The Martin Agency American
advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
based in
Richmond, Virginia, that is part of the
Interpublic Group of Companies
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group, and Marketing Specialists, as well as a ...
. The company's CEO is Kristen Cavallo.
History
The Martin Agency was founded as Martin & Woltz in
Richmond, Virginia in 1965 by
David N. Martin and George Woltz.
The development of the "
Virginia is for Lovers
"Virginia is for Lovers" is the tourism and travel slogan of the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Used since 1969, it has become a well-recognized and often imitated part of American jargon. In 2012, ''Advertising Age'' called "Virginia is for Lo ...
" tagline, one of the most recognized taglines in the tourism industry and beyond, launched the trajectory of the agency. Written in 1969 by copywriter Robin McLaughlin, the slogan entered the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame in 2009.
Martin and Woltz divided the firm in 1975 and Martin renamed the company The Martin Agency.
In 1986, Scali, McCabe, Sloves purchased a majority interest in The Martin Agency. Scali, McCabe, Sloves was acquired by Lowe Group in 1993.
The Interpublic Group of Companies
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group, and Marketing Specialists, as well as a ...
(IPG) bought controlling interest in The Martin Agency in 1994. The Martin Agency was previously under McCann Worldgroup and is currently part of the MullenLowe network at IPG.
The agency’s current client roster (as of June 2021) includes
GEICO (since 1995),
OREO
Oreo () (stylized as OREO) is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet creme filling. It was introduced by Nabisco on March 6, 1912, and through a series of corporate acquisitions, mergers and split ...
,
UPS,
Unilever
Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...
’s AXE brand,
RITZ,
DoorDash
DoorDash, Inc. is an American company that operates an online food ordering and food delivery platform. The company is based in San Francisco, California. It went public in December 2020 on NYSE and trades under the symbol DASH.
With a 56% m ...
,
Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings (originally Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, hence the nickname BDubs, or BW3) is an American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise in the United States, Canada, India, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, a ...
,
CarMax
CarMax, Inc. is a used vehicle retailer based in the United States. It operates two business segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The corporate entity behind the formation of CarMax was Circuit City Stores, Inc. The firs ...
,
Hanes
Hanes (founded in 1900) and Hanes Her Way (founded in 1985) is a brand of clothing.
History
Hanes was founded in 1900 by John Wesley Hanes (one of Winston-Salem's wealthiest and most influential business men) at Winston, North Carolina under th ...
,
Century 21, Gap Inc.’s
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...
,
Terminix
Terminix International Company, L.P. is one of the largest pest control companies in the world, operating in 47 states in the United States and 22 countries around the world. It is a subsidiary of England-based Rentokil Initial.
History
In 1927, ...
,
TIAA
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research ...
, Three by Berkshire Hathaway,
Happy Egg, Tracfone, Penske, Virginia Tourism
Busch LightSabra Nerf,
Clue
Clue may refer to:
People with the name
* DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ
* Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer
* Ivan Clues
* Tim Cluess
Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise
* ''Cluedo ...
SantanderScience Moms Donate Life, Now Upon a Time and the
JFK Museum and Cultural Center and others.
The Martin Agency and GEICO are credited with pioneering a new way o
advertising in the insurance category in the early 1990s spawning a list of imitators in the category.
Previous agency clients include: Walmart, Discover, NASCAR, Mercedes-Benz, Pizza Hut, Saab, Wrangler, CarFax, The Learning Channel, the American Cancer Society and others.
In 2009, ''
Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...
'' named The Martin Agency as its "U.S. Agency of the Year."
[
In 2020, ''Adweek'' again named The Martin Agency as its "U.S. Agency of the Year.".] Danny Robinson became the Agency's Chief Creative Officer in this year as well.
In 2021, ''Adweek'' named The Martin Agency as its "U.S. Agency of the Year," only the third agency to win the honor in back-to-back years. ''Ad Age'' named The Martin Agency #8 on its annual A-List.
Notable campaigns
* Virginia is for Lovers
"Virginia is for Lovers" is the tourism and travel slogan of the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Used since 1969, it has become a well-recognized and often imitated part of American jargon. In 2012, ''Advertising Age'' called "Virginia is for Lo ...
* Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
"Because We Can"
* GEICO Cavemen
The GEICO Cavemen are trademarked characters of the auto insurance company GEICO, used in a series of television advertisements that aired beginning in 2004. The campaign was created by Joe Lawson and Noel Ritter while working at The Martin Age ...
* The GEICO Gecko
* FreeCreditScore.com
* DoorDash
DoorDash, Inc. is an American company that operates an online food ordering and food delivery platform. The company is based in San Francisco, California. It went public in December 2020 on NYSE and trades under the symbol DASH.
With a 56% m ...
#Openfordelivery
* UPS What can brown do for you?
* GEICO Best Of GEICO
Coinbase Super Bowl ad controversy
In February 2022, The Martin Agency CEO Kristen Cavallo criticized Coinbase
Coinbase Global, Inc., branded Coinbase, is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed company; all employees operate via remote work and the company lacks a physical headq ...
CEO Brian Robinson for not acknowledging the role that agencies had played in the creation of its Super Bowl ad.
The incident prompted a wider dialogue within the industry about how agencies are treated.
Awards
* ''Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...
'' U.S. Agency of the Year: 2009[Eleftheria Parpi]
"The Martin Agency: US Ad Agency of the Year 2009"] Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...
. January 25, 2010. Retrieved January 30 2012.
* ''Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...
'' U.S. Agency of the Year: 2020
*
Adweek
' U.S. Agency of the Year: 2021
''Ad Age'' A-List
2021
References
External links
Martinagency.com
by Linda Tischler for FastCompany.com
by Ignacio Oreamuno for ihaveanidea.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin Agency
Advertising agencies of the United States
Companies based in Richmond, Virginia
Interpublic Group
American companies established in 1965
1965 establishments in Virginia