Netflix Builds Up Advertising Team Days Before New AVOD Tier Launches

We’re days away from the upcoming launch of Netflix Basic with Ads, and the company is busy building up the team that will support the new offering. Netflix named Julie DeTraglia as its new vice president, ads measurement strategy, effective Nov. 14. She’s coming over from Amazon, where she served as head of strategy and research at Amazon Sports. DeTraglia also held roles at Hulu and NBCUniversal in the research departments. “I am thrilled to be joining Netflix at this pivotal moment—the global launch of the ads plan. Netflix has long been a leader in streaming, constantly innovating and setting the bar for the industry, and I'm certain that their ads experience will be no exception,” DeTraglia said. She will oversee global measurement strategies for ads to help build and grow Netflix’s ads business, including its verification partnership with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science. That partnership will verify the viewability and traffic validity of its ads beginning in the first quarter of 2023. Netflix’s Ad Tier Is Coming Soon—and Media Buyers Have Many Questions DeTraglia will also oversee the agreement with Nielsen for its Digital Ad Ratings tool in the U.S. According to the company, that will be available “sometime in 2023” and eventually be reported through Nielsen One Ads. “Timed to the launch of our Basic with Ads plan in 12 countries, I am excited to welcome five new members to our growing ads team, including Julie DeTraglia as vice president, advertising measurement, to Netflix,” said Jeremi Gorman, president, worldwide advertising. “Julie’s expertise in measurement and insights across the streaming and television industries will be invaluable as we build and grow a sustainable ads business and work to deliver the best experiences for Netflix members and the advertising community.” In August, Netflix tapped Gorman, the former chief business officer at Snap, to lead the company’s new ad sales division. It also hired Snap’s vp of sales, Americas, Peter Naylor, who will serve as vp of advertising sales. Building the team Netflix also made serval hires on the ad sales side of things. Adam Gerber joins as senior director, client development, coming from GroupM. Julie Green will serve as senior director, vertical sales, leaving TikTok. Chris Smutny, another hire away from Snap, will be senior director, sales operations, and YouTube's Nicole Sabatini will serve as senior director, ad partner solutions. All five hires will begin on Nov. 14. Netflix’s ad-supported tier will debut on Nov. 3 in the U.S. and will come in at $6.99 per month. At launch, ads will be divided into 30- and 15-second spots and average 4 to 5 minutes, which is the same ad load featured on Disney+’s upcoming ad-supported offering. The ad tier has “hundreds of advertisers” worldwide for its debut, Gorman recently told the press, adding that the company was "nearly sold out" of its inventory.