Tubi recently snapped up two senior advertising executives from Snap Inc. to join its ad sales team amid upfront talks, and the company’s chief revenue officer is giving some insight into the strategy.
This week, Sharon Silverstein joined the ad-supported streamer as svp, head of U.S. industry verticals, where she will spearhead all category leads across industry verticals and partner closely with regional leadership to drive momentum and innovation. She previously served as the vp of North America sales at Snap Inc., where she helped in scaling the business and growing partnerships with major advertisers.
Meanwhile, Katelyn Kroneman joined as vp of finance and QSR verticals, bringing her experience previously leading strategic growth, client-centric solutions, and revenue acceleration across digital, linear, and social media platforms to Tubi. Her career has spanned multiple verticals, including CPG, restaurants, financial services, telecommunications, entertainment, travel, automotive, and government and politics.
The announcement of Silverstein’s and Kroneman’s hirings comes just weeks after Tubi reported at Cannes Lions that it has exceeded 100 million monthly active users and surpassed one billion hours of total viewing time in May. The free, ad-supported service has a catalog of nearly 300,000 movies and TV episodes in the United States.
Why now is the ‘perfect time’ for new hires
Jeff Lucas, Tubi TV CRO, who previously worked with Silverstein and Kroneman at Viacom and Snap Inc., said bringing the two on amid upfront negotiations is a “perfect time.”
“We’re setting up for going deeper on the vertical side,” Lucas told ADWEEK. “I look forward to working with them here because they have deep client relationships. They work in the same manner as I do. They’re very authentic people. They’re very hard working, but they have great relationships.”
Lucas emphasized that authenticity is key among the executives, which goes a long way when it comes to working with clients.
“Clients understand their value system, and they’re not just doing it to be sales folks selling something,” Lucas said. “They’re doing it as part of a relationship they built.”