Gabb Case Study

Meeting the Parents: How Gabb Scaled Installs by Finding Their Audience on TV

Growth Spotlight

Building a Full-Funnel TV Engine to Drive Cross-Channel Growth

Meeting the Parents: How Gabb Scaled Installs by Finding Their Audience on TV

Gabb’s mission is to help parents protect every child with safer tech for kids. Founded in 2018, Gabb entered the market with a clear point of differentiation: a phone designed for kids without social media or internet access—an age-appropriate alternative to traditional smartphones. As the company expanded its product lineup to include additional devices and software solutions, the team faced a familiar growth challenge: how to scale efficiently while educating a broader audience about a relatively new category.

By 2023, Gabb had strong momentum across core digital channels like organic social, Meta, and Google Search. But to reach more parents, build trust, and deliver a story that would truly resonate with their audience, the team needed a medium that could deliver both scale and credibility. TV stood out as the right channel—especially since it provided a more immersive format to educate parents, establish authority, and build brand familiarity in a way digital placements alone couldn’t.

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Decrease in CPA

Campaign Objectives

Reach More Parents Through Scalable, Affordable TV

Expand beyond saturated digital channels to capture incremental reach and build awareness with parents at scale.

Build Trust and Credibility in a New Category

Use TV’s premium environment to establish authority and legitimacy—showing up alongside household brands to build confidence with parents.

Educate and Fill the Funnel to Support Performance Channels

Tell Gabb’s story in a longer-form, emotionally resonant format that drives site traffic, lifts branded search, and strengthens downstream retargeting.

Solutions

Gabb launched TV in 2023 and leaned into linear to maximize affordability and reach, while using Tatari’s measurement and reporting to evaluate performance with digital-like confidence. The approach quickly proved complementary to their existing marketing mix: TV fueled the funnel, lifted branded search, increased site traffic, and expanded retargeting pools for downstream digital efficiency. Over time, the team continued to refine their strategy—allocating budget for last-minute media opportunities, testing networks and genres, and leaning into seasonal moments like Back-to-School and the holidays with promotional end cards and heightened investment.

A key differentiator was Gabb’s creative strategy. Rather than relying on a single concept, the team developed multiple TV spots internally and validated them with consumer research before launching. They ran four concepts concurrently—ranging from serious to humorous—then used performance insights to adjust weights and identify which creative resonated best across different networks. This enabled ongoing learning while building a more holistic brand voice on TV.

To unlock premium reach efficiently, Gabb also accounted for last-minute opportunities—discounted, fast-moving inventory that allowed the brand to test high-visibility placements (including tentpole programming and sports) without fully committing upfront. By maintaining a dedicated testing budget, the team could move quickly when opportunities appeared and expand into new audiences and networks based on results.

“We really wanted data… to help make data-informed decisions… knowing there was something to fall back on.”

-DONNA LAZARO, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF BRAND MEDIA, GABB

Results

Right off the bat, TV proved to be a scalable growth lever for Gabb—expanding reach beyond core digital channels while building trust in a category that still requires education. As the brand showed up consistently on linear TV, it gained added credibility with parents, benefiting from the premium perception of appearing alongside established advertisers.

TV also strengthened performance across the rest of the marketing mix. During major moments and strong placements, Gabb saw spikes in site traffic and lift in branded search—creating a halo effect that helped other channels capture and convert demand more efficiently. Increased traffic expanded retargeting pools, enabling stronger downstream results across platforms like Meta and Search.

Over time, creative longevity also proved to be a meaningful advantage. Gabb ran the same four core concepts since 2023, using Tatari’s platform to weigh toward top performers—demonstrating that TV creative can sustain impact longer than many digital formats while still supporting iterative optimization.

Today, Gabb’s TV strategy is built for both brand and performance. With clear benchmarks, measurable reporting, and ongoing optimization, TV has become a scalable lever that supports awareness, conversion, and cross-channel growth—helping Gabb stay top-of-mind as the leader in safe tech for kids.

“TV was going to… increase reach, make people aware of us, build trust with parents… and it’s really helped fill the funnel to then support our other channels.”