Cavallo to return as Martin Agency CEO

Kristen Cavallo is returning as the CEO of prominent Richmond-based ad agency The Martin Agency in April, the firm announced Thursday.

Cavallo was formerly CEO of Martin, which counts Geico and UPS among its clients and rebranded as Martin earlier this year, and of MullenLowe Global. She announced her retirement from those roles in March 2024 to pursue political and social activism and in January 2025 became executive director of The Branch Museum of Design in Richmond. She will transition to being artistic director of the museum as she rejoins Martin.

“If you have even the smallest chance of pulling the GOAT out of retirement, you take it,” Martin Chief Creative Officer Jerry Hoak said in a statement. “Kristen coming back represents an incredibly exciting moment for Martin and our clients. She’s a winner who makes everyone around her the best possible versions of themselves.”

Danny Robinson, who was promoted from chief creative officer to CEO to succeed Cavallo, is leaving to “pursue his work as a visual artist,” beginning with an artist residency in France, according to Martin’s post. Robinson has been with Martin for 21 years and was the first Black executive to lead the agency. Virginia Business named him to the 2026 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards class.

“It’s a continuation of the same creative drive he’s brought to this place for decades,” Martin said in a LinkedIn post.

Industry publication Adweek named Martin its Agency of the Year in 2020 and 2021, and Ad Age named it agency of the year in 2023. Ad Age also named Robinson its 2022 Chief Creative Officer of the Year.

The firm counts Geico, UPS and Fortune 1000 food delivery platform DoorDash among its clients, and it announced in late 2025 it was Stihl USA’s new creative partner. In April 2025, though, Martin lost its place as the creative agency of record for Fortune 500 used car retailer CarMax.

Martin’s first female CEO, Cavallo was the 2023 Virginia Business Person of the Year in recognition of her business strategy and successes at the helm of Martin, and then MullenLowe Global, as an international leader in advertising and marketing.

“The instinct in the advertising industry right now is to play it safe,” Cavallo said in a statement Thursday. “I think that’s exactly wrong. The agencies that will matter in 10 years or 10 months are the ones that used this moment to get better. I believe Martin is one of those agencies. We start with the belief that creativity isn’t a luxury you cut when things get hard. It’s the thing that gets you through.”

Cavallo first entered the advertising industry in 1994, when she joined Mullen as a strategic planner. A year later, she jumped to Boston-based ad agency Arnold Worldwide, where she served as a senior strategic planner. In 1998, she joined Martin as a senior vice president and group planning director, moving up to director of business development in 2005, before returning to Mullen in 2011 as chief strategy officer. In 2014, she was named president of Mullen’s Boston office. Following then-parent company Interpublic Group of Cos.’ 2015 merger of Lowe and Partners with Mullen, Cavallo became MullenLowe Group’s U.S. chief strategy and growth officer.

In December 2017, IPG named Cavallo as Martin’s first female CEO, replacing then-CEO Matt Williams. She took the helm at Martin in the wake of highly publicized sexual harassment allegations against Martin’s former chief creative officer, Joe Alexander, who left the ad agency less than two weeks before Cavallo was named CEO. (He has denied the allegations and any wrongdoing.)

Before coming to Martin, Robinson was best known for co-founding ad agency Vigilante, part of Leo Burnett, in 1998. Vigilante orchestrated Oprah Winfrey’s famous 2004 car giveaway.

Robinson joined Martin as a senior vice president and group creative director in 2004 and was promoted to chief client officer in 2019 before becoming chief creative officer in 2020.

New York-based marketing and communications firm Omnicom Group acquired IPG in November 2025. The company has almost 30,000 employees.

As of spring 2024, Martin had approximately 400 employees.