Square is a global payments powerhouse that reimagined the way that smaller businesses could accept credit card payments, allowing them to better grow their brand and serve more of their community. Today, Square supports more than 4 million businesses from global chains to small mom-and-pop shops. And now, Square has partnered with Universal Ads to continue to help smaller local merchants fuel their brand by giving them access to premium TV advertising to continue to grow their businesses.
As part of this new collaboration, we sat down with partnership leads Gabriella Hernandez, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Square and Sean Friedland, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Universal Ads to discuss the unique value that this opportunity brings to Square customers.
Can you both tell us a little bit about your respective roles?
Gabriella Hernandez: I lead the strategy and execution behind our ecosystem of external collaborators, working closely with innovative partners to bring meaningful solutions to the millions of businesses that rely on Square every day. My role focuses on identifying opportunities that complement our platform and help our sellers. Whether it’s integrating new technologies or opening new sales channels, our goal is to provide sellers with seamless, scalable tools that help them grow.
Sean Friedland: I joined Universal Ads at its inception to help lead business development and strategic partnerships to ensure that we were able to deliver on our promise of making premium video TV advertising as easy to buy and measure as social. So, much of my work here is making sure we’re working with the right partners to help accomplish this. Since a lot of my experience is working with early-stage start-ups and SMBs, I understand the challenges our client base is facing and how we can work to allow them to harness the power of TV advertising to grow their business.
How would you describe Square’s typical merchant? What are some of the biggest challenges they face when trying to grow their businesses?
Hernandez: Square serves a broad and diverse community of sellers — from local coffee shops and boutique retailers to mobile service providers and fast-growing eCommerce brands. While they vary in size and sector, many of our sellers share a few key traits: they’re passionate about their work, deeply embedded in their communities, and resourceful when it comes to driving growth with limited time and budgets.
One of the biggest challenges they face is marketing efficiently and effectively, especially in a crowded digital landscape. Small business owners are experts in their craft, who want an easy way to run targeted ad campaigns that deliver measurable ROI so they can spend more time doing what they love. They need solutions that are simple, affordable, and results-driven.
Friedland: While Universal Ads has a place for every type of brand, we completely agree that those smaller retailers are the ones that will benefit from this new partnership the most. Many of these businesses likely have not leaned into TV advertising as it has seemed out of reach given its complex buying process and cost of entry. Now, with this new partnership, Square merchants will receive $500 in Universal Ads ad credits that can be used to test and experiment with streaming advertising, and they’ll also get hands-on learning materials to better understand how to leverage TV for their business goals.
What successful strategies have you seen Square merchants use to scale their businesses?
Hernandez: Our most successful sellers tend to do well with a multi-channel approach to technology — they use Square’s analytics to understand customer behavior, tailor their offerings, and refine their marketing strategies. Many leverage tools like Square Loyalty, Square Online, and Square Marketing to drive repeat business and deepen customer relationships.
We’ve also seen sellers thrive by expanding their sales channels, such as adding online ordering, mobile delivery, or social selling. And increasingly, sellers are tapping into partnerships, like this one with Universal Ads, to run targeted campaigns that help them reach new audiences and grow revenue in a measurable way.
What excites you most about this partnership?
Hernandez: We’re incredibly excited to partner with Comcast and bring the Universal Ads solution to our sellers. What’s most compelling is how this partnership reduces the barrier to access high-performance advertising. Traditionally, programmatic and TV ads have been out of reach for small and midsize businesses — but Universal Ads changes that by helping businesses create precisely targeted, automated ad campaigns that deliver real value — without requiring a marketing team or big budget.
Friedland: For Universal Ads, we believe that this partnership makes sense because Square shares our ethos: making complex problems simple. We aim to make TV advertising easy for brands – especially smaller brands that rely heavily on social media ads due to TV being traditionally less attainable. Similarly, Square has simplified payment technology for smaller brands, so they can focus on building their business. Our goal is to redefine TV advertising as a viable option for brands of all sizes and we will continue to partner with other strategically aligned platforms like Square.
What recent Universal Ads launches/innovations should Square merchants be aware of and take advantage of?
Friedland: This partnership emphasizes our commitment to helping smaller brands without huge marketing budgets tap into the power of TV advertising. Many Square merchants have probably seen or launched dynamic product ads (DPA) on social media to promote their inventory. Well, we’re excited to share that we recently announced a partnership with Marpipe that will bring the power of DPAs to streaming TV – unlocking automated personalized catalog ads for streaming for the first time ever. This is a game-changer for e-commerce brands that are looking to replicate the success they’ve had using DPA on social now on streaming TV.
Current Square merchants looking to tap into the power of TV advertising can visit here to get started.
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