Netflix has picked up Snap’s chief business officer (CBO) Jeremi Gorman and VP of sales Peter Naylor to lead its new advertising efforts as it prepares to launch a new ad-supported subscription plan.
At Netflix, Gorman will take on the role of president of worldwide advertising for Netflix, while Naylor will serve as VP of ad sales.
Gorman began working for Snap in 2018, prior to which he was working as a senior ad sales executive at Amazon. She has also previously worked for Yahoo and Variety magazine.
Meanwhile, Naylor has been with Snap for just over two years. He was previously the head of ad sales for Hulu and also held senior roles at NBC Universal.
The news of the appointments comes just a day after Snap announced plans to lay off 20% of its more than 6,000 employees and cancel several of its projects, including Snap Originals premium shows and its Pixy drone.
Netflix’s move to hire Gorman and Naylor is aimed at supporting the launch of its new low-cost subscription plan that will come at a $7 to $9 price tag and will feature ads. According to Bloomberg, subscribers can expect to see commercials that will run for around four minutes per hour before and during programs.
The company’s approach is expected to be less intrusive than Hulu, which tends to play ads at a much higher rate. To do that, Netflix is looking to strike smaller deals with advertisers to prevent overpromising and overwhelming viewers.
Netflix’s ad-supported option is expected to launch anywhere between October 2022 to December 2022 in at least six different markets, with a global rollout potentially occurring in early 2023.
Both Gorman and Naylor are set to start in September 2022.