TMG.25: How Martin has grown from underdog to difference maker – The Martin Group
Not many people have had a better seat to watch The Martin Group’s ongoing evolution than Chief Operating Officer Lisa Bellacicco.
A pillar of the company’s rapid growth since 2005, she’s played a critical role throughout nearly every major milestone of the agency. From office moves to client management to assembling an award-winning team of creatives and communication professionals, she’s seen it all—but knows there’s a lot to look forward to.
As The Martin Group celebrates its 25th anniversary, we connected with Lisa to discuss the agency’s roots, evolution, and ethos; its growth across local and global markets; and why embracing the unknown continues to make all the difference.
When you think back to the earliest days of The Martin Group, what are some characteristics that personified the agency’s work, ethics, and ethos?
Lisa Bellacicco: An underdog mentality. When we first started, we were a very small but highly capable group of individuals, with a strong creative mindset and focused on earning our stripes. We didn’t take any client relationship or project for granted. We always wanted to overserve, to go above and beyond, and have a positive impact.
Early on, we had some experiences that really tested us. We weren’t always working in spaces that were comfortable, but we were fortunate to have strong client relationships, and these clients felt comfortable enough to trust us with big responsibility. New opportunities and things that we hadn’t done before didn’t scare us away. If anything, they motivated us—and still do today. When we’re taking on a new challenge, I’ll find myself saying, “Well, this isn’t going to be the thing that we can’t figure out.” We’ll figure it out.
We always figure it out.
Do you remember a specific moment from those early days when you thought—either individually or collectively with colleagues—the agency was maturing into a formidable entity in WNY? If so, tell me about it.
LB: When we started working with Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2005. We were one of the only local agencies working with a national consumer brand of that caliber. You couldn’t get that experience at any other agency, and that work in our portfolio elevated the perception of our brand for our Martin Group clients and associates.
That client brought a lot of new opportunities and challenges to our team and was super rewarding work, but it was also really fun work. It’s work that you got to see when you walked into a Dick’s location or when you got a piece of communication from them in the mail. That was work that had our fingerprints on it, in a whole other arena of marketing communications we hadn’t entered before. But again, we were figuring out a lot of stuff on the fly with a smart group of people, talented designers, and intensely engaged individuals who were like, “This is super fun, so let’s figure it out.”
It was really rewarding work; and for me personally, it was another turning moment for the agency where we showed ourselves to be a little bit different than the rest.
Can you take me back to the decision to purchase and move into the 620 Main St. headquarters? How and why was the decision made, and what did leadership hope it meant for the agency?
LB: To understand why that decision was made [in 2017], you have to understand what our physical space has always meant to the agency. It’s always been an outward expression of who we are as a brand and where we’re at in the company’s growth.
When Tod [Martin] first started The Martin Group, he was one of two people at a couple of desks and computers, working out of an accounting office in the Tony Walker Center in Williamsville. It wasn’t the agency’s space; it wasn’t Tod’s space. It was just a place where he carved out space to work with some pretty significant clients in our area, like Greater Buffalo Savings Bank, Tuxedo Junction, and more. But Tod always saw the company being downtown, settled in the mix of it all. That matched his energy, brand, and vision for the company a little bit more.
Eventually, there was an opportunity to operate inside Greater Buffalo Savings Bank, and we worked out of that space for several years. Then, through our client relationship with New Era, they invited us in, allowing us to expand the parameters of our partnership, which was pretty unique among other agencies in the region. But throughout our time inside the New Era headquarters, it still wasn’t our space. It still wasn’t The Martin Group.
Then, we had an opportunity to get to Main Street, which was starting its still-ongoing revitalization. Tod ended up purchasing a building at 477 Main in 2008, which gave us the opportunity to actually have a space that we called our own. That was unique and different for all of us. For the first time, it provided the chance to define who we were not just because of the clients that we had, but as an organization investing in our own brand, investing in our employees, and creating a space where people could do great work.
When the opportunity at 620 Main came to be, we were bursting at the seams. We had outgrown the 477 Main space, with different departments in separate annexes of the building. The way it was built out, we couldn’t all fit in the same one or two floors, and it wasn’t conducive to becoming the integrated agency we are today. The 620 space was probably more than we needed at the time, but once we moved in, it allowed us to be within the same building, same floors, working together and meeting together.
And maybe most importantly, it gave us the room we needed to grow.
Did the move change the perception or perceived potential of the agency (locally or nationally) in any way? If so, tell me about it.
LB: I think it reaffirmed to our clients that we’re here to stay, that we take this business very seriously.
For our associates who had been with us through various moves, it sent a similar message. That we were reinvesting in them and making their experience a better one. I remember when we were actually in the process of interviewing Dan Giacomini and Kate Chokshi, they started the interview process at our 477 Main Street office, then were walked down the few blocks to our eventual 620 location. It was like night and day.
I think they were impressed, just as our other associates were like, “Wow, okay, like it really was a drastic difference for us, but in all good ways.” It’s a space we’re very proud of, and I think it’s going to continue to let us grow as we evolve.
Speaking of growing, how is The Martin Group now positioned for future growth, and in what verticals, departments, or capabilities do you see the most intriguing possibilities in the years ahead?
LB: First and foremost, we have a solid infrastructure in place that we’re going to continue to be able to evolve and scale from. We have a strong leadership team, and our subject matter experts are second to none. We have a consistent workflow, a diverse client portfolio, and are already using a lot of the best available technology.
With all of these foundational pieces in place, I think we’re very well positioned for growth. Our sports, food and beverage, and healthcare verticals are always going to be primed for ongoing growth, but I think we’re going to have a lot of firsts simply because we’re open to it. That’s kind of the theme to this conversation. Since we started as an agency, we’ve never known exactly where we were going to end up, but we’ve always been open to trying something new and something different—so there will be more of that.
Acquisitions have always been an important part of our growth strategy. Now that we have a presence in Florida, I think there’s a lot of new considerations that we can be open to talking about, which I think is really exciting. I mentioned technology earlier, that as an agency, our tech story is always evolving—and it has to. We’re a business that needs to maintain relevancy, be competitive, support our staff, and support our clients.
But as we evolve, our changes must be informed by what we can do to better service our clients and make smart, informed decisions for our clients and business. Investing in technology that allows us to bring more services in house and customize those deliverables for our clients is what we’re interested in, and thankfully, already investing in.
When you look back at the development of the agency, what gives you the most pride and satisfaction?
LB: I’ve been here for more than 20 years, so I think this question today has a different answer than it would have been five years ago—or even five years before that.
But right now, it comes down to two things. First, when I look back at the development of the agency, I now know that we can compete in really big moments with really big agencies. And not just compete—we can win. Second, we’ve been so fortunate to have employees celebrate milestone anniversaries with us. People have even retired from here, and I love that individuals have space here to grow and evolve.
Sometimes, an individual can chart an undefined path. But then, they sort of see it, and there’s room to explore that direction here. I wouldn’t have been able to have such a fulfilling career at the agency without this freedom. When I first started, I was hired as an account executive. I remember asking Tod, “Do you have a job description?” and he was like, “No, but you can write your own job description.”
As someone who was a little bit younger in their career, maybe that was a little unsettling in the moment. In hindsight, though, it was an incredible opportunity. Throughout my entire career here, if I saw a gap that I thought I could fill, if I saw something that I could contribute or a way I could have an impact, I always had the space to pursue it. Tod gave me the space to be able to do that. Today, others across the agency have an opportunity to use their strengths to have a real and noticeable impact.
If you could close your eyes and position yourself 25 years from today, where do you want this agency to be—and what would you like it to represent for its employees and communities?
LB: I’d like The Martin Group to represent—for its the employees and its communities—the values it started with and still operates with today. I want our team to still love what we do and care about how we get it done. I want them to stay engaged with one another, our clients, and our communities in meaningful ways; be creative problem solvers for our clients; and feel pride in being a part of our clients’ success. I think those things are what center us and place the agency where I want the agency to be.
But these have always been tough questions for me. What’s the vision? Where do you want to be? Where do you guys see yourselves in five years? What I can say is, as an agency, we’ve never been complacent. We stay open to the idea of what’s next, and when you’re open to new, different possibilities, different perspectives, I think that attracts new opportunities.
And while there’s certainly a lot of intention in what we do, the other part of our success has just been being open and not feeling like we’ve reached our max potential. 25 years from now, I don’t want the agency and the people who are here to feel like they’ve reached their potential. Keep going. What’s next? Figure it out—because there’s always more. Enjoy doing all of that; enjoy being part of that.
These types of unknowns can be scary for some organizations or some people. But at The Martin Group, we’ve spent more than two decades getting comfortable in that gray. It’s required courage, but it’s built character. And it’s always helped take us to the next level.
To learn more about our work at The Martin Group, click here.
