Jack Martin
Global Chair and CEO
For more than 20 years, Martin has devoted his time and energy to managing large client relationships.
Jack Martin became global chairman and CEO of Hill+Knowlton Strategies on Jan. 1, 2011, upon its merger with the firm he founded, Public Strategies, Inc. He set the bar high: To make H+K Strategies an unparalleled global source for strategic guidance and creative solutions for industry leaders whose audiences cross national, geographic and cultural borders.
To strengthen that tradition of client service, Martin has reorganized the management structure and leadership team, creating vice chair of global client service and talent posts by promoting proven leaders from within H+K Strategies and recruiting new talent from outside.
His "Fifth Seat" philosophy, developed at Public Strategies to great success, holds that board rooms and CEOs routinely rely on four key advisors when making critical strategic decisions: legal counsel, bankers, accountants and management consultants. But there should be a fifth seat focused on the public and occupied by an advisor skilled in advancing and defending the client's reputation—its most valuable asset and a driver, for better or worse, of the client’s bottom line. Martin's approach expands the typical concept of "the public" to include employees, stockholders, community and political leaders, government agencies and the media, as well as the traditional customers and consumers.
Prior to leading H+K Strategies, Martin was founding chairman of Public Strategies, Inc., which was acquired by WPP of London in 2006 and merged with Hill & Knowlton in 2010. Martin founded Public Strategies in 1988 and directed the rapid growth of the firm. He built a strong senior management team with impressive corporate and public experience as he focused on strategic counsel at the board and executive levels for the firm's Fortune 500 clients.
For over 20 years, Martin has devoted his time and energy to managing large client relationships involving numerous and complex business transactions around the world. He has personally managed the communications, government affairs and brand and investor relations strategy for leaders at some of the world's largest corporations.
Martin's career has been significantly shaped by his association with his long-time friend and mentor, the late U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, beginning with his first job as a travel aide at the age of 21 and serving as executive assistant in the U.S. Senate and as campaign manager to two of Bentsen's re-election campaigns.
Martin serves on the board of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
To contact Martin, please call 512-432-1752 or send an email to chairman@hkstrategies.com