This company is rewiring the economics of TV advertising

Philip Engelbrecht, co-founder of Tattari, joins Simon Owens to discuss how his company is transforming TV advertising by building a vertically integrated, software-driven platform that brings digital-like performance measurement, automation, and outcome-based optimization to a traditionally opaque and manual medium. Drawing from his experience as a TV advertiser at Truecar, Engelbrecht shares how he was frustrated by the lack of measurable results and data transparency in linear TV, which led to the creation of Tattari in 2016. The company has since evolved into a full-stack solution that handles everything from creative management and media planning to execution and measurement—using machine learning and AI to suggest optimal campaigns based on eight years of data. Unlike most ad tech platforms that rely on programmatic exchanges, Tattari uses direct publisher integrations with major networks like NBCU and Paramount, eliminating intermediaries and reducing costs while improving brand safety and access to premium inventory. This approach allows even small brands to enter the TV market with as little as $20,000, though Engelbrecht cautions that TV is not yet viable for the smallest SMBs with under $1 million in annual marketing spend. The episode also explores the challenges of measuring TV outcomes without digital clicks, the competitive threat posed by walled gardens like YouTube and Amazon, and how Tattari’s tech enables cross-platform planning across linear and streaming TV with unified reporting. Ultimately, Tattari is redefining TV as a performance channel, not just a brand-building one, while preserving its unique power to reach broad audiences.