themartinagency

Welcome to our beautifully imperfect company.Thus reads the training manual provided to new Martin Agency employees.

Authored by Mike Hughes, President and formerly the Chief Creative Officer, it speaks to the core differentiator of the Martin Agency, the quiet humility of a group that has nothing to prove, unencumbered by the weight of hubris.

Agency OverviewSituated in sunny Richmond, Virginia, the Martin Agency’s main office staffs about 550 employees. A smaller office in New York City provides ancillary services.

The agency’s billings, roughly $600 million, up from $100 million 25 years ago, come from a roster of blue-chip clients including NASCAR, GEICO, The American Cancer Society, UPS, Walmart, PING, and more.

Big wins in the last six months include Benjamin Moore & Co., Oreo, Timberland, and Colonial Williamsburg. According to Chairman John B. Adams, the agency has a batting average of 60 to 80 percent of the accounts they pitch.

“Our goal is to create ideas that clients profit from, people talk about, competitors envy and our people are proud of. We try to do that by instilling something real and human into the work; we encourage our people to put a bit of themselves into the work.” -- Mike Hughes

Martin’s Philosophy“Do work you love with people you love.”

Expressed in that line is both a creative and business philosophy that is at the core of the company’s culture.

With that tagline and Mike Hughes’ legacy, we expect the campaigns that we review from The Martin Agency to leverage on positive emotions: advertising campaigns that meet this criteria will be funny, happy, romantic, or heartwarming. To leverage on negative emotions, like fear, scarcity, or self-doubt, may be effective advertising, but it’s not right for Martin.

Joe Alexander, Chief Creative Officer since 1992, offered the following advice on creating Martin-quality work:

“Don’t be cynical. Find the joy in doing the work. Build the joy into the work. This is Mike’s legacy and what he taught all of us. We are not a factory where people punch a clock. We are a messy, imperfect, living, breathing studio full of inventors and tinkerers. But we should never put the end result over the means. The people, the laughs, the ups and downs of the process, are what sustain you. And what will last.”

Campaign Review

GEICOGEICO is a unique account for an agency to work on. Because the insurance indus-try is a parity industry with a large amount of clutter, creating stunning advertising capable of capturing and holding the attention of the public for weeks as a campaign runs is a tall task for anyone.

That’s likely the reason behind GEICO’s decision to run multiple, overlapping campaigns, including:

• The GEICO Gecko• Maxwell the Pig• The GEICO Cavemen• Rhetorical Questions• Short Stories and Tall Tales• An Easier Way to Save• Get Happy, Get GEICO

Here, I’ll review the Get Happy work.

SIMPLY AnalysisStrategic - The creative simply states the selling proposition of GEICO insurance: it could save you 15% or more on car insurance. It then elevates this statement with creative work that shows how happy this will make the purchaser. Altogether, a clear and understandable expression of GEICO’s differentiator.

Intrusive - Earlier legs were more intrusive, e.g. Gallagher in a farmer’s market. It’s hard to ignore a cultural icon doing the thing he’s most well-known for. Later executions, e.g. Paul Revere with a cell phone, really fail to grab and hold the attention of the viewing audience.

Memorable - Compared to most of the other advertising in the world, the GEICO work is clearly memorable, but compared to the other campaigns created for GEICO, particularly the Cavemen or the Rhetorical Questions campaign, this particular campaign falls short.

Persuasive - There’s little here to

convince me that buying GEICO’s insur-ance will make me happier than a compet-itor’s, but it does build brand recognition.

Lasting - The death of a GEICO campaign is often without much fanfare. The company simple retires actors and ideas after the campaign has run for a few months. It’s this judicious management of campaign burnout and the selection of big ideas with legs that secures GEICO’s position as some of the most memorable and well-liked advertising on television.

Yours - I’m not certain that GEICO owns happiness: that is and always will be a Coca-Cola brand equity. It will take more than this to wrest it from their hands.

Campaign Review

BFG AwesomecrossThe challenge with tires is that all the general public knows is that they need them. Brand loyalty is low because most buyers want something cheap that won’t burst on the road. Upselling this customer to a performance tire isn’t always easy.

The definition of an integrated campaign, the team brought influencers from around the Internet onto the track for a test drive. The track and car were equipped with sensors that tracked the car’s movement and the participant’s excitement level. Influencers went back to their blogs and publishers to write their experiences, and BFGoodrich used footage from the event to fill a YouTube channel, create a series of commercials, and prepare a case study.

SIMPLY AnalysisStrategic - Aiming to create an influ-encer-to-advocate model exceuted via social media, the strategy of bringing in prominent bloggers to actually experience the event is a great strategic move.

Intrusive - Influencers are used for their ability to break through the clutter. If I read a blog, I’ll read its featured review of the BFGoodrich

tires, too. Solidly innovative idea to measure the output of the machine and provide a quantifiable link between the tires and the emotions of the driver. It brings the advertisement to life.

Memorable - The campaign is an amazing convergence of data, digital, design, social all in a live event. As memorable as it was for the people who drove the cars, there’s a gap between experiencing this and seeing a video of it. I’m not confident the creative work sets the bar where it needs to.

Persuasive - I now believe that if I have a sports car, I need a set of performance tires from BFGoodrich. The phrase used

by one driver, “these tires bite the road,” captures the essential reason for buying.

Lasting - Most likely a one-off cam-paign for a single product. No clear direc-tion for this campaign to go in the future.

Yours - BFGoodrich’s entire brand equity is about fun behind the wheel, and this campaign illustrates how much fun drivers have when they’re using BFGoodrich tires. Clearly adds to BFGoodrich’s key brand equity.

Campaign Review

ManpowerGroupThe “Humanly Possible” campaign for ManpowerGroup, a staffing and HR firm, shows the value of hiring people who don’t fit into boxes. The campaign’s taglines include “Steel and steam did not build the industrial age,” and “Rockets and algorithms did not launch the space age.”

The campaign was launched to transform the image of ManpowerGroup from a company that provided low-skill labor, i.e. “manpower,” to a company that provides high-skill talent, i.e. “man power.”

SIMPLY AnalysisStrategic - The campaign positions the brand as purveyor of high-talent individuals, rockstars who can elevate a company to a new level, separating it from other HR firms by juxtaposition.

Intrusive - It’s worth noting that B2B publications are lower clutter than other media. The strong message conveyed in the ad carries enough weight to be intrusive on its own. Simple colors and clean execution. Fits the bill of what the target market is likely to find compelling.

Memorable - The tagline and accom-panying visual leave just enough to the imagination to make them worth the read. This makes them worth remembering.

Persuasive - Because the opinion expressed is an unarguable, central truth of the human experience, the message is believable. What sets this ad apart is that it positions ManpowerGroup as the HR company that cares about people.

Lasting - The campaign idea has broad shoulders and long legs. Endless executions abound that can show the ManpowerGroup’s commitment to the Human Age.

Yours - ManpowerGroup has owned the most important element in hiring talented professionals, the human element, simply by defining it.

Campaign Review

Walmart Steak-OverThe premise of the Steak-Over isn’t anything new. In a classic taste-test challenge, Walmart went to leading steakhouses across the deep south, replaced their steaks with Walmart steaks, and recorded the results.

SIMPLY AnalysisStrategic - Walmart has an issue with public perception of their meat section. Many customers refuse to buy their meat at Walmart. The campaign clearly meets the strategic objective of the brief.

Intrusive - Launched just prior to Memorial Day Weekend 2012, the campaign speaks to something that’s on many minds across America: what they’ll serve at the BBQ this year. Because it taps into what people are curious about, they’ll pay attention.

Memorable - The point of a Walmart campaign is to increase sales after customers are already at the store. The commercial aims to change the thoughts that consumers have in the meat aisle, thoughts like “I won’t even look at the meat here,” into a potential

purchase. It will be hard to forget this commercial after you’re primed by the Walmart meat section to remember it.

Persuasive - The taste test challenge is a time-tested persuasive technique. This particular campaign hits home for me be-cause I’ve had Walmart meat, and I have little faith in it. Maybe it’s an issue with how it’s handled or how long it sits out on the store shelves. Walmart’s campaign fails to answer these questions for me. It most likely delivers in persuasiveness for a less-skeptical audience, either an audience that hasn’t had negative experi-ences with Walmart steaks or an audience that doesn’t know what good steak is.

Lasting - If the campaign represents

a real change in the quality of Walmart meat, this could have lasting reprocus-sions on the business that Walmart’s meat section does. Steaks are a gateway drug to the rest of the meat section. If we can con-vince people to try a Walmart steak and then deliver on the quality promise, there will be a definite uptick in steak sales.

Yours - Since the campaign is specifical-ly about Walmart’s steaks, and is answer-ing an objective specifically to Walmart’s meat section, there’s little to be said here.

Campaign Review

Hanes ComfortBlendThis Hanes campaign advertises a tagless line of Hanes products, called ComfortBlend. Product packaging encourages you to “feel the softness.” The proposition delivered in the advertising is that you don’t need to wear kittens to have a soft shirt.

SIMPLY AnalysisStrategic - Psst, Martin Agency, your strategy is showing. The brief said “ComfortBlend is the softest shirt on the market.” What’s the softest thing on the planet? Kittens. Let’s make a shirt out of kittens. Nobody stopped them, so this commercial was produced. Poor form.

Intrusive - The simple fact is that Hanes relies on the Michael Jordan factor to be intrusive. He’s the only reason that people watch their commercials. The creative needs to introduce him earlier in the spot or else lose out on the MJ effect.

Memorable - I’ll have forgotten it ten minutes after I finish this campaign review. How can an ad be memorable if it doesn’t leave an impression on its viewers?

Persuasive - I’m not sure softness is the unique selling proposition that Hanes should leverage. I don’t purchase clothes with softness in mind, and this commercial does not give me a compelling reason to add softness to a list of factors I consider.

Lasting - The commercial fits with Hanes’ existing ComfortBlend campaigns illustrating their softness. There’s no question as to whether we see many more humorous Hanes commercials, but will we see any good ones?

Yours - Does Hanes own comfort? It had better after thirty years of advertising. Throughout the brand’s history, comfort has been at the core of Hanes’ positionings, and this campaign continues to position Hanes squarely at its key brand equity.

You know, Randy, folks who buy GEICO insurance sure are happy.

How happy are they, Jimmy?

Happier than a ventriloquist playing Marco Polo.

Get Happy. Get Geico. 15 Minutes Could Save You...

You know, Randy, folks who buy GEICO insurance sure are happy.

How happy are they, Jimmy?Happier than a bearded lady

after a circus performance.

Get Happy. Get Geico. 15 Minutes Could Save You...

The Martin Agency has delivered, time and again, cutting-edge, award-winning campaigns, but that’s not enough for its creative team.

“We always fail more than we succeed. Everyone who sets really high goals does. Our recent work has been more stylish, but it hasn’t always come from a bold enough premise.” -- Mike HughesBeing an agency that is brutally honest with itself, some of the campaigns are too harshly judged. The GEICO work is fun and irreverent. The Walmart work resonates with people. ManpowerGroup’s work is successful at defining to HR managers what really matters in hiring.

With other campaigns, like the Hanes work, Mr. Hughes is accurate when he says the agency fails often. The spot I reviewed has fallen a long way from “Wait till we get our Hanes on you” and “Look who we’ve got our Hanes on now.”

“Can we do better? Oh yeah. We can’t ever be good enough.” -- Joe Alexander, Chief Creative Officer

The work really delivers best when it conforms to the creative philosophy of putting something human into it.

Martin’s an agency that can deliver cliché results for groundbreaking clients or groundbreaking work for cliché clients, and what you get may be hit or miss.

I’d consider hiring Martin on the kind of campaign that needs an integrated or interactive solution. When the agency is challenged to deliver something of this nature, they tend to excel. Their integrated campaign work is awfully good.

They do great work transforming stodgy old companies into chic, hip brands, too. Walmart has one of the lowest levels of public goodwill of any company on the planet, yet the agency has found a way to humanize them. So too have they done great B2B work for ManpowerGroup and Morgan Stanley.

The work is, like the company, beautiful and imperfect.