John Adams

Chairman & CEO

The Martin Agency

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading “The Best Magazine Writing of 2010.”

What person has been the biggest influence on your career?

The biggest influence on my career was Don Just, former CEO of The Martin Agency.

What brand do you admire the most, past or present?

The brand I admire most is Hermes.

If you could have dinner with one person, living or dead, who would it be?

I’d most like to have dinner with my wife. Any day, every day.

What’s your go-to late night snack?

My go-to late-night snack food is popcorn. Orville’s plain white popcorn cooked with vegetable oil in a slow-stir popper.

John Adams has spent 35 years at The Martin Agency – AdWeek’s Agency of the Year for 2010. John plays a key role in the agency’s work with such brands as GEICO, Pizza Hut, Walmart, Hanes, Discover Financial, BFGoodrich and Tylenol.

In 1997, John became one of a handful of advertising people to be inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. Additionally, he and his partner, Mike Hughes, were named Outstanding Industrialists of the Year in 2000.

John serves on the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and is rector of the Board of Visitors at Longwood University. He has also served on the boards of the American Cancer Society, the Salvation Army, Boy Scouts of America and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He lectures on marketing and business issues throughout the United States.

John’s greatest loves are his wife, Bunny and their three wonderful sons. He and Bunny live in Richmond, Virginia.