Patrick Harris, a veteran of Snap and Meta, will direct Roku’s ad-sales efforts, as the streaming-video company pushes forward into monetizing growing Madison Avenue interest into so-called “connected TV.”
Harris will serve as senior vice president of global media revenue, starting March 9. He will report to Charlie Collier, president of Roku Media, and will be based in New York.
“I view him as a builder for us,” says Collier, during a recent interview – an executive who can help grow both the business of traditional advertising tied to streaming and also operations tied to so-called “performance” advertising – or commercials that drive consumers to take a specific action, such as ordering a brochure or purchasing a movie ticket.
Roku may not be the industry’s biggest seller of advertising, but it is quickly becoming one of the sector’s most influential. Because the company was early to connect itself with consumers’ interest in streaming, it has become more familiar with new behaviors and customs tied to broadband-delivered entertainment. Executives who held similar roles to Harris have gone on to take up senior and influential roles at NBCUniversal, where former Roku executive Alison Levin is president of advertising and partnerships, and Paramount Skydance, where former Roku executive Jay Askinaski recently was named chief revenue officer.
Harris was previously president, Americas at Snap Inc., where he was responsible for supporting and managing Snapchat’s largest business and advertising partners across the U.S. and Canada. In addition to leading sales, he oversaw teams focused on agency partnerships, ad‑tech integrations, media relationships and creators. Harris also spent 123 years at Meta, rising to become vice president of global channels. He led a global team of 1,400 across 30 countries and helped expand Meta’s advertising business.
His earlier career includes leadership roles at Microsoft, where he pioneered search advertising revenue for Bing.com. He also spearheaded business development for Reprise Media, later acquired by Interpublic Group. He began his digital marketing career at Ask Jeeves.
Roku is placing new emphasis on helping advertisers drive performance, says Collier, and Harris is expected to help, particularly as more media companies court not only traditional clients, but small and regional marketers as well. “We see all sorts of ways to drive incremental reach, as well as help people who want a return on their ad spend, or want a specific outcome,” says Collier. “We are getting better and better at driving” advertisers “down funnel,” or closer to spurring consumers to act after being exposed to a commercial.
Roku in recent months has struck new alliances with other companies’ demand-side platforms, opening itself up to broader programmatic buys. And it has also offered help with designing creative concepts with its new Ad Manager product.
“I think we can move from hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands of advertisers,” Collier told investors during a recent earnings call.
variety.com
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