Can you tell us about the Digital Factory?
Digital Factory is a new African entity dedicated to supporting CANAL+'s digital presence in Africa. We have four main missions:
- Improving the experience of our subscribers and prospects on digital media (CANAL+ app, websites, connected decoders, etc.). Our teams are working in particular to make it easier for our subscribers to access and choose the content available on the app. To this end, we manage the CANAL+ app by creating visuals and highlighting the programs best suited to our subscribers according to their country or subscription level, for example. Our teams are also responsible for managing our websites.
- Social media management: with a community of over 25 million followers, CANAL+ already has a very strong presence on social media in Africa. Our team of Community Managers interacts with our followers every day to introduce them to the full range of our content, as well as our current promotions, social initiatives, training programs, etc.
- Digital content creation: in collaboration with African producers, the Digital Factory will be responsible for developing content for digital media. Whether it's content related to broadcasting or content designed specifically for digital media, the Digital Factory will be a real laboratory for testing new ways of creating digital content.
- Product and Tech: Finally, the Digital Factory acts as a link between African subscribers and the technical teams in Paris. Our role is to report on the need for product upgrades and to test new features in situ before they are rolled out to our subscribers.
What will be the digital strategy deployed on the CANAL+ app?
The CANAL+ app aims to offer our satellite subscribers an extension of their content anytime, anywhere, and on all devices. We are therefore working to offer our subscribers as much replay content as possible. We already have nearly 35,000 pieces of content available at any time on the app, and this figure is set to increase significantly. We have been working for several months with our partners, local African channels, to integrate their channels' replay content into the app. Thanks to the Digital Factory teams, we have implemented a process that allows us to integrate this content at no cost to our partners and to the delight of our subscribers.
Similarly, we regularly launch new features on the app, such as multilive, which allows users to follow several matches at the same time, and expert mode, which gives access to a whole host of statistics on current matches, in order to make the app even more attractive to our subscribers.
How will activities be organized? What will the workforce look like? What professions/profiles will be represented?
The teams are organized into business units that cover our various needs. For example, one team is in charge of editorial content for the CANAL+ app, while another team handles replays for partner channels. We also have community managers and people in charge of digital marketing and training. Finally, we have a digital graphics studio that is responsible for creating the many visuals for the CANAL+ app and social media. New professions will be added soon. In particular, we are looking for a product manager to support us in the rollout of our various products.
As you can see, we have a wide range of professions represented, including graphic designers/web designers, journalists, trainers, community managers, and people with backgrounds in digital marketing. There is no standard training program, which is why we carefully review all the resumes we receive, as we are also committed to developing new talent. In this regard, I am very proud that several CANAL+ Group employees from other professions (particularly from our call center in Dakar) have joined the team to grow alongside us.
You are starting with an office in Dakar. Do you plan to open other offices in the sub-region to be closer to your audiences?
The creation of such an entity is already a significant investment for the group, and the idea is to create synergies. We do not plan to open other offices outside Dakar, but as I mentioned earlier, we are putting together a multidisciplinary team with people from all over French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
What motivated the launch of such a project? What are the ambitions?
The Digital Factory was born out of the realization that, in the face of changing consumer habits, CANAL+ needed to accelerate its digital presence in Africa and therefore strengthen its teams. It was obvious to us that such reinforcement had to be done in Africa with Africans. Indeed, there is nothing better for talking to our subscribers than people who are like them.
Dakar was chosen based on several criteria. Senegal is very attractive today because the country has become highly digitized around a dynamic ecosystem. There is a wealth of talent there, both in digital content creation and in the surrounding ecosystem, thanks in particular to high-level training. Finally, Dakar is an African crossroads where many talented people from across the continent gather. It is important for us to have a multicultural team with people from all the countries where we operate.
You also want to strengthen your presence on social media. Why is that? How many people follow CANAL+ Africa on social media?
Nowadays, it is essential for any company to have a presence on social media, especially in the media sector. CANAL+ currently has more than 25 million followers on social media in Africa. Our friends at Meta were very surprised by our penetration in Africa and see us as a model on the continent. We want to continue this growth by eventually expanding our presence on new networks in order to continue targeting a young audience. The Digital Factory will help us secure the additional resources we need to launch new pages.
Today, how do you view the use of digital technology in French-speaking sub-Saharan African countries? How is it evolving and how do you intend to meet the digital needs of your audiences?
Viewing audiovisual content on digital media is booming in Africa, as it is everywhere else in the world. This is particularly evident in Senegal, where players such as Marodi TV reach a large and global audience. We also know that major international players are interested in the continent. As a long-standing player, CANAL+ has a duty to continue offering our subscribers the best international and African content on all the platforms they use to watch content. The Digital Factory will act as a laboratory for testing new modes of consumption. Our role will be to try things out. We may not succeed at everything, but with the team we are putting together, I have no doubt that we will find ways to continue the growth of the CANAL+ brand in Africa.