AdTech Therapy Featured on AdExchanger

Thanks to Ad Exchanger for the feature on our founder, Scott Messer, and AdTech Therapy. Excerpt below, or read the full article here.

Scott Messer

After more than a decade with the Leaf Group, ending as SVP of media, Scott Messer left the company in October 2022. He took a few weeks to regroup, but “didn’t want to take a break from media.”

Messer’s first day as a non-Leaf Group exec was Programmatic IO New York City in 2022, he said. Talking to people at the event, he got the idea to start a consultancy for publishing companies, leading him to found Messer Media shortly after.

He does still keep abreast of some full-time job opportunities – “the door is open, as they say” – but consulting work means he can be more selective about a potential role.

For instance, one product Messer Media has developed is “AdTech Therapy,” which seeks to disentangle a company’s programmatic and data practices. It’s like real therapy, he said. “People cry.”

Before Jana Meron took her new role with The Washington Post, she and Messer would sometimes run these ad tech therapy sessions in tandem.

Consulting work “suits my disposition,” Messer said, in that he likes working on distinct projects and doing educational services to uplevel a team.

“[But] I miss having a larger sense of camaraderie on a team and focusing on a larger project and goal,” he said. “That’s part of what keeps me interested in going back to a full-time role.”