Particular Audience, the global leader in AI-powered retail media technology, today announced the appointment of Matt Romano, a founding architect of retail media with transformative experience at The Home Depot, Triad Retail Media, Rakuten, and most recently, Western Union Media, as VP Partnerships. Romano’s arrival marks a pivotal moment in Particular Audience’s mission to deliver retail media’s full promise across the U.S. and Europe.
A Proven Leader Across Retail Media Pioneers
Romano’s track record reads like the blueprint of modern retail media success. At The Home Depot, he built and scaled the retailer’s advertising network to become one of the highest margin and fastest scaling initiatives in the business, embedding advertising seamlessly into the customer experience and redefining the value exchange between brand and retailer.
In 5 years at Triad Retail Media, as Vice President of Platform Strategy, he played a key role in Walmart and eBay’s then nascent retail media networks. Triad’s success led to its acquisition by WPP for $300 million in 2016, underscoring the immense value of the monetization strategies Romano helped architect.
“Alumni of Triad Retail Media dominate Retail Media today—they’re everywhere, in all the right places,” said James Taylor, CEO of Particular Audience. “Matt’s leadership spanned Programmatic, Audience Extension, Agency Sales, and Self-Serve Sponsored Advertising. His experience is unmatched in its depth and breadth. His decision to join Particular Audience is a testament to the precision, sophistication, and automation that our platform delivers—qualities sorely missing from much of today’s retail media infrastructure. With Matt, we see a massive execution opportunity as the market continues to mature and demand better, measurable results at scale.”
Romano also helped drive Rakuten’s monetization strategy, connecting brands with Rakuten’s extensive digital ecosystem. Most recently, at Western Union Media, he launched a global media network, leveraging Western Union’s vast international reach to create an innovative advertising channel for global brands.
Why Particular Audience? Why Now?
Romano’s decision to join Particular Audience underscores the company’s unique position in a rapidly maturing market. While antiquated retail media solutions still rely on outdated keyword-based targeting or face friction with native search integrations, Particular Audience delivers a fully integrated, AI-powered platform designed to unify every aspect of retail media performance under one system.
“Particular Audience offers the most advanced AI-powered retail media platform on the market today,” said James Taylor, CEO of Particular Audience. “It’s not just search, not just recommendations, and not just auction mechanics—it’s an end-to-end system that understands shopper intent, automates placements, and drives measurable results at scale. Whether retailers want a fully integrated solution or specific modular components, Particular Audience delivers transformative value from day one.”
As the $160 billion global retail media industry continues to grow, many networks remain constrained by manual processes and outdated ad-serving technologies. Particular Audience is the missing piece of the puzzle.
“Every retailer and vendor is fighting to close the technical gap with Amazon and Walmart—to build smarter, more dynamic experiences for shoppers. But the reality is, most aren’t equipped to deliver,” said Matt Romano. “Particular Audience offers a best-in-class AI engine out of the box, ready to slot into any retail media tech stack. We want to enable every player in the space to deliver better results, faster.”
Retail Media’s Essential Technology Layer
With global operations spanning the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Australia, Particular Audience partners with the world’s most ambitious retailers including Target, Petbarn, and Hamleys. Enterprise retail media networks leveraging Particular Audience consistently achieve up to 3x higher engagement, 2x increased onsite inventory, and 4-10x growth in ad revenue.
As the retail media industry matures, every vendor and network is working to define their lane—but the reality is, every player in the space can benefit from elements of Particular Audience’s advanced technology. Whether it’s intelligent automation, dynamic campaign optimization, or advanced reporting capabilities, Particular Audience’s modular, enterprise-grade technology is ready to slot seamlessly into any retail media stack—empowering networks to deliver measurable outcomes without disrupting their existing infrastructure.
“Matt isn’t just joining us—he’s helping set the course for the entire industry,” said James Taylor, CEO of Particular Audience. “Retail media is evolving fast, and the networks that win won’t just have basic ad-serving tools—they’ll have deeply integrated AI systems driving measurable outcomes, personalization at scale, and campaign automation. That’s what we’ve built, and it’s why Matt is here—to help bring it to every corner of the industry.”
As Romano steps into his role, Particular Audience is doubling down on its mission to make advanced retail media accessible to all—one intelligent recommendation at a time.
For more information, visit https://particularaudience.com.
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