Martin Agency’s Robinson wins Ad Age CCO of the year

Danny Robinson, The Martin Agency’s chief creative officer, was named Ad Age’s chief creative officer of the year on Thursday, as the publication lauded him for having “revved up the agency’s creative output, turning out great ideas at a quicker pace across multiple categories and brands.”

Among Richmond-based Martin’s clients are Geico, UPS, Old Navy, Doordash and Axe, and Ad Age noted the agency’s move into the world of products with the debut of “Scoop There It Is” ice cream, which was developed after the popular Geico ads featuring rappers Tag Team performing “Whoop! There It Is!”

Robinson, who became CCO in 2020, was previously Martin’s chief client officer. He also is a former copywriter who founded New York-based agency Vigilante (which orchestrated Oprah Winfrey’s famous car giveaway show), and he joined Martin in 2004 as part of the agency’s winning bid for Walmart’s account. He is Martin’s first Black CCO and remains one of the few at a non-Black-owned agency, Ad Age notes. He has restructured the creative department and diversified its workforce, with 55% of all creative staffers hired in 2021 being women or Black, Indigenous or other people of color.

“There’s an eclecticism to Danny’s journey,” jury chair Chaka Sobhani, global chief creative officer of Leo Burnett, told Ad Age. “Hope comes from the fact that you don’t have to come from certain universities, a certain background. Danny had all these different roles, and then ultimately found his place.”

In December 2021, Martin was named Adweek’s U.S. agency of the year for the second consecutive year.