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Danny ROBINSON
Group CD | THE MARTIN AGENCY
Danny Robinson is a creative with an MBA. He is the cofounder of Vigilante, best known as the agency that orchestrated the Oprah Winfrey car giveaway. He wrote ads for Jay Z’s, Samuel L. Jackson’s and Stuart Scott’s first commercials. He was the creative leader and writer behind award-winning campaigns for Sprint, Major League Baseball, Pontiac, Snapple and Heineken. He was once voted by the Stand Up NY comedy club as “one of the funniest men in advertising.” He was The Martin Agency's lead creative director on the biggest new business win in the company's history — Walmart — and is currently a group creative director on Tic Tac, Hanes and Chevrolet.
questionnaire
What was your very first job?
My first job in advertising was as a writer for the Guild Group, a small agency in Pleasantville, NY.
Please describe, in your own words, what your job is and what work it entails.
I’m part Rodin (I help shape ideas), part Tony Robbins (I have to keep teams motivated), and part Blake (I must “always be selling”). For the record, I’m not as good as any of the above.
How and when did you discover that the creative world was right for you? Tell us how you got to where you are today.
I started my career as a product manager. I sucked at it, except when it came to managing the advertising. I finished a spec book, then went in search of an entry-level job (you could do that back then). I worked for relatively small agencies for a decade. Started my own agency in 1998 — Vigilante — then, in 2004, was recruited by the late, great Mike Hughes to work at The Martin Agency. And, here I sit.
In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how do you find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant?
There is inspiration everywhere: film, music, television, books and in every corner of the web. I also lean heavily on the young people at our agency to help keep me current.
If you had to pick one piece of work or project that you are most proud of, more for the creative work and innovation it required rather than its recognition or industry “success,” what would it be?
I led a team that created the Chevrolet Positivity Pump: interactive gas pumps that took Twitter and Facebook posts as payment. Using IBM Watson, the pumps analyzed drivers’ posts and determined which were positive. The more positive the posts, the more fuel they got. The pump also analyzed the posts to determine each driver’s interests and delivered receipts with suggestions for nearby events in which they could engage. The most positive drivers were given receipts with invitations for life-changing experiences.
