By Dawn Chmielewski and Sheila Dang
bu(Reuters) – Netflix Inc lured two of Snap Inc’s top executives to lead its advertising sales team, the company announced Tuesday, poaching two people that lent the social media company credibility with brand marketers.
Netflix confirmed it hired Snap’s chief business officer, Jeremi Gorman, as its new president of worldwide advertising. It also brought in Snap’s vice president of ad sales, Peter Naylor, in the same role at the streaming service.
The hiring of these two veterans signals Netflix’s commitment to building an ad-supported version of the company’s streaming service, which is expected to launch next year.
“You have two executives that are incredibly well positioned to help Netflix move quickly,” said LightShed Partners partner Rich Greenfield. “They have incredible relationships with brands and advertisers who will want to advertise on Netflix.”
Gorman is a well-respected executive who previously spent six years at Amazon.com. She arrived at Snap in 2018, at a time when the service was losing executives. Her arrival was seen as bringing credibility to Snap’s ad-sales business.
Naylor served as Hulu’s senior vice president of ad sales for six years before joining Snap in 2020. He attempted to help Snap capture more television ad dollars.
Snap confirmed the executive departures but declined to comment further.
Netflix has been assembling the pieces to launch a less-expensive version of its streaming service with commercials. In July, it announced a partnership with Microsoft Corp to provide ad technology. The new executives will bring established relationships with advertisers looking to advertise on Netflix.
“It sends a message that Netflix is really serious about building an ad business quickly,” Greenfield said.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru, Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles and Sheila Dang in Dallas; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Josie Kao)
