Why “Marcus & Muse”?
The name is the method. Marcus is for Marcus Aurelius — the stoic discipline to look at a market, a media plan, or a revenue problem exactly as it is, without the wishful thinking that costs advertisers money. Muse is the creative spark — the willingness to find the route nobody else saw once the facts are on the table.
Every engagement runs on that pairing: clear-eyed analysis first, creative execution second. Clear strategy, creative solutions.
Two decades inside the supply chain
Marcus & Muse is led by Aaron Foley, who has spent more than two decades in the programmatic supply chain — at Sharethrough, one of the industry's major supply-side platforms, and Samsung Ads, inside one of the largest CTV ecosystems in the world. That career happened on the side of the industry most agencies never see: where inventory is packaged, where auctions actually run, where fees are taken, and where reporting gets its numbers.
We put that experience to work for buyers. When you know how SSPs, exchanges, and streaming platforms operate internally, you buy differently — shorter paths, cleaner supply, fewer intermediaries, and questions vendors don't expect an agency to know how to ask.
What independent means here
No platform kickbacks. No undisclosed rebates. No arbitrage or reselling margin. Our only revenue is the fee you see on the invoice, so our only incentive is your outcome. Clients see exactly where every dollar goes — including the parts of the supply chain most reports keep dark.
Rooted in Ottawa, working across Canada
We're based in Ottawa and fluent in what that means: Government of Canada media requirements, associations, B2B technology buyers, and bilingual EN/FR campaigns. Aaron also runs the Ottawa Ad Club, the capital's community of media, agency, and ad tech people.
Curated. Consultative. Community.
The practice stands on three pillars. Curated brings hand-picked TV & streaming advertising to local agencies. Consultative is the strategy, buying, and advisory work — for advertisers, and for the publishers and platforms on the other side of the transaction. Community is the Ottawa Ad Club — and that one isn't a business strategy. It exists so the people who make Ottawa's advertising have a place to connect, learn, and collaborate.