Humble and his producers.

Steve Humble is my long time EP partner and one of the best. He has created a juggernaut of producers across all media, but also has created two great post partners - Running with Scissors and Hue&Cry. Both are world-class and the envy of other agencies. And both are a big reason Shoot named us Agency of the Year in 2015. Congrats, Stein. Well-deserved. http://shootonline.com/news/ad-agency-year-its-what-they-do

Campaign of the year.

In the 50 years of the agency, we've made a lot of great work. But in my humble opinion, this is the agency's clearest, biggest winner. Geico Unskippable. It's won every major award. It's broke every rule. It's loved by peers and consumers. And it's proven to work hard for our great clients. Being named campaign of the year by Adweek is another cherry next to many cherries on top. Congrats to all, but especially Neel and Mazzer. Geez, you guys are getting expensive. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-best-ad-campaign-2015-hilariously-hacked-lowly-preroll-ad-168614

Colorfilled.

Andrew Watson is one of our newest creatives stars from Amsterdam and this is his coming out party via OREO. Just love how fun this is creating you're very own bag of OREOS and sending them off to someone who loves these cookies as much as you do. Nice job Jesse Wright, Josh Corliss and all in digital. You continue to amaze. https://shop.oreo.com/

Craft takes nerds.

I watch this behind the scenes video of the making of the Creativity Top 5 and it makes me smile. The guys and gals at Hue&Cry are the craftiest people I know. No pixel escapes their eagle eyes. And how they navigate dead ends is creativity by definition. Amazing.

From Lovers to Lizards.

So much fun and emotion celebrating our 50th anniversary last week. Four highlights for me: 1. a block party and craft beer contest featuring home brews and labels designed by our very own peeps. One of our finest parties ever. 2. An interactive exhibit in our gallery featuring archives, work, artifacts and more. Andrew Bailey's masterwork.  http://www.martinagency.com/news/celebrating-50-years-one-oyster-and-pint-at-a-time
3. The 50th Book. Craft, design, execution, everything we have always held dear, in 324 pages. 4. Presenting book #1 to Harry Jacobs, the guy who along with Mike Hughes, put us on the map. Congrats, Harry, and to all the talented people who made the first 50 so special. Cheers.

This is what we do for brands.

Explained, for the first time, in video.  Thank you, Evan and Evan and the amazing talent at http://hueandcry.tv/

Already making a huge difference.

Retain and recruit the best talent. That was one of Mike Hughes' guiding principles and I'm sticking to it. These guys and gals have been here only a few months, but are already changing the work for the better. Added bonus: great, fun peeps. Thanks for coming Marco, Marcello, Ben, Casey, Andrew, David, Jess, Josh, Mik, Alex and Scot.

Funny GEICO spots. It's what we do.

The latest from GEICO. Simple, funny idea, executed to the nines. The most amazing CG Kraken in history.

Our first London ECD: Dan Fisher.

So great to have the talented Mr. Fisher joining the agency in London. He brings one of the best books I've seen in years. Plus, he's a great, humble guy. He'll team with Brian Williams as the creative leaders of our London office. Between them, since 2010, they've won over 30 Cannes Lions.

Why the hell would anyone stay at the same agency for 24 years?

That was the question I answered during the Friday Forum at the VCU Brandcenter. A level playing field, lots of new biz, I could grow at my own pace, I loved my boss, I've done some pretty good work and many other tips and anecdotes. The kids seemed to respond to the honesty and insights. Thanks, Helayne and KK, for the invite. And thanks Will Godwin, genius, for the hand-crafted type and art.

  

A new battle in Richmond.

The World Cycling Championships are coming to Richmond next week. Most of the race routes take place in and around famous Civil War battles. (SFX lightbulb going on!) We asked artist Steven Nobel to depict the scenes as if they were to appear as etchings in an old Harper's Weekley. Love the craft.

You either made something today or you didn't.

There was a great Nike headline a few years back: You either ran today or you didn't. So true. And so true about what we do. We make. Or we fake. There's no in between. The best creatives are always producing stuff no matter what. Why? Fear, hunger, joy, fun, proof, ego, insecurity. All of the above. We do staff meetings ever quarter and a poster series to tell the staff. David Byrd, one of best designers, made these in a couple days. He's a maker. And that's why he will go far.

Chief Coat Tail Rider.

Very flattered to be named to a list like this. http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/10-chief-creative-officers-who-are-inspiring-breakthrough-work-us-agencies-165896#disqus_thread But in all honesty, we CCOs get way too much credit for the work our amazing and talented people do. So I don't take it too seriously. (My mom will love it.) Here's to the real stars at The Martin Agency, the ones who make me look good by allowing my name to be on the credits. You, in fact, deserve all the credit.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Mr. Robinson.

Today marks the first day for our first ever ECD in the NYC office,  James Robinson. The guy has a book that's smart, witty and full of depth. He brings experience in tech, gaming and cars to the agency that's going to be invaluable as we grow New York. And he's just a good guy, to boot. It's going to be fun to watch. Here we go.

A Grand Prix in Film.

We had highs hopes for GEICO "Unskippable" going in to Cannes. Cyber, Media, maybe Craft. But never in our wildest dreams did we think the Grand Prix in Film. An incredibly gutsy call by Tor, Jose and the rest of the jury to give the biggest prize to a pre-roll video. I can't extend my congratulations enough to the team, Neel and Mauricio, the GEICO leaders, Steve and Wade, and to the entire agency. It maybe the biggest and most important trophy the agency has won. Love that it happened in our 50th year. Mike, this one's for you. The video says it all: https://twitter.com/cannes_lions/status/614885423886794752

Hope it's not jinxed.

Adweek just picked the 20 favorites to win at Cannes and Geico Unskippable is on the list. Let's hope that's not the kiss of death.  Either way, great company to be in.  http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/20-campaigns-will-win-lions-cannes-165316

The Martin Agency at 50.

The work of 50 years hangs on two giant walls at the agency. It could be double that - easy. I've been curating the wall with help of the team here and it's been fun looking back and forward at the best work of the last five decades. In the Fall we will celebrate with a book, site and party here at the agency. Going to be exciting - and emotional - to see it all come together.

Cannes is for lovers.

Headed to Cannes in a week for the Lions Festival. Our friends at McCann are throwing a beach party for us on Thursday night in honor of the agency's 50th year. Pretty cool stuff. Can't wait - hope a couple lions join us on the dance floor. 

Ace Scholarship winner #3.

Kennedy Xiong is the 3rd recipient of the Ace Scholarship. The gift was named in honor of my late dad, a life long educator, and goes to minority student in the St. Paul Public Schools who is headed to college to be a teacher. Kennedy is off to the University of Minnesota (My father's alma mater.) in the Fall. Here is an excerpt from Kennedy's application: "Although the income you receive as an educator isn't much, giving back to the community is enough for me. Becoming an educator is not about doing it for yourself but giving out to others instead. I want to be able to show students the importance of education. Even if it means only changing the life of one person, I would gladly do it."

The pre-roll roll continues.

Following 4 golds and a silver at The One Show, the Geico Unskippable campaign keeps rolling. I was in London for work and headed to the show to grab a Yellow and Graphite pencil from D&AD. Amazing. Fingers crossed for Cannes.

Unskippable is unstoppable.

The team for Geico - Neel and Mauricio - had a simple brief: make some pre-rolls. Thank God, they did much more. They re-invented probably the most hated ad buy in the world. The reaction has been a universal "10." Great idea, perfect execution. Congrats.

This staff.

This team of ours amaze me with their talent, but even more, with their hard work and resilience. Man, the demands we put on creatives these days. So when we can get out as a group and blow off some steam together, we do it. Not enough people could make it - working, of course - but a good size shot some stick at Greenleaf Hall. Can't thank you enough for everything.

Oreo global: PLAY.

This is our best work so far in 2015. Just breaking and breathtaking. Will be OOH around the globe. The theme for the year: Play with Oreo. So simple. Illustrated by some of the best artists working today, including McFetridge, Jeff Soto, Ryan Todd, Shotopop, Andy Rementer, Trochut and others.

Bad-ass ness.

Duvel is one fine beer. When we won the business earlier this year, we created a total redesign of their labels and packaging, highlighting the "virtues" the brewery has held in high regard since the first beer was brewed in 1871. The design is amazing, but the copy is even better.

A case for Mad Men.

For your consideration, judges. The Mad Men print we created for AMC. Love this campaign and hope the love is returned. Nice work by one of our best, Danny Robinson.

One Show ROI.

Been a blast to work with Pum and her Design Army creating the theme for the 2015 One Show. It's all about the huge return we all get when we enter the show. Sure, when you win a pencil, you win and the ROI is clear. But every penny of your entry goes right back into the creative community through mentoring, boot camps, leadership series, diversity programs and so much more. Here is just one of the animated films we've made with Magnus, Evan and our Hue&Cry dudes. Nice coverage in Creativity: http://creativity-online.com/work/the-one-show-call-for-entries-2015-jose-molla/38492

Some LGBT LOL.

It's great to see the LGBT community being embraced by brands. It's even better to see the work start a have of humor, even better, a self-deprecating sense of humor. Stoli Vodka has always had a great relationship with the community and I think the new work reflects a confidence that only comes with mutual trust. The videos are running online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2WRSftWB7g

It's the little things.

Craft is my new push for 2015. The attention to detail we put in the work is what makes a good idea a great one. Craft is one of the things that sets us apart from other agencies. It always has.  I also believe a well-crafted piece connects better than one that isn't. Shown here is the leave behind for the Tic Tac pitch. Whitney McCall, a young designer, put the entire deck inside a hand-made Tic-Tac box.  Great idea. Oh, we won the pitch, too.