After poaching former Publicis Groupe exec Jay Askinasi to lead its ad-sales team back in late January, Roku has announced Askinasi’s first two major hires.
Sarah Harms will join the streaming company as VP of advertising marketing, responsible for “overall strategy and execution of marketing and measurement efforts across Roku’s advertising business.”
Harms spent the past five years at Microsoft, where she oversaw national sales and account management for the tech giant’s buy-side ad-technology business, formerly known as Xandr.
Sal Candela will join Roku as VP of global agency partnerships, where he will “elevate partnerships with Roku's largest advertising clients.” He was previously head of agency development for Spotify.
Harms and Candela join Roku as the company enters the competitive upfront TV ad-sales market.
“Expanding the Roku media team marks a pivotal time for the company, as Roku continues to grow its market-leading scale,” Askinasi said in a statement. “I have no doubt that Sarah will help take our business to new heights with her proven ability to deliver scalable, valuable solutions to advertisers. Sal’s deep industry knowledge and agency relationships will be advantageous to our business as media investments continue to shift towards TV streaming this upfront season.”
