Advertising Age reported Kristen Cavallo unretired to retake the CEO role at Martin, succeeding her successor—Danny Robinson—who’s retiring and undertaking an art residency at La Maison de Beaumont in France.
That’s quite a dizzying game of retirement musical chairs.
Although given the current anti-DEIBA+ vibe in Adland, Cavallo won’t have to repeat her performative puffery: “We’re not diverse enough. We see it. We’re on it.”
Wonder if Joe Alexander was considered as a retiree-returnship candidate.
Kristen Cavallo returns as CEO of Martin; Danny Robinson to retire
By Brian Bonilla
In a surprise move, Kristen Cavallo is returning to Martin, recently rebranded from Martin Agency, as CEO.
She will succeed Danny Robinson in April. Robinson was appointed by Cavallo in 2024 before she retired from the ad industry. Robinson is retiring to undertake an art residency at La Maison de Beaumont in France.
Cavallo, who previously spent 20 years at Martin, had been working as the executive director at the Branch Museum of Design. She admitted she “wasn’t pining to get back in the ad industry,” but she said the decision to return was less about career ambition and more about commitment to the agency, its people and the broader creative ecosystem. Robinson framed Cavallo’s decision to return as both strategic and deeply personal. “It felt like a very selfless act,” he said. “She knew how passionate I am about this next thing … and she said yes with very little hesitation.”
“If Martin ever needs something … the answer is yes. There is no other answer, but yes,” said Cavallo.
The move comes at a pivotal time for the agency, which has had a mixed few years as it seeks to find its stride under a new holding company following Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG.
Last year, the agency lost Papa Johns and CarMax, and its Oreo and Ritz accounts are currently in review. The agency last year laid off roughly 5% of its staff and just this week it laid off another 7% of its employees, the agency confirmed.
“While decisions like these can be part of the natural cycle of the business and are not a reflection of individual value, losing colleagues is never procedural—it’s personal, and that’s what makes moments like this so difficult,” Robinson wrote in a statement regarding the layoffs.
While Robinson downplayed the idea of a sustained downturn, he acknowledged the volatility. “We lost some business last year,” Robinson said, framing it as part of the normal cycle of agency life rather than a structural issue.
“I don’t know that I can say any year in the history of any ad agency, somebody hadn’t lost business ... but momentum is fickle,” Robinson said. “I wouldn’t say we lost momentum. In fact, I would point to us coming out of the acquisition as a whole as Martin, a significant nod to our momentum.”
Robinson pointed to some recent key wins, including Hershey and Stihl. Last week, Geico’s new chief marketing officer also reaffirmed that the insurer won’t be making any agency changes, which was a question last year. “The pipeline is more full than it’s been, maybe ever at any single time,” Robinson said.
The agency also faced internal scrutiny last year when an open letter posted on Fishbowl criticized leadership following layoffs. Robinson said his initial reaction was emotional—“the first is hurt, because it hurts,” he said—but he ultimately viewed it as a sign that employees care deeply about the agency. Rather than dismiss it, he said leadership worked to understand the underlying concerns, asking, “What are the people asking for?”
Cavallo said her first 90 days will be focused less on immediate structural changes and more on listening to both employees and clients. “I’m excited to get back in and listen … to clients as well … about what we need to do, where we need to go, what we need to build,” she said, noting that she plans to prioritize business development, morale and recruiting as she re-acclimates to the agency.
The leadership shift was the result of an unexpected opportunity, said Robinson. “This wasn’t a planned thing,” he said. “This was an opportunity that happened because I got an opportunity.”
Robinson, who has spent more than four decades in advertising—including 22 years at Martin—said the decision was driven by his lifelong passion for painting. He said that he hadn’t been prepared to be accepted for the French residency as quickly as he was.
That led to conversations with Omnicom leadership and ultimately Cavallo, who Robinson described as a “long shot” but “the best option at this very time.”
She also said her return comes at an opportune time. “I feel like the ... last few years, consolidations aside, just this idea of giving away creative for free or at really low margins ... the pendulum is absolutely switching back towards craft and creativity.”
Her return to advertising comes after a period of personal and professional exploration that began with a pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago—a journey that ultimately reshaped how she thought about her next chapter.
Before setting out, she briefly considered a move into politics, even attending the Democratic National Convention on her own. “The night before I had gone to walk the Camino [ a multi-week long route in Spain], I had gone on my own dime to the DNC to see what that moment was like,” she said, describing an environment filled with “solidarity” and “excitement” and noting that “civic duty is important to me.”
But the clarity she was searching for didn’t come from Washington—it came on the road. “I knew within a week or two of walking that I did not want that as a vocation,” Cavallo said.
Cavallo is staying on at the Branch Museum in a lesser role as artistic director, but has aspirations to revisit the museum space in the future. “I found my next chapter, even if I delay it for a bit or just keep my toe in the water,” she said. “I found it. I am not going to let go of it, because it has fed my soul in ways I did not anticipate.”
So don’t expect Cavallo to use this as a stepping stone to another agency gig; she called her second return to Martin her “final chapter” in advertising.
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