The Martin agency has done it again. Adweek named the Richmond-based ad company the top ad agency in the country.

The agency received the honors from the industry’s influential trade publication for the second consecutive year, making it the third company to win the US award in consecutive years. The Martin agency also won the first national prize in 2009.

“One of the hardest things to do in a top-level competition is to repeat. I don’t think we expected this year to win again. Surely you hope that [because] we worked hard,” said Kristen Cavallo, CEO of The Martin Agency.

“When we heard we had won back to back we were excited – excited not only for the people who work here and the customers who support us, but also for Richmond as a community because it’s just amazing. “, she said. “It puts the agency in a fairly esteemed set of ad agencies.”

Adweek cited several reasons for naming Martin its Agency of the Year again, including his work and revenue growth.

“The work exemplifies the Martin agency’s recipe for success: a stellar strategy, creativity focused on brand goals, a production team with rapidly expanding capabilities, and a culture impact lab that helps brands not only to enter the conversation, but also to win it,” the magazine said. on his online edition of the article posted online Sunday evening.

Adweek noted that Martin’s agency revenue grew 15% this year across new and existing clients, after growing 30% in 2020. The agency also landed new clients in 2021, including Terminix, Snapchat , Coinbase, Busch Light and Sabra Dipping.

The agency’s revenue has grown 47% in three years, Cavallo said.

Martin received the highest honor in 2009, 2020 and this year for different reasons, she said. In 2009, it was due to significant growth after taking over accounts for Walmart, Pizza Hut, Johnson & Johnson and Kraft. Last year, the agency pivoted during the pandemic.

“And then this year, it was really the caliber of work,” Cavallo said. “All we heard was that the work we created was just superior for the competitive set we were in.”

Danny Robinson, the agency’s creative director, said the recognition was not for certain ad campaigns, but for the caliber of work across the board.

“A lot of times agencies win because they have one or two accounts where they do great work and groundbreaking work, but we’ve done work for the majority of our clients who have been successful for their business and recognized for their craft. and that’s how we won this year,” said Robinson, who became the first black to serve as creative director in the Richmond-based ad outlet’s 55-year history when he was appointed to this position last year.

“There was a different mix of the secret sauce this year and creativity was key,” he said.

Adweek noted the success of “Scoop! There it is!” commercial spot featuring Tag Team happily scooping up ice cream while former Richmonder Nicci Carr chops vegetables in the kitchen, then dances to the hip-hop duo’s revamped version of their 1990s hit. The magazine also mentioned the execution of the campaigns for Ax Body Spray which helped the Unilever brand increase its revenue for the first time in almost a decade.

The magazine also highlighted the agency’s diverse executive committee – 63% are women and 38% are people of color. Agency-wide, 25% are people of color, up 4% from 2020.

The creative department was 70% male and 30% female in 2018. But that’s changing, the agency said. It has hired 53 employees in this department since November 2020, including 55% women and 35% people of color.

Martin has hired about 145 people in the past year, which Cavallo said was the agency’s largest headcount increase in a year, including the year she won the Walmart account. Martin has approximately 400 employees.