It’s been 10 months since The Martin Agency parted with CCO Joe Alexander after 26 years amid an investigation into multiple claims of sexual harassment made over nearly two decades.
Since then, the agency has made some big changes and, by many accounts, turned a corner. New CEO Kristen Cavallo and CCO Karen Costello have facilitated such developments as a new executive committee with more women in leadership positions and a new talent and culture division led by a veteran of the Obama administration while promoting Danny Robinson to chief client officer and Jerry Hoak to ECD, managing partner.
Martin has also made smaller tweaks to its internal culture, one of which includes remodeling Alexander’s former office into an open space and shrine of sorts to former president Mike Hughes, who passed away in 2013 at 65.
“It is a meeting place/workspace/communal area that anyone can use,” wrote Costello, who explained that many of The Martin Agency’s executives sit at open tables rather than using their own closed office spaces. She added that the space includes a portrait of Hughes and that it has been unofficially named “Unfinished Thinking” in honor of the blog he wrote before he died.
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in a short 8 months,” Costello wrote. “There is so much change going on in our industry, I know we are all better when we can learn from each other.”
One party claimed that employees often use the room to house pets they bring into the office. Costello clarified that, while pets of all stripes are welcome in the building every day, Alexander’s former office is not specifically designated for that purpose.
It is worth noting that at least two former Martin employees who discussed their experiences with Alexander upon his departure late last year said Hughes was aware of some, if not all, of the accusations made against him by women who worked there. Hughes has been described as a mentor to Alexander, among other current and former agency leaders.
Meanwhile, the former CCO is reportedly testing a return to the ad business. Several parties tell us that he has reached out specifically seeking work or looking to re-establish connections with industry influencers.
On his personal blog, he recently congratulated Costello, wrote a post in which he discussed volunteer work and indirectly addressed the events preceding his exit, and shared a spec ad for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline following the death of Kate Spade. (The organization said it had no knowledge of that effort.)
We reached out to Alexander for comment yesterday but haven’t received a response.
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