Guillaume Bédard acknowledges that in the days of programmatic, it’s “kind of old school” for clients to come back to an ad network or rep house. But he thinks that return to form is exactly what the industry needs.

Bédard has paired with Nicolas Faucher to launch Montreal-based MediaTonik, a multi-platform ad sales firm with a mandate to service the country’s premium publishers.

Bédard and Faucher both have more than 25 years experience in media, marketing and communications; Bédard held senior roles at companies including M32 Media, Immigrer.com and GBI Media, and Faucher has worked on the sell side with TC Media, Astral and Métro.

Bédard said that although the rep house is multi-platform, he plans to emphasize its digital offering because “that’s the pressing need.”

He said MediaTonik also has a mission to be more proactive when it comes to tackling big industry issues, such as ad fraud. “Everyone talks about fraud and transparency, but the feedback we’ve gotten is that there’s a difference between what people say and what we actually do.”

Bédard noted that programmatic ad sales are “pulling everything to the bottom” in terms of CPM. But despite the fascination around programmatic, he said there’s still a huge need for integrated and sponsored content. “Premium publishers can still make money with more custom solutions,” he said. “So it’s a touch of going back to the roots.”

MediaTonik is officially in-market with four employees (besides Bédard and Faucher, two sales reps complete the team). Bédard said the company plans to hire a Toronto rep in early summer.