Very sad news in adland this morning. The Martin Agency President Mike Hughes died Sunday at age 65 after a battle with lung cancer. He was diagnosed 16 years ago. Hughes, who joined The Martin Agency in 1978, was instrumental in transforming the agency from a local shop to an agency in the national spotlight.
Speaking to the Richmond Times-Dispatch about Hughes, Crispin Porter + Bogusky President Jeff Steinhour said,”The Martin Agency is and has been one of the finest creative agencies in the country, and much of its prowess was delivered by Mike’s will to make them great. I had the opportunity to compete against Mike over the years and he was a cagy and wise agency boss whose zeal for this tough business never left him — even after he had achieved so much.”
Hughes was open about his situation and he launched a blog, Unfinished Thinking, to openly share his experience with cancer. He even wrote his own obituary which appears on the blog today.
In that final post, Hughes left his agency with heartfelt thought, writing, “I’m proud to have been one of the hundreds of people who put The Martin Agency on the map. We owe a lot to our clients and stockholders, of course, but no one gets in this line in front of the men and women who earned their paychecks doing things a little group in Richmond, Virginia, wasn’t supposed to be able to do. I can’t begin to list the account, planning, media, design, tech, administration, finance and business partners who have done the work for which I’ve been given so much credit. I hope they know how much I’ve needed them and how much I’ve loved them. I can’t remember the first time I said “I do work I love with people I love,” but I know I’ve said it thousands of times. Every word is true.”
