Hart Weichselbaum

With an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Colorado, Hart in 1987 established the first strategic planning function at The Richards Group in Dallas, Texas. As the agency's first director of account planning, he helped it grow to $600 million in billings, building consumer brands like Motel 6, Hummer, Continental Airlines, and The Home Depot, as well as global B2B brands like Sabre, the leading travel industry technology company; ON Semiconductor, a billion dollar spin-off of Motorola; and the WABCO division of American Standard, the world's largest manufacturer of truck brakes. In 1999, Hart moved to Chicago as executive vice president and director of strategic planning for the advertising agency, Foote, Cone, and Belding. In 2001, he left to found THE PLANNING PRACTICE, a consultancy dedicated to translating insights about people and brands into profitable marketing strategies for such companies as Union Planters Bank, Advanced Micro Devices, Agere Systems, Epson America, RadioShack, GM and Red Lobster. Hart has been an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and is a founding member of the Account Planning Group-US, America's largest professional organization of advertising strategists.