Every now and then we like to highlight a new IAB Australia member that we think our community will find interesting. Today we meet Samba TV.
Written by Thomas Parsons, Head of Client and Data Partnerships, Samba TV.
Please give us some historical background to the company:
Founded in 2008, Samba TV is a global leader in automatic content recognition (ACR) television technology, which sits in the hardware of over 24 Smart TV brands globally. We provide 100% opt-in viewership data and insights for advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and measurement companies to reach audiences more effectively across every screen and streaming platform.
In 2022, the company increased investment and expanded the Australian business after an exciting year of record growth - there has been a clear focus from Samba TV to expand into markets that are adoptive and fast-moving, and that’s exactly what Australia does well.
Tell us a little bit about your company's mission and vision?
Everyone at Samba TV is driven by a love for television. Our mission is to create data at the heart of TV to provide better viewing experiences for everyone through a more scientific approach to advertising. This is important because today’s viewership behaviour is fragmented and continues to be disrupted by more devices, streaming platforms and content than ever. We have a vision to turn that noise and complexity into knowledge for advertisers, and we have the technology to do exactly that!
Do you have a particular 'hero product' that you are most proud of?
We are unique in that we provide advertisers with viewership insights around TV audiences that they simply cannot get on their own. We have a first-party relationship with consumers who have opted into their smart TV, which enables us to provide a granular view of household TV viewing behaviour, analyse what’s on-screen and in real-time to help our clients reach audiences at scale and provide more seamless ad experiences.
What excites me about our product offering is the flexibility and creativity in which it can be leveraged by a variety of clients - be it a brand, an agency, a broadcaster, a publisher or a measurement company. Clients are utilising and integrating our ACR data and technology to either supercharge their existing datasets or access new data and analytics to future-proof their TV strategies. We’re uniquely placed to enable companies to win through powerful data and insights, and I’m pretty pumped to be the person to spearhead that vision in Australia with our fast-growing team.
What area of digital do you personally work in and how do you hope to enhance this within your business?
I lead the data licensing side of the business, specifically within new business development. This means building the right type of growth partnerships to help companies overcome the fragmentation that comes with fast growth in the Connected TV space, along with traditional TV, SVOD, BVOD and emerging formats like FAST channels. It’s an interesting time to be navigating the market given the uncertainty of the economy. It gives us an opportunity to add value and help companies be more efficient, effective and impactful in how they reach their TV audiences through very powerful data.
Please tell us what, as a child, you wanted to be 'when you grew up'?
Professional football player - David Beckham to be exact. Had all the replica shirts and matching haircuts, but never quite the skill…