Within the Webedia group, Julien Marcel oversees all cinema and entertainment-related activities across all consumer websites in France and worldwide, as well as digital services for studios, theater operators, and online platforms.
Since 2020, he has been in charge of AlloCiné in France, SensaCine in Spain and Mexico, Filmstarts in Germany
,
and AdoroCinema in Brazil.
You have just launched your activities in Ivory Coast. What motivated this launch? What are your ambitions?
A few weeks ago, we launched AlloCiné in Ivory Coast. This is our first step on the African continent. The launch is the result of numerous discussions, particularly with the French Embassy in Ivory Coast, which has made it its mission to support the revival of the film industry in the sub-region. If we look at our presence in the French-speaking world, Africa is one of the important territories where we naturally have a strong audience.
Why start your expansion on the continent with Côte d'Ivoire?
We know that the Ivorian market is still very small, but it is also a dynamic market with major French-speaking distributors. It's a market where we can count on the presence of major players such as CanalOlympia and Majestic. In the world of streaming, there's CANAL+ as well as Disney, Netflix, and local players. There is indeed an entire ecosystem that resembles what we know, and it's a market we wanted to support because Côte d'Ivoire is a territory full of promise.
What types of content will be available? How will the website be updated? Will a team be deployed locally or managed from Paris?
The AlloCiné website is already a fairly large news site in the French-speaking world, with a significant market share. Our goal is not to replace its content with content created solely for Côte d'Ivoire. We want to offer a complementary service where internet users can find information that is more specific to the country and, in the future, to the sub-region. We are drawing inspiration from our experience in Mexico with the launch of SensaCine, where we have gradually carved out a place for ourselves.
The launch of our activities in Côte d'Ivoire is a first step. We are aware that it takes time to build and develop an audience. What is important for us is to be able to sustain our efforts over time and not be too ambitious. To support this launch, we can count on a small team of local journalists and a still limited content production rate. Even if this launch is expected to be gradual, we guarantee high-quality information. Ultimately, we will develop our presence based on everything that interests the Ivorian public in terms of cinema and TV series.
Do you plan to integrate social media into your strategy?
Social media is an integral part of AlloCiné's overall strategy, regardless of the country in which we operate. We will therefore also develop AlloCiné on social media in Côte d'Ivoire. Once again, we are committed to doing things at our own pace and gradually in order to maintain our momentum over time. We are also collaborating with players such as Dailymotion, which is also present in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
After Côte d'Ivoire, do you plan to launch in other countries in the sub-region?
We will learn from our experience in Côte d'Ivoire, but our ambition is of course to expand to other French-speaking African countries such as Senegal. We are very enthusiastic about gradually supporting the development of this market and helping to structure an ecosystem. We wanted to give new impetus to our international expansion, and we have done so with Côte d'Ivoire.
How are potential advertisers responding to the launch of your activities?
We have had many discussions with operators and distributors. Given that we already have a strong audience in West Africa, we are being greeted with a certain amount of curiosity, but what is certain is that AlloCiné's presence in the region is yet another sign that the market is taking shape.