Samba Natarajan to Focus on Singtel as CEO, Strategic Portfolio and Amobee Board Member
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Amobee, a global leader in advertising technology that unifies TV, digital and social to deliver results that drive customer growth and wholly owned subsidiary of Singtel, today announced that Nick Brien has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer.
“Nick is a proven CEO with the deep expertise in advertising that we need to implement our strategy and seize the market opportunities ahead. His strong knowledge and global experience will allow us to further accelerate our growth strategy to win in this era of convergence.”
Most recently, Brien was Chief Executive Officer of The Americas for Dentsu International, leading 15,000 people across 40 operating units that served some of the world’s largest advertisers, such as Microsoft, Intel, General Motors, Anheuser-Busch, P&G and American Express. With more than three decades of worldwide experience across advertising, media and digital marketing, Brien has been committed to creating the most innovative and accountable solutions for brands that deliver the greatest business impact.
“I’m excited to be joining Amobee at such a transformative time in our industry, as we pioneer a new era of advertising accountability and intelligent decisioning,” says Brien. “There is no doubt in my mind that unifying audiences and channels to optimize media performance—whether targeting, planning, buying or delivery—can only be achieved using the most advanced applied science, machine-learning and data analytics. Amobee’s experienced technologists, product developers and data scientists offer their partners and clients an invaluable competitive advantage through the next generation of advertising technology.”
Samba Natarajan, who was holding concurrent responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer of Amobee as well as Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Portfolio at Singtel Group, will re-focus on his role at Singtel and continue as a board member at Amobee.
“I’m pleased to see Nick Brien take on the role as CEO of Amobee,” says Natarajan. “As a member of the board and as a part of my responsibilities for the strategic portfolio, I will continue to work closely with Nick and the dedicated Amobee team to build on the progress achieved in the business and make Amobee the leading platform for multi-channel advertising across TV and digital; to really win with our strategy to unify, optimize and grow.”
Prior to joining Dentsu in August 2017, Brien was the President of Hearst Marketing Services and Chief Executive Officer of iCrossing. Brien also previously served as Chief Executive Officer of McCann Worldgroup, a leading advertising and marketing network, a post he assumed in April 2010. He also spent time at Interpublic, as the global Chief Executive Officer of IPG Mediabrands. He currently serves on the board of directors of Outfront Media, the leading out-of-home company in the United States, as well as being a member of the 4A’s and Interactive Advertising Bureau.
“We are fortunate to have someone of Nick’s stellar reputation and track record to lead Amobee’s next phase of growth. As a leading advertising platform, we are at a crucial phase in our development as we emerge from the effects of the global pandemic,” says Evangelos Simoudis, Chairman of the Board of Amobee. “Nick is a proven CEO with the deep expertise in advertising that we need to implement our strategy and seize the market opportunities ahead. His strong knowledge and global experience will allow us to further accelerate our growth strategy to win in this era of convergence.”
Simoudis added, “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Samba for his steady hand at the helm of Amobee. Under his leadership, the company has successfully steered through the global pandemic and emerged stronger—with refreshed management, more integrated teams and technology assets, and creating a strong momentum in the market.”
The hire of Brien reinforces Amobee’s commitment to being a preferred brand in the ad tech sector. Recently recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Ad Tech and the Forrester New Wave™: Cross-Channel Video Advertising Platforms report, Amobee provides clients with solutions that drive results across all screens to optimize reach across desired audiences and deliver desired business outcomes. Amobee unifies TV and digital to provide advertisers with advanced data management and media planning capabilities, as well as actionable, real-time market research and proprietary audience data. Amobee also empowers media companies with sophisticated audience-based planning technology that helps them efficiently meet marketers’ goals while managing the business challenges and technical complexities of the converging world.
About Amobee
Amobee helps brands, agencies, and media companies unify audiences to optimize advertising results across all linear TV, connected TV, digital and social media to drive customer growth. Amobee is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singtel, one of the largest communications technology companies in the world, which reaches more than 675 million mobile subscribers. The company operates across North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit amobee.com or follow @amobee.
About Singtel
Singtel is Asia’s leading communications technology group, providing a portfolio of services from next-generation communication, technology services to infotainment to both consumers and businesses. For consumers, Singtel delivers a complete and integrated suite of services, including mobile, broadband and TV. For businesses, Singtel offers a complementary array of workforce mobility solutions, data hosting, cloud, network infrastructure, analytics and cyber security capabilities. The Group has presence in Asia, Australia and Africa and reaches over 700 million mobile customers in 21 countries. Its infrastructure and technology services for businesses span 21 countries, with more than 428 direct points of presence in 362 cities.
For more information, visit www.singtel.com.
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