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L'Oreal Paris's 10-minute tricks

How much can a woman do in 10 minutes? Readers of Toronto-based lifestyle website TheSoko.com will find out this month with a unique branded integration sponsorship from L'Oreal Paris's Excellence-to-Go 10-minute hair colouring kit.

A special feature called "10 Minutes to Save My Life" will launch on May 25 and run for a month. The L'Oreal Paris product is highlighted on different channels throughout the site with articles written by TheSoko.com staff on the various things a woman can do oh-so-quickly, like squeeze in a 10-minute workout, or cook a meal, says site founder Jonathan Davids. In addition to the special section are display and newsletter ads (the site newsletter has 11,000 subscribers).

The sponsorship is just one of the new ways the site, which launched in 2005 and receives about 175,000 monthly uniques (Google Analytics), is incorporating brands into its content. Production arm Soko Productions also creates commercial videos that brands can either stream on TheSoko.com or link on a banner ad for other sites. The prodco recently produced a video and contest for Mississauga-based Dr. Oetker Canada's Casa di Mama pizza brand for Mother's Day.

It's easy to work with brands that target their female, 25- to 49-year-old readership demo, says Davids. "The three areas we publish in are relationships, fashion and health. So when it comes to fashion and cosmetics, we already talk about beauty tricks," he tells MiC.

Later this year Soko will introduce the "Shopping Minute" format: a vignette-style video intended for consumer packaged goods and direct-marketing clients. Shopping Minute videos will run as "in-banner" creative, so advertisers can run them on any website.

www.thesoko.com

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