“Advertising Is an Industry That Believes the Future Can Be Better than the Past”
Having been promoted to global CEO at MullenLowe Group in November 2022, CEO of The Martin Agency, Kristen Cavallo oversees 20 offices in 13 countries, across the world’s top commercial markets with major hubs in the US, London, Mumbai, Singapore and Bogota.
Kristen started her career at Mullen in 1994, when the agency consisted of one office in Wenham, Massachusetts. She moved to The Martin Agency in 1998 and rose through the strategy and new business ranks. As director of business development, Kristen helped to double Martin’s billings and the shop was named Adweek’s 2010 Agency of the Year. She then moved back to Mullen in 2011 as chief strategy officer and was promoted to president of the Boston headquarters office in 2014.
In this interview with LBB, Kristen shares her vision to unite MullenLowe Group’s international creative networks and lead with fairness, candour and energy at the place where she first fell in love with advertising.
LBB> Having started your career at Mullen, rejoined in 2011 and then returned as Global CEO of MullenLowe Group in November 2022, you must have a deep understanding of the company and its mission. Tell us about the recent move and relationship with MullenLowe.
Kristen> Mullen was where I fell in love with advertising. It is also where I changed my mind about becoming a CEO. It was never an aspiration - I was too transparent, too spontaneous, too change-oriented, with a bit of a salty mouth - essentially, not polished enough. But I saw my potential differently here. While many of my career highlights happened at Martin, I felt the most like myself at MullenLowe. The word that summarises my chapters here: liberation.
LBB> Before this, what have been some of your career highlights?
Kristen> Falling into advertising was like winning the jackpot without standing in line for a ticket. I loved being a strategist on the “Drivers Wanted” campaign for VW; surprising people with the “the world’s toughest job” for American Greetings; having a truly flexible work schedule ten years before the industry embraced it; establishing pay equity; most especially, overcoming odds the last five years at Martin. I’m a glass-half-full girl, and I feel fortunate.
LBB> You, and the companies you have worked for, have been celebrated with many awards and recognitions. In your personal experience, what qualities make for a good leader and how is this instrumental for an organisation's overall success/growth?
Kristen> It’s the responsibility of leadership to set the pace. I live my life a bit like a woman out of time. Not out of fear, but out of desire. I want to accomplish a lot in my life, and with my life.
LBB> You mention that you want ‘to create impactful ideas that are memorable and effective’. How do you achieve this in today’s fast moving and complicated market?
Kristen> That’s the big question, isn’t it? The world moves faster, media channels proliferate, consumers are more complicated, and stereotyping them more dangerous. A company can change a price or RTB but that won’t automatically change consumer behaviour. Most people are too busy living their own lives to notice what you do to your product. That’s what advertising is for - to make sure brands and companies get the visibility they deserve. Advertising is like R&D - an investment in your consumer, your brand and your products - not an expense. Successful clients know this.
Memorable ideas are more effective: they boost conversation about your brand and products, and that conversation is statistically a predictor of sales. Talk literally lifts sales.
LBB> You have a background in strategic planning - how do you bring this knowledge and experience to your role as CEO?
Kristen> I think of the agency as a brand, and myself as its strategic planner. My job is to position the agency to matter, and to ensure our employees and clients know why.
LBB> As global CEO, what are your ideas for bringing together different regions and how they operate together?
Kristen> By gathering all offices around a common positioning. Right now we operate more like a federation of independent states. I want to unite us. When MullenLowe Singapore is named Agency of the Year (and Digital Agency of the Year), or Lowe Lintas India earns a bunch of Effies for marketing effectiveness, or LOLA MullenLowe in Madrid crafts inspiring breakthrough work, I want the whole network to benefit and feel the impact.
LBB> What are your personal values that you would like to instil into MullenLowe and why?
Kristen> I joined MullenLowe, I didn’t create it. I chose it because the values of the company aligned with my own. As a place, it identifies as a challenger, a dark horse. I remember one year we ended up as number four on an industry list of Top 10. We celebrated with t-shirts for the whole staff!
What I love most about this industry is that every year I have to play for my position. I carry that hope and a small chip on my shoulder, lol. So does this agency. What my employees and clients can expect from me is fairness, candour and energy. I want to upend the playing field in their favour.
LBB> Looking ahead, what is your vision for 2023 at MullenLowe?
Kristen> Advertising is an industry that believes the future can be better than the past. It’s the heart of every brief. We aren’t hired to lose share or devalue a brand, company or consumer. We are hired to exchange what’s probable for what’s possible. My vision for the agency, as well as our clients, is that they feel that. I want them to feel momentum.
LBB> Any industry trends you’re keeping an eye on?
Kristen> Haha – of course. I’m a strategist :)
