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Agency

Delivering Unified Brand Experiences Requires Expertise And Talent. Now, We Have More Of Both.

Now that MDB Communications is part of Hart, we bring even greater strength and depth to the challenge of moving brands forward. But this alliance was always about more than increasing our numbers. It's about a shared perspective⁠–that clients and the brands they represent deserve our very best thinking. And together, we’ll continue to bring it.

Leadership

Continuing to follow the example set more than 50 years ago.

While each member of the leadership team brings unique talents and perspectives to Hart, it’s our shared clients-first mentality that pushes the agency forward.

Mike Hart

CEO

Hands-on, accessible and service-oriented describe Mike’s leadership style. It’s a style he learned from his mentor, father and agency founder, Tom Hart, who knew as Mike does, that we are in the business of solving problems. That’s why many of Hart’s clients have been with us for decades – because of Mike’s dedication to “white glove” service and his laser focus on achieving results.

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Marc Paulenich

President

Hart puts an emphasis on consumer insight and strategic thinking, and Marc is the keeper of that flame. He has a passion for forging experiences and making sure our creative output is strategically sound and solutions based. He’s also the driving force that keeps Hart on the leading edge of best marketing communications practices, ensuring that even as we enter our sixth decade as an agency, we operate as if we were a fresh-faced start-up.

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Randy Phipps

Executive Creative Director

Randy truly brings a worldwide perspective to his job as executive creative director of Hart, having helped craft local, regional, national and international campaigns like the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, Russia World Cup 2018, ProMedica, Certified Angus Beef^® brand and the Detroit Red Wings, to name a few. While never losing sight of the functional, Randy brings a sophisticated design sense to Hart, working through branding and design systems thinking, helping our clients get their messages across in the most interesting manner possible.

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Kira Clifton

VP, Media & Analytics

A passionate consumer-driven strategist, Kira is a true expert in data strategy and local, national and global marketing. Bringing a comprehensive outlook to marketing measurement and data applications, media services and strategy, she has built a career developing and overseeing cross-channel media planning and analytics and driving digital media integration.

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Brian Newberry

VP, Brand Leadership

Brian brings a wealth and diversity of experience to his job as VP of brand leadership at Hart. He’s been a general manager, chief strategy officer, VP of e-commerce and senior client partner working for such flagship brands as General Mills, P&G, Nationwide, YUM! Brands, Bob Evans, OfficeMax and more. Brian is a big believer in behavioral insight, and his sharp consumer acumen helps hone our creative work so it’s always on point and always relevant to the target audience.

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Jeff Lutz

VP, Corporate Communications & Content

A public relations professional with a deep background in strategy, Jeff embodies the ideal blend of passion, capability and culture. He brings a lot to the table, having developed communications strategies for Microsoft, Faurecia, Wanova and other heavy hitters, while actively guiding strategy for other clients in industries across the board. Using contemporary and traditional PR techniques, and his always affable personality, Jeff knows how to get the message out to influence the right people and get the right results.

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Angela Beardsley

VP, Finance & Administration

Angie is the grease that allows the Hart engine to run. To touch on everything she does would require an entire section of this website devoted just to her, but in a nutshell, Angie makes certain that every financial decision Hart makes maximizes our ROI and, when possible, reduces operating costs. She makes us more efficient, which allows us to devote more of our resources to our clients.

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Rick Carey

VP, Creative Director

Rick brings his unique ability to connect with audiences to every assignment. While he is both a strategic and creative thinker, at heart, Rick is a writer. His work has moved the needle for brands large and small across multiple industry categories, including higher education, healthcare and financial. In addition, his storytelling abilities have helped dozens of social service agencies and nonprofit organizations raise more than $1 billion in critical funding.

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Cary Hatch

Managing Director, Washington, D.C.

A true-problem solver, Cary has the unique ability to identify both the obstacles and the opportunities to overcome them. Her strategic approach and audience-driven mentality have generated results for a wide range of high-profile brands, including National Geographic, Fannie Mae and Chevy Chase Trust. Cary’s ongoing commitment to the Washington, D.C., community – with leadership positions across a wide range of civic and social organizations – parallels the drive she has for her profession.

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Board of Advisors

Drawing from a diverse global mindset.

Elizabeth Zea

JUEL Talent Group, Founder & Partner

Liz is a partner at New York-based JUEL, a management consultancy and executive recruiting firm focused on the marketing community. Prior to founding JUEL, she spent 15 years on the agency side with McCann Erickson Worldgroup, Omnichannel Group of Companies, which included serving as the company’s CMO in the UK. Liz sits on the board of directors of Stamford Health System and Alexandra’s Playground, and her perspectives on the skills required to lead modern marketing have been widely published.

Vincent Dong, CPA, CA

Operations Consultant, Second Wind

Vince has been servicing the North American advertising industry for over 30 years. An expert at helping agencies maximize their consistent profitable operations, his purview involves controllable and non-controllable issues, from agency culture, client behaviors and the type of client work offered, to software systems, staff experience and even willingness to learn. Vince has written articles for _Marketing_ magazine and frequently speaks at agency seminars. A graduate of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, Vince earned his CPA from Ernst & Young.

David F. Hanson

Retired Finance & Administration Executive

From the C suite of two eminent Toledo companies to management consulting to mentoring small businesses, Dave has contributed to numerous enterprises in his career. He retired from Owens-Illinois as Assistant Corporate Controller, then retired again from Eastman & Smith, where he was Director of Finance & Administration. As a volunteer with the SBA SCORE program, Dave served as Certified Mentor, Chapter Chairman and long-time member of its Executive Committee. He has been on Hart’s board of directors for 20 years.

Bill Binstock

Former CEO,
TenUnited

Over his four decades in the advertising industry, Bill continually demonstrated his mastery of using mergers and acquisitions to achieve solid growth and financial performance. After purchasing Hallmark Advertising in 1990, Bill grew the business by uniting it with several Pittsburgh and Florida agencies to create Hallmark Tassone in 2000. He then founded TenUnited, a $200 million agency with clients including Airborne, Anheuser-Busch and Dell, and as CEO orchestrated its sale to Halyard Capital in 2008, where it became part of the Engauge marketing firm.

Community
Involvement

Giving back is a given. Always has been. Always will be.

Tom Hart

We support the work of many organizations and always try to direct our giving where the need is greatest. Each year we give hundreds of thousands of dollars in time to worthy causes across Ohio. We celebrate Earth Day by picking up trash along the road. We serve on boards of social service organizations. And we serve meals to the hungry.

We never set out to make giving back such a significant part of who we are. It happened organically. Which, from our perspective, makes every gift, dollar and hour we give even more meaningful. We tell you this not because we are looking for recognition. We tell you, because if you’re like us, we might be the kind of company you’d like to work with.

02.05.2023

BUY OR SELL | Brand Authenticity