Marc Paulenich

Marc Paulenich is a marketing executive whose career has been defined by turning brand strategy into measurable results — and he's distilled two decades of it into a practical framework in his book, Brand Mover: How to Lead Audiences from Apathy to Advocacy.

Apathy is a brand failure, not a consumer one.

For more than two decades Marc has helped mid-market organizations move customers from indifference to advocacy — giving marketing leaders a way to measure what actually matters: not what people think about the brand, but where they are on the path to advocacy, and what it takes to move them forward. His framework moves audiences from indifference to interest, interest to belief, and belief to advocacy.

Apathy isn't a consumer failure — it's a brand failure.

CEO of Hart.

Marc leads Hart, one of Ohio's largest independent marketing and advertising agencies, guiding its strategic vision while driving profitability and service innovation across a diverse client portfolio. His trajectory — from SVP and COO to President and CEO — reflects a deep understanding of both the creative and business sides of the work. During his tenure the agency more than doubled in revenue, growing from 40 to 90+ employees and expanding from one office to four across Toledo, Columbus, Detroit, and Washington, D.C.

Across industries, B2B and B2C.

His experience spans food and beverage, place-based marketing, finance, economic development, nonprofit, health care, travel and tourism, consumer brands, and education — with a consistent through-line of data-driven, integrated marketing.

Practitioner and teacher.

Marc is a former Managing Director of Consumer Insights at Teach For America, has taught marketing coursework at the University of Toledo, and is a regular contributor to the Forbes Agency Council. He holds an MBA in marketing from the University of Toledo and is based in Toledo, Ohio, where Hart is headquartered. Brand Mover (Entrepreneur Press, 2026) brings it together — showing organizations how to turn moments of change into visible, measurable progress in reputation, relationships, and revenue.