Read the recap here.
Elizabeth Paul, Chief Brand Officer
Elizabeth Paul is the Chief Brand Officer of The Martin Agency – the award-winning creative shop best known for its ability to harness creativity and culture to build iconic brands like GEICO, Old Navy, OREO, and UPS (to name a few). A strategist by trade, Elizabeth chairs the 4A’s Strategy Committee, and has been honored with Strategist of the Year by Campaign U.S. and CSO of the Year by AdAge, during her tenure as Chief Strategy Officer at both Martin and MullenLowe U.S. She authored The Visibility Brief, an open-source industry tool designed to check bias and blind spots by illuminating insights in a way that broadens perspectives as marketers.
Since her return to Martin in January 2020, the agency has secured its first time atop AdAge’s A-List as Agency of the Year, as well as back-to-back spots as Adweek’s Agency of the Year and recognition on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Agencies List.
In her new role, as the agency’s first-ever Chief Brand Officer, Elizabeth is responsible for leading the Martin brand towards new frontiers in Fighting Invisibility. In a moment when agency brands seem more disposable and less differentiated, Elizabeth has ushered in a new sense of leadership — one that applies strategic positioning, growth strategy, and passion for creativity to the agency’s continued trajectory. Within this role, Paul oversees the agency’s business development strategy, innovation, brand communications, and Martin-owned channels.
Elizabeth resides in Richmond with her husband, Doug, three amazing kids, and 180-pound Great Dane, Oliver.
Mik Manulik, VP / Group Creative Director
Mik Manulik is a Group Creative Director at the Martin Agency. He loves unpacking a cultural nuance. Digging into a conversation, Tik Tok meme or random corner of the internet to find out what truly is resonating with people and why. Because, once you understand the why, you can get them talking. A lot. This approach has led to famous work— even to regular non-advertising folk.
Like the “Jewel Stool,” a March Madness-inspired barstool that was specially designed for basketball-crazed men recovering at a sports bar after a vasectomy. Or Axe’s Doge Can, the world’s first crypto scent that was tailored specifically to make Dogecoin enthusiasts light up the feeds. He even broke the Internet multiple times with Snoop Dogg and Solo Stove. Making the latter a household name overnight.
He loves capturing everyone’s imagination with crazy ideas people are going to talk about. And helping brands rekindle their connection with consumers to find a sales resurgence with culture-shaping, socially driven campaigns.
Mik lives in Richmond with his wife and two daughters. When he’s not spending time with his family or nuancing culture for brands, you’ll find him outside carefully cultivating a sanctuary for birds, pollinators, and earthworms in his garden. Or recreating Kenji Alt Lopez’s latest culinary creation. Or learning some random 90’s tune on his guitar.