Aug 24, 2026 · 25 min
Veteran founder builds an agency around military-community trust
How a Disabled Army Veteran Built a Category-Defining Agency
Tom Aiello’s story shows how military experience, recovery, and lived knowledge can shape both an advertising business and a standard for ethical client selection.
- 1Military leadership skills became a foundation for Aiello’s transition into advertising and entrepreneurship.
- 2March Marketing combines audience research, authentic messaging, and military-community expertise to build more effective campaigns.
- 3The agency screens clients carefully, rejecting organizations that exploit veterans or undermine its mission to support military families.
Don't miss
Aiello explains why March Marketing refuses prospective clients that exploit veterans, making ethical screening part of the agency’s operating model.
The brief
Tom Aiello traces a path from West Point and Army leadership through a life-threatening Humvee accident to advertising, where he learned to translate military skills into civilian work.
After advancing from entry-level advertising work to vice president, Aiello founded March Marketing to serve veterans, military families, and the broader military-connected community.
The agency’s argument is that effective military-community marketing requires more than demographic targeting: research, lived experience, direct feedback, and authentic creative work determine whether audiences listen.
Aiello describes a mission filter for prospective clients, excluding predatory lenders, questionable education providers, and others whose business models exploit veterans.
His experience as a disabled veteran sharpens the stakes around healthcare, VA benefits, home loans, and communications that can improve military families’ lives.
The episode’s practical takeaway is that a clear creative brief and disciplined client selection protect both campaign quality and the purpose behind the agency.
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