The Oracle’s Take on Commerce Media with Matt Prohaska

In this episode of Commerce Media Matters, we sit down with Matt Prohaska—Founder, CEO, and Principal at Prohaska Consulting, and a veritable oracle of data monetisation and programmatic advertising. With 32 years of experience and a portfolio featuring giants like Walmart, United Airlines, and The Gap, Matt dives headfirst into the complexities of commerce media, offering sharp insights and bold predictions. 

From the pitfalls of last-click attribution to the untapped potential of identity solutions, Matt dissects what’s holding the industry back and what’s driving it forward. 

What you'll learn from this episode:

• Commerce Media’s Big Leap: Commerce media is breaking out of retail and charging into industries like automotive, travel, and finance. What’s driving this shift, and how will it shape the future?
• The Attribution Conundrum: Why the dominance of last-click attribution hinders fair measurement and optimisation and why it’s holding brands back.
• Cracking the Data Code: Why a one-size-fits-all approach to data won’t work. Companies need to embrace a mix of deterministic, probabilistic, and contextual solution to unlock deeper insights and better outcomes.
• Privacy and AI. A New Era: The cookie is crumbling, privacy laws are tightening, and AI is changing the game. What does it all mean for brands trying to navigate this new world?
• What’s Around the Corner for Commerce Media? A surge of new players, inevitable shakeouts, and a push for transparency. Matt’s predictions reveal the trends that will define the next chapter—including the rise of hybrid gardens.

About the guest:

Matt Prohaska, CEO and Principal, Prohaska Consulting, is a 31-year media veteran and consulting executive to leading digital media and advertising technology firms and executives.   

As head of award-winning Prohaska Consulting, Matt, works with CEOs, CROs, COOs, CFOs, and CTOs to drive revenue and/or reduce costs on a strategic and/or tactical level by improving sales, marketing, operations, product, and/or tech. 

Matt has contributed to the growth of online advertising since its commercial inception in the early 1990s, first by creating the online media practice at BBDO (now part of Omnicom) in 1994 and later opening CNET’s New York sales office in 1996.  In 2013, prior to launching Prohaska Consulting, Matt was Programmatic Advertising Director for The New York Times, leading more programmatic direct sales than any publisher in the world during his tenure.

About the hosts:

• Nick Morgan: Nick is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and eCommerce. He founded Vudoo in 2018, a platform that enables in-stream content commerce across articles, videos, and images. Nick's work transforms every ad impression into a potential shop front, offering a seamless eCommerce experience.

• Paul Blackburn: Paul is a digital media innovator with over 20 years of experience. At News Corp Australia, he launched the "Intent Connect" data platform and led innovation in shoppable video and the "Total Commerce" framework. Now as Chief Growth Officer at Vudoo, he helps brands, publishers, and agencies unlock new ways to monetise content through immersive, commerce-enabled experiences.
  
  

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