Cue Digital Media
Cue Digital Media is a Toronto-based digital media sales agency that exclusively represents premium publishers (Group Nine, La Presse, DAZN, Activision/King, Sing Tao, The FADER) to Canadian advertisers, selling branded content, influencer marketing via Tagger, programmatic on Google AdX, and location-based mobile advertising to enterprise brands.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersToronto, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Cue Digital Media does
Cue Digital Media is a Toronto-based digital media sales agency founded in 2008 that exclusively represents premium digital publishers to advertisers across Canada. The company operates as the Canadian commercial partner for high-profile international and domestic media brands including Group Nine Media (NowThis, The Dodo, Thrillist, Seeker, and POPSUGAR), La Presse, The FADER, DAZN, Activision Blizzard Media/King, and Sing Tao News Corporation. It monetizes those publisher relationships through branded content, influencer marketing, programmatic advertising (delivered via Google AdX, where Cue is one of Canada's largest private marketplaces), and location-based mobile advertising integrated with Blis data technology. Cue claims reach of over 18 million unique Canadians monthly and more than 80% of Canadian millennials.
The company has developed two proprietary technology assets. Tagger is an end-to-end influencer marketing and social listening platform used for research, discovery, and campaign management. Boost Box is an ad format, delivered with Polar, that captures brand social posts and dynamically renders them as integrated 300x250 mobile display ads inside publisher inventory. Cue also integrates Blis first-party location data with Smart Pin and Smart Scale validation. Distribution runs through an enterprise sales motion organized as a "single sales rep per agency" model, supplemented by programmatic buying through Google AdX and a channel partnership with OBOX that provides Quebec coverage in exchange for English-Canadian representation of OBOX sports properties. Revenue is generated via media sales commissions, programmatic inventory reselling, and influencer campaign professional services to enterprise brand advertisers including H&M, Interac, Trojan, Canon, Dyson, Lionsgate, and Ubisoft.
Cue organizes its portfolio along five verticals: Sports & Gaming, Culture & Entertainment, Women's Lifestyle, News & Business, and French-Canadian. The company is headquartered in a 10,000 sq. ft. heritage loft at 250 The Esplanade in Toronto, with a regional office in Montreal. It has been named to Canadian Business' Growth 500 list for five consecutive years and ranked in the Financial Times' 2020 Americas' 500 Fastest-Growing Companies list with an 18% compound annual revenue growth rate over 2015–2018. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors or funding rounds, and founder David U.K. has led it as CEO since inception.
Cue Digital Media firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cue Digital Media
- Legal name
- Cue Digital Media
- Website
- https://cuedigitalmedia.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cue Digital Media is a Toronto-based digital media sales agency that exclusively represents premium publishers (Group Nine, La Presse, DAZN, Activision/King, Sing Tao, The FADER) to Canadian advertisers, selling branded content, influencer marketing via Tagger, programmatic on Google AdX, and location-based mobile advertising to enterprise brands.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cue Digital Media industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Advertising Services
- NAICS
- Media Buying Agencies (54183), Media Representatives (54184), Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital & Programmatic Media Buying (Display, Video, CTV, Audio) (BPAFABAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Creative & Brand Campaign Development (BPAFAAAB), Creator Talent Management & Representation (MPAAAHAB)
Keywords
Where Cue Digital Media is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Toronto
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Cue Digital Media business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Digital Advertising Sales: Online media sales agency that delivers engagement to consumer audiences for premium publishers. Revenue from branded content, influencer marketing, location-based mobile advertising, and programmatic ad inventory sales.
- Influencer Marketing Services: End-to-end influencer campaign management through Tagger platform including research, discovery, and campaign execution for brands.
- Programmatic Advertising: Programmatic Guaranteed, Preferred Deals, and Private Auction offerings through Google AdX with premium publisher inventory. 750 million impressions across 25+ premium sites.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | DAZN sports streaming subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | DAZN annual subscription |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Cue Digital Media product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cue Digital Media is a Toronto-based digital media sales agency that exclusively represents premium publishers in the Canadian market, selling direct and programmatic advertising inventory to enterprise and mid-market brands. Its offerings span branded content production, influencer marketing (via the proprietary Tagger platform), programmatic advertising (via Google AdX PMPs) and location-based mobile advertising (via the Blis partnership). The company packages these capabilities across verticals including Sports, Culture & Entertainment, Women's Lifestyle and News & Business, reaching over 18 million unique Canadians monthly.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Tagger: A complete, end-to-end solution for data-driven influencer research, discovery and campaign management.
- Boost Box
Products and services
- Tagger End-to-end influencer marketing platform that provides data-driven influencer research, discovery and campaign management for brands and agencies running influencer campaigns in Canada.
- Boost Box Proprietary ad format that captures posts from a brand's social handle and dynamically renders them as integrated digital ads within a mobile 300x250 ad slot, allowing brands to repurpose existing social posts for premium publisher display inventory.
- Pros&Content Branded content offering tied to Cue Digital's professional athlete and content creator partnerships, producing sponsored stories, native content and integrated campaigns for advertisers.
- Liquid Story Branded content/storytelling offering listed under Cue Digital's 'Cool Sh!t' product suite on the company website.
- Creative Services Creative production services including video services, social media content creation and website management provided by Cue Digital's creative & communications team led by Director Jason Owens.
- Programmatic Advertising Programmatic media buying across 25+ premium Canadian publisher sites via Google AdX, offering Preferred Deals, Programmatic Guaranteed, Private Auction, content channel and site-specific deals with 750 million impressions.
- Location-Based Mobile Advertising Location-based advertising offering powered by Cue's Blis partnership, using Smart Pin and Smart Scale technologies with validated first-party location data and fraud-scrubbing to reach consumers at moments of intent.
Quantifiable outcome
- 18% compound annual revenue growth rate (2015-2018)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Cue Digital Media
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Cue Digital Media technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature3 records
Cue Digital Media partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.
- OBOXcoreMontreal-based digital sales agency partnership. OBOX represents Cue Digital's brands for Quebec market while Cue represents OBOX sports properties in English-speaking Canada. OBOX represents largest sports network in Quebec including DansLesCoulisses.com and creates over 1,500 articles and 300 videos monthly to 22 million audience.
- Sing Tao News CorporationstrategicExclusive partnership to reach Chinese Canadian population of over 1.3 million. Cue creates digital ads and custom branded content including advertorials, homepage takeovers, video and social posts across Sing Tao platforms including singtao.ca, Dushi.ca, ccue.ca, and Dushi WeChat.
- POPSUGAR (Group Nine Media)coreExpanded exclusive partnership to include POPSUGAR, leading digital women's lifestyle brand. POPSUGAR is #1 most engaged-with women's lifestyle site in U.S. POPSUGAR Fitness is no. 1 most-viewed fitness publisher across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. New Group Nine portfolio reaches 50% of all Canadians.
- CBC PodcastsstrategicCollaborative paid content partnership for 'This is Not a Drake Podcast' series. Custom content creation, high-impact media, social distribution and newsletters distributed to hip-hop heads across Canada. Partnership includes Initiative media agency.
- Activision Blizzard Media / KingcoreGateway for brands to access leading interactive entertainment company King for in-game brand integrations and custom ad products across King portfolio including Candy Crush and Farm Heroes franchises. Exclusive partnership in Canada for mobile games advertising.
- DAZN MediacoreLive and on-demand global sports streaming service partnership. Cue offers advertising on DAZN to Canadian brands for first time including brand integrations, video advertising, and sponsorships. DAZN streams NFL, English Premier League, UEFA Champions League. Streams 3 million hours of content annually to Canadian sports fans.
- La PressecoreCanada's largest French-language media outlet partnership for digital expansion. Cue handles all digital advertising, direct sales and programmatic, for La Presse in English Canada. First French-language publisher in Cue's media portfolio. Reaches 18.98M unduplicated with 61.2% of Canadians.
- The FADERcoreMusic, style, and culture global media company partnership for Canadian expansion. Offers custom branded content, event sponsorships, and immersive experiences with emerging artists. Cue has represented The FADER in Canada since March 2019.
- PolarstrategicTechnology solutions provider for Boost Box ad format. First company in Canada to deliver Boost Box format which renders social posts as integrated digital ads in 300x250 mobile ad slots. Partnership enables brands to amplify existing social campaigns in premium mobile publisher environments.
- Group Nine MediacoreExclusive partnership where Cue represents Group Nine's branded content offerings to Canadian clients. Group Nine brands include NowThis, The Dodo, Thrillist, Seeker. Together they reach 140 million engagements monthly, 5 billion video views, and 3 billion minutes of content watched.
- Media in CanadaminorMedia coverage and partnership visibility through Media in Canada industry publication.
- BliscoreGlobal leader in advanced location data technology partnership. Blis provides location-based advertising solutions with validated first-party location data. Smart Pin technology filters movement data while Smart Scale technology ensures accurate location targeting. First partnership for Blis in Canada.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cue Digital Media competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Juniper Park\TBWA: Toronto-based creative and media agency under TBWA. Competes for premium brand mandates in Canada with overlapping capabilities in branded content and digital media.
- Media Experts: Toronto-headquartered media agency (one of Canada's largest independent). One of Cue's VP of Strategy previously worked here. Competes for similar enterprise media planning and buying mandates.
- Tank Worldwide: Toronto-based creative and digital agency with branded content, media, and influencer capabilities. Direct competitor for mid-market and enterprise digital mandates in Canada.
- Republik: Montreal-based digital agency with content, influencer, and media buying capabilities serving enterprise clients. Comparable mid-sized Canadian digital agency competing for similar mandates.
- Citizen Relations: Canadian PR and influencer marketing agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. Overlaps with Cue's Tagger-led influencer and social amplification offerings.
- OBOX Media: Montreal-based digital media sales agency; Cue Digital's mutual representation partner representing Cue's brands in Quebec while Cue represents OBOX's sports properties in English Canada. Closest direct peer given shared model and partnership overlap.
- Spafax: Toronto-based digital media agency focused on premium content and influencer marketing for travel and lifestyle brands. Comparable offering around branded content production and premium publisher representation.
Broad incumbents
- GroupM Canada: WPP's media investment arm in Canada (Mindshare, Wavemaker, Essence, MediaCom). Large incumbent offering full-service media planning and buying plus programmatic at scale, directly competing for enterprise budgets.
- Dentsu Canada: Dentsu's Canadian operations including Carat and iProspect. Global incumbent offering media, programmatic, and influencer capabilities overlapping with Cue's stack.
- Carat Canada: Dentsu's flagship media agency in Canada with deep programmatic and digital buying capabilities. Competes for the same enterprise media mandates as Cue.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cue Digital Media social profiles
Digital presenceCue Digital Media financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cue Digital Media leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Cue Digital Media funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cue Digital Media M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cue Digital Media
What does Cue Digital Media do?
Cue Digital Media is a Toronto-based digital media sales agency that exclusively represents premium publishers in the Canadian market, selling direct and programmatic advertising inventory to enterprise and mid-market brands. Its offerings span branded content production, influencer marketing (via the proprietary Tagger platform), programmatic advertising (via Google AdX PMPs) and location-based mobile advertising (via the Blis partnership). The company packages these capabilities across verticals including Sports, Culture & Entertainment, Women's Lifestyle and News & Business, reaching over 18 million unique Canadians monthly.
Is Cue Digital Media a public or private company?
Cue Digital Media is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cue Digital Media founded?
Cue Digital Media was founded in 2008. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cue Digital Media based?
Cue Digital Media is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Cue Digital Media make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Digital Advertising Sales are the primary driver. The others are influencer Marketing Services and programmatic Advertising.
Who are Cue Digital Media's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Juniper Park\TBWA, Media Experts, Tank Worldwide, Republik, Citizen Relations, OBOX Media and Spafax. Broad incumbents are GroupM Canada, Dentsu Canada and Carat Canada.
Does Cue Digital Media have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cue Digital Media.
What industry is Cue Digital Media in?
Cue Digital Media's product category is Digital Advertising Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFABAB, Digital & Programmatic Media Buying (Display, Video, CTV, Audio), with a secondary code of BPAFAAAB, Creative & Brand Campaign Development. Its NAICS code is 54183 and its SIC code is 7311.