Narcity Media Group (NMG) has announced the launch of new local creator talent agency, Rally, focused on local Canadian creators who might be overlooked by larger talent agencies. Aiming to sign up 250 creators across Canada by the end of 2024, Narcity says Rally will offer an array of advertising opportunities for brands and agencies looking to engage in the local creator economy – from single-creator activations to multi-creator, cross-market and cross-vertical activations, along with content licensing agreements. Narcity has hired Tristan Rahman, co-founder of influencer marketing platform Rizer Social AI, as the Head of Creator Partnerships. Among the creators signed up so far are Toronto-based dancer and musical artist Alexander Panetta; GTA food-focused content creator Andrew Boateng (@the.6ix.eats); P.E.I. parenting creator Mary Jo Bernard (@maryjobernard); Vancouver beauty and lifestyle influencer Michelle Chen (@baybemichelle); Montreal figure skater Lea Marcantoni (@lmarxtoni); and TV personality Frankie Cena (@frankiecena). Read more here.
BetaKit has announced a new strategic partnership with Toronto-based venture fund and philanthropic foundation Good Future to fuel the growth of the Canadian startup and technology publication. Led by former Shopify executives Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar, Good Future’s investment will see BetaKit’s editorial and business teams grow with new hires underway. BetaKit’s editorial division will continue to operate under the leadership of editor-in-chief Douglas Soltys, who has managed BetaKit since 2014. Kanwar will take up the position of interim CEO and join BetaKit’s board of directors as chair, with Sharma joining BetaKit’s business advisory team to support future brand direction. Good Future says the partnership will not impact the publication’s editorial independence with a new Editorial Advisory Board to be established.
Vividata says TikTok has captured an increasingly bigger and wider audience in Canada over the past year, opening the door for brands to reach more than just Gen Z through the platform. Overall, Facebook and Instagram, along with X/Twitter remain the top social media platforms for Canadian adults at a projected 27.5, 17.2 and 13.9 million visitors monthly, respectively. However after the top three, TikTok is now reaching nearly 13 million Canadian adults in an average month, double the 6.5 million monthly average last year. The surge in traffic now puts TikTok in fifth spot, within 200,000 monthly visitors of LinkedIn and just 1 million behind X. Vivdata says TikTok’s jump can be seen across all gender and age groups, growing 111% with those aged 35-49 and up 116% with Canadians 65+. Snapchat has also more than doubled its visitor base, now boasting nearly 5 million visitors in an average month, compared to the 2.2 million reported in fall 2022. That places them in eighth spot among social media properties in Canada, above Tumblr, but with only half the number of users reached by Pinterest in seventh place.
MADE | NOUS has named its new MADE ambassadors, following a nationwide search for digital creators to represent the Canadian campaign promoting homegrown media and entertainment. Halifax-based pop culture commentator Liz Duff, Ottawa-based Plains Cree-Filipinx actor, model, and creator Haley Robinson, and Andrian Makhnachov, a Ukrainian-Canadian who recently immigrated to Regina, will be creating original social media content for MADE’s channels, covering Canadian entertainment and celebrating local talent.
