Asked how Tubi went from a free streaming service nobody admitted to using to 110 million users, CEO Anjali Sud says she held the same prejudice before joining, and that being underestimated is a good place to disrupt from.
…In kind hearts, there are many. Bold disruptors, there are few. The intersection of those two things is a unicorn because you're fearless and heart full. Most revolutionaries can be heartless. So that's the magic of ELF: we're bringing those two worlds together in what I call unicorn territory.
…hit my consciousness, I had this sort of vague sense of this kind of downmarket free streaming service that no one I knew used or admitted to using. What was your initial sense of Tubi? And like, how did you think about moving from sort of outsider status to today, like 110 million or more users?
Yeah. You know, I had a similar experience before I joined Tubi. I think, you know, even though Tubi has been around for more than a decade, fully committed to this mission of free streaming and platforming more stories, you know, I think we as consumers tend to think if something is free, there's a catch. It must mean it's low quality content or the experience is bad. And in some ways, I think that is the battle we have been trying to kind of fight and prove to consumers. But it's more of a testament to the market that we're in that as consumers, we almost can't sort of accept that, of course, you can have a wonderful experience. Of course, you can experience, you can get the best of Hollywood and the best of the creator economy and original content. And it can be free and it can be great. And so, you know, for me, I liked that in some ways that 2B was underestimated because the product was good. And the minute that I could see that we were doing something that if anyone would try it, they would enjoy it. I mean…
right. Well, I want to throw some numbers about ELF Beauty, okay? Because the thing is, like, this is a brand that's built on affordability at a time when the beauty business-I mean, it's sort of about premium and exclusivity. That kind of is what has defined the market. And you guys talked about…
Yeah. So I would position that as making the inaccessible accessible, which is exactly what Tubi is doing as well. There's a lot more in common in businesses that are serving the underserved than not. And if I had to break this down into a four-part blueprint for the audience, the starting point is…
Right. Well, and it's not just that initial community that gets attracted by what you're delivering. I mean, you've both made creative moves to demonstrate your differentiation as brands, including some. Unconventional Super Bowl ads, which I think we might have some visuals of Tubi's, the bizarre…