Two top executives at The Martin Agency named Ad Person of the Year

The Advertising Club of Richmond named two top executives at The Martin Agency as the Ad Person of the Year.

Kristen Cavallo, chief executive officer, and Karen Costello, chief creative officer, are sharing this year’s honor. The awards were presented Friday evening during a program at the Hippodrome in Richmond.

“Cavallo and Costello were selected as this year’s Ad Person of the Year for their steadfast leadership and major strides to better not just their agency, but the advertising industry as a whole with true progress,” said Anne-Stuart Teter, president of the Advertising Club of Richmond, in a statement.

Cavallo took over as CEO in December 2017 as The Martin Agency dealt with allegations of sexual harassment involving its previous longtime chief creative officer.

In January 2018, Cavallo named Costello as chief creative officer, the first time in the agency’s 53-year history that a woman has held that key position.

Cavallo has shared details of what the agency has done to recover during public speaking engagements.

“Crisis gave us an appetite for change that normally doesn’t exist. We were determined to define what progress looked like, and finally in positions to create it. And so we did,” Cavallo said on why the honor means so much.

“Karen and I share a belief that we are not here to cocoon the agency, but propel it,” Cavallo said. “To build the team’s capacity to charge forward in hard times and good. We embraced our roles with passion, compassion and a strong moral compass, equal parts heart and hustle, and we are motivated by all of it.”

More than 160 awards were presented in multiple categories. The awards to professionals were presented in four categories of work: interactive, advertising, design and production. There also is a category for student work.

The top work in each category wins best in show. The best in show category winners include:

• Interactive: The Martin Agency for the “Find Your Old Friend” social campaign for client Purina Mills;
• Advertising: The Martin Agency for the “JFK: Words Count” integrated campaign for client John F. Kennedy Presidential Library;
• Design: The Martin Agency for “Equal Pay for All” communication design for Equal Pay All-Corporate Social Responsibility;
• Production: Arts & Letters Creative Co. for “Home Alone Again” editorial for client Google; and
• Student: Yotam Ohayon of the VCU Brandcenter for “It Didn’t Stick” magazine advertising for PAM cooking spray.

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