“PR agencies do content. Creative agencies do content. What we didn’t want to be was a media agency doing content as a cheaper offering to a creative agency.”

That’s Helen Galanis, CEO of Initiative Canada, discussing why her agency decided to double down on content as a discipline by launching Storyline.

Initiative’s philosophy is built on the idea that “people don’t like advertising. It’s really easy to avoid it now, and technology makes it easier every day,” she says. So, while Initiative’s job is to identify exposure opportunities, Storyline’s job is to create relevance.

The new division hit its first home run last year while working with Tourism Alberta. During the winter, destinations like Alberta are a bigger challenge to sell, with frigid temperatures making the province less inviting for travelers, especially during COVID.

So the Storyline team helped the tourism agency bring the magic of winter in Alberta to life through “The Art of Winter,” where it enlisted 11 local artists to create a series of original art. A virtual exhibition features their work – which also ran in the Globe and Mail as part of a branded content piece – and an original song by an Indigenous musician was commissioned to play in the background while users explored the installation.

The new content hub is currently made up of a team of six, consisting of content strategists, producers, and project managers. Chris Gairdner, the agency’s head of content, who Galanis says is “an equal part strategy and media guy” helped develop Storyline.

The team develops original ideas and works with content partners and media owners, like the Globe and Bell Media, production studios and independent creators, to bring them to life, Gairdner explains.

“Storyline can take on projects beyond what a typica agency team would probably consider content,” he says, giving examples such as TV series, 360-degree video, podcasts, exhibits or even cookbooks.