- Netflix has drafted another top Snap alum to help build the streamer’s new ads tier.
- David Roter joined from Snap, where he worked with now-Netflix ad leaders Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor.
- Netflix has been recruiting staff and cutting prices to get advertisers on board.
Netflix has drafted another top Snap alum to help build the streamer’s new ads tier.
David Roter has followed fellow Snap alums Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor to the streamer. Roter had served as VP, Global Agency & Brand Partnerships at Snap, where he was credited with helping engineer its ads turnaround a few years ago; he and fellow VP Naylor were two of its top ad execs under then-chief business officer Gorman. Roter held senior sales posts at Twitter (now X) and ESPN before that.
Advertisers have expressed frustration with the pace of Netflix’s ad tier growth since the streamer’s Basic with Ads offering was rolled out last November, three months after Gorman joined as president, worldwide advertising, bringing along Naylor as VP, advertising sales. Marketers are excited about having another high-quality ad environment with a desirable audience but have said the offering is still too small to justify big investments.
Netflix said in May that it had signed up nearly 5 million subscribers for its ad-supported plan, and signups have grown since Netflix began cracking down on password sharing. The streamer conceded in its last earnings call that its ad business is still small but that it sees the business eventually generating 10% of revenue.
“We’re very interested because it’s premium content,” one top ad buyer told Insider in August. “Still, they’re a very small player.”
Over the past several months, Netflix has taken steps to increase its appeal to advertisers. It’s built out its ads team and created a client council to solicit feedback from key brands and agencies. It has also slashed rates and announced measurement and targeting initiatives that let advertisers run spots against top shows or new series. It has cut its CPM (cost to reach 1,000 viewers) by about 30%, two ad execs told Insider, from the initial rate of as much as $65.
Other formats that will expand advertisers’ inventory beyond 15- and 30-second spots are also on the roadmap, like in-show product placements, homescreen placements, and interactive ads, ad buyers told Insider.
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