A NEW SMALL-SCALE,
HIGH-TOUCH
MEDIA CONSULTANCY
Founded by a guy a with nearly 20 years of intense experience in the big NYC advertising scene, who’s finally ready to go out on his own.
I’ve worked on multiple Fortune 100 brands across the CPG, retail, sports, financial services, technology and entertainment industries, at big-name ad agencies, major tech platforms, and publishing stalwarts.
Now I want to take my knowledge to help small-to-medium sized businesses that I’m passionate about grow beyond their wildest dreams.
What’s Cotter Street?
Cotter Street, in Canton, Massachusetts, is home to many of my fondest childhood memories. It’s the street my Grandparents lived on, where I was partially raised, and where I had 2pm supper every Sunday with extended family.
There was a carnival + fireworks at the top of Cotter Street for every Fourth of July, and we used to play wiffleball and hit homers over the Cotter Street fence.
As for why it’s the name of a media business? Well, it makes me feel good, and I think it sounds kind of cool. Also, it’s an homage to my maternal Grandparents, Fern and Sal, who instilled into me the values of integrity, being kind, hard work, and having a little fun.
I promise to approach our work together at Cotter Street the same exact way.
Why Would You Work with Cotter Street?
I’ve learned a lot throughout my career - a deep understanding of the modern consumer media landscape, how to negotiate with the big players, the definition of a fair value exchange, and how to marry a brand’s audience to a consumer experience.
I think my approach is unique compared to some of the stock customer service you’d get from a bigger agency partner or consulting firm, as I’m a one-man show, and you’re my only priority.
(Some of) The Cotter Street Manifesto
Sell Expertise, Not Extras
You’re paying me for my expertise, connections, and high-touch client service.
I don’t have extra tools, products, “value drivers” or any such nonsense to up-sell you on; I want to earn and retain your business the old-fashioned way, like Grandma + Grandpa would’ve liked it.
Deploy Common Sense Media Strategy
It’s my belief that there are only X amount of places that your consumers spend time every day. Sure, it looks different for every person, but there aren’t 10 channels and 100 media owners that you should be buying.
Negotiate What Matters
Negotiating price + value? Of course.
But far too much time can be wasted negotiating minutiae - placement-level details, extra nuance around audience segmentation, etc. I plan to haggle over only what matters, freeing up my time to service your business in more important ways.
Be Unbiased in Media Selection
Sometimes, your agency will have large partner commitments across multiple clients that they need to fill. In that case, they’re playing favorites where it might not be in your best interest.
Not me; I’m making the smartest choices for you and only you.
Services Provided by Cotter Street
Fractional CMO work
Existing media plan audits
Audience strategy
Media planning and buying (social, digital, video, audio, OOH, influencer marketing, you name it)
Partner introductions
Ad creative design + optimization
… and more!
Sorry, Who Did You Say You Were Again?
I’m Matt Kershaw. As mentioned, with nearly 20 years of experience in the advertising industry, exclusively in New York City, home of the infamous Madison Avenue, I’ve accumulated expertise that I want to deploy to help businesses I’m passionate about.
But to be specific:
I’ve worked at advertising agencies Wieden + Kennedy and Publicis Media, advertising technology start-up RUN (acquired by Publicis), digital publishing stalwart Vox Media, and the world’s largest streaming audio platform, Spotify.
My career has spanned media planning and buying, communications planning and audience strategy, and consultative media sales.
I’m intimately connected to colleagues across the entire media ecosystem, whether at social media platforms, video/audio streaming companies, publishers, measurement companies and everywhere else.
I’m energized by the idea of getting out of the “working for the man” stage of my career and going out on my own - but for it to work, transparently, it means I’ll need somebody to take a shot on me.
I think you’ll be thrilled it was you.
