll need to roll this out across the group in a very planned strategy,” said Schween.
Lift will continue to be led by local management, with its existing team of about 30 people, to remain in their current location in Edmonton’s Strathcona neighbourhood.
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