CanWest MediaWorks’ Dose.ca celebrated its first anniversary as an online destination for youth-oriented celebrity gossip, music news, movie reviews, info on TV shows and contests last week with two announcements. One is that site traffic grew by 34% during its first year (according to comScore Media Metrix). The other is that it is now a feature channel on the newly arrived YouTube Canada.
‘Dose.ca is quickly becoming the preeminent source for entertainment news and information in Canada, and the industry has begun to take note of this,’ says site GM Dave Stevens. ‘Our relationship with YouTube allows us to boost brand awareness and extend our reach further than ever.’
Targeting 18-34-year-olds, Dose.ca now claims 305,000 monthly unique visitors, and recorded six million page views in September – 42% of which fit the target demographic. Its visitors are spending 54% more time and garnering 38% more page views than was the case a year ago for the same period.
Dose.ca has been selected as an official Canadian promotions partner by a growing list of celebrities, including U2, My Chemical Romance, the Killers and Maroon 5. CanWest teams have produced tailored Dose campaigns for brands including CoverGirl, Molson, LG Fusic, Apple iPod, Sony Ericsson, Herbal Essences and Gillette. These have ranged from punchy video pre-roll domination ads to complete takeover of content features.
This fall, Dose.ca boosted awareness of the site with campaigns involving Facebook, Cineplex and Vice magazine, as well as significant site sponsorships in two major music festivals – Pop Montreal and the Halifax Pop Explosion. The site was also official presenter of this year’s University of Toronto frosh party, and is developing partnerships with colleges and universities across the country.
