The CEO With The Mighty Mouse Heart
EXTE, pronounced X-T, is the official name of a newly created company, with three European specialists brought together to support advertisers and publishers.
The name, technically, is not an abbreviation, but derives from the combination of EXcellence and TEchnology. It is the creation of entrepreneurs at three smaller companies in Europe — but it’s not small, insists Matthew Doherty, the newly appointed CEO of North America.
Doherty, who will oversee operations for the U.S. and Canada, says: “I believe SunMedia is now the largest independent media company across the broader Spanish-speaking countries,” he says.
SunMedia, RichAudience, and AdPone — the three companies — merged at the end of 2022 to create EXTE for advertisers and publishers. The combined services are coming to the United States and other areas worldwide.
Doherty will establish a full team, from sales and marketing to human resources and accounting. EXTE will have its own profit-and-loss statement.
“It was the first story I heard in a long time that didn’t seem like a reconstruction of the same old thing,” Doherty says. “A lot of ad tech is melding together. Supply side platforms (SSPs) are starting to look a lot like demand side platforms (DSPs), and DSP are starting to look more like SSPs.”
EXTE is a contextual platform that uses proprietary predictive modeling and generative artificial intelligence (GAI) to drive business results across all digital channels. The company puts an emphasis on developing custom creatives that lead to increased and improved media performance.
Doherty said the technology is format- and placement-agnostic, combining creative, format, and context for advertisers and publishers. The technology is designed to intentionally ensure a native and non-disruptive experience.
“The idea behind EXTE is to make the digital exchange between brands and consumers feel like they are on a great date,” he says. “The advertiser communicates with its customers in a way that shows they understand them fundamentally, and speaks to them in a voice and style that they want to hear.”
Doherty spent about 5.5 years at Teads, a cloud-based platform that enables programmatic digital advertising, supporting the company as senior vice president of revenue. He also spent time at TubeMogul, a software company that specializes in brand advertising, before being acquired by Adobe.
When asked how he landed in advertising, Doherty says he worked as a co-editor in-chief during high school, with a strong interest in literature, writing and language. He later majored in the technical part of advertising.
“I had interests early on while going to school, but not really a destination in mind,” he said. “I knew the stops I wanted to plot along the way. I had an interest in understanding why people act they way they do and have certain emotions.”
I had to include one silly question in this list of more serious ones, but the answer tells so much about Doherty’s character.
When asked what superhero he most identifies with, he picked Mighty Mouse.
“Old school, I know. But he in many ways embodies both the values that I believe in and a story that is relatable to my own. Mighty Mouse is known for his strength, courage and determination.”
Despite all those characteristics, the mouse is often overlooked by his typically and much larger opponents and villains who focus only on his physical size and underestimate the size of his heart, Doherty says.
The lesson is that the best trait to have in a superhero — and even as a regular person — is heart, although he adds that it would be cool to fly through the air or walk on water or have superhuman strength.
The one with the biggest heart has the upside, because with determination and grit and a belief in yourself anything is truly possible.
“Mighty Mouse is often at a disadvantage physically, but he succeeds against his foes by believing in himself and willing himself to victory, overcoming seemingly impossible adversity despite all odds,” Doherty says.
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