Snibble is the first global, snackable mobile entertainment platform offering a next-generation video experience because it features only professionally produced videos you can share – in real-time. We started Snibble because we believe that the “Big digital” sites, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, can and should be better for viewers, advertisers, and content providers, alike.
Tell us about yourself?
I’m a long-term advertising man who has honed his craft globally while living in eight countries and working in 40 more countries. I joined advertising in the 1980s and worked my way up through the ranks going abroad in my 30s. I’ve worked with some of the best brands in the business – Adidas, Coca-Cola, Disney, P&G, Pepsi, Mars, and Nestle – and have started agencies and businesses for both multinationals, including McCann Erickson and myself. I’m entrepreneurial and started with Snibble with the founder Andrew Shortt in 2018, five years ago. We believe the Big Digital brands have become exploitive and felt we could give our viewers, advertisers, and content providers a much better deal. It’s been a great ride so far!
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Three things:
- Don’t be afraid to say no.
- The most expensive thing you can do is to be cheap.
- Only do things that make a significant difference.
What problem does your business solve?
Social media is broken, and we plan to fix it. We aim to put the “social” back in social media and make it more valuable for:
- Users with the best experience and a light ad load that doesn’t interrupt their experience.
- Advertisers by giving them the best chance to get noticed in a brand safe environment and where users feel there is a “fair trade” for their attention.
- Content providers who want a fairer share of revenue for their effort and to better understand their viewers so they can fine tune their product.
- Snibble’s shareholders and management to be rewarded for making a superior solution.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Snibble is Andrew Shortt’s vision. He created it for a Canadian broadcaster who couldn’t see its value (Canadians are very risk-averse). So he developed it with us when this broadcaster didn’t buy into his vision.
What is your magic sauce?
We feature only the world’s best professionally produced content because there is so much crappy content out there, and quality rises to the top. Also, we provide the tools for GenZ and Young Millennials to discover, share, recommend, and comment on videos with a tight group of friends – rather than the Big Digital platforms which are still constructed to “broadcast yourself” and to break your privacy and monetize your data trail as their core product.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Global domination. No not really. We will be a major global player that disrupts the market for mobile video and then we will take this solution to make TV more social.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Raising capital in late 2022. While Snibble is making money, we have not broken even yet. So we rely on our shareholders to some extent. Money became scarce in late 2022 and earlier this year. But our good shareholders stuck with us and helped keep us going. The belt tightening we did over the “dry” months allowed us to get even tighter and more focused. We now have Snibble 2.0 which is better than ever and is now available beyond North America as we opened up the UK, France, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and India. Watch this space as there is more to come.
How can people get involved?
Just download our app and let me know what you think at blair@snibblecorp.com. If you’re an advertiser, we provide higher ROAI that the Big Digital platforms, so have your people or agency call us. And if you have great content you want to monetise, let’s feature it on Snibble.