copywriter / creative director / ecd / purveyor of fine foods*
*three truths and a lie. I don’t purvey anything.
Hey. I’m an executive creative director at The Martin Agency where I oversee GEICO, Old Navy, Axe, Chobani, LegalShield, Terminix, Carmax, and Science Moms, plus whatever else comes my way. It’s been said I like to run toward problems, not away from them. Perhaps this, in and of itself, is a problem.
Portland based
New York grown
Texas bred
here are some things i like in no particular order. talking about queso a lot. MCU. overly priced denim. Stranger Things. record collecting. Goodwill Industries. coke classic. brass tchotchkes. peewee’s playhouse. you.
some things
i’ve ecd’d
along the way
LegalShield
Some laws are stupid. Like really stupid. In this campaign you’ll see just how stupid they can get. Good thing there’s LegalShield.
Role - ECD
See more here.
TERMINIX - THE ONLY WAY TO NIX IT
Show me your finest bug account, good sir!
(It’s the ones you least expect that lead you to your funniest work I’ve noticed.)
Role - ECD
THE GEICO THINGS
Is GEICO god’s gift to advertising? I didn’t say it. #blessed to have a whole talented team of creative minds making fun stuff on the daily for America’s Favorite brand.
I’m just happy to get to hold the APPROVED stamp on greats like this one.
Role - ECD
Explore more GEICO here.
SCIENCE MOMS
To slow down the inevitable destruction of our planet, we made something funny. Never underestimate the power of comedy to distract us from the ugly truth.
Role - ECD
OLD NAVY WRITTEN BY THE INTERNET
Old Navy has always stood for access. We were in the concepting stages of the next big campaign when the team shared a Tik Tok with me in which a 16-year-old lit up the internet with speculation that a song he was playing was going to be the next big Old Navy spot. The comment section went crazy providing stage direction for us, complete with “Dads. Dancing. Everywhere".” and “slo-mo family jumping in the air.”
There’s your spot, I said.
The internet doth provide.
Role - ECD
AXE
Increased brand affinity with Gen Z audience like a hella lot, bruh.
Role - ECD
CHOBANI OAT MILK
Oat milk - weird and hard to find.
But not anymore. Thanks to Chobani, now it’s delicious and everywhere!
We made dozens of spots, including 30s, 15s, and the best six second commercials I’ve ever been a part of making. Then, to prove a point, ran them everywhere.
Role - ECD
some things
i’ve cd’d
and/or cw’d
the fellas needed an intervention.
No dogs were harmed.
She was viral…when viral wasn’t cool.
I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for these candy ads.
This spot is entirely in French. At first glance it feels like one thing. But in actually it’s something entirely different. We ran it without subtitles on the Grammy’s and people raced to the internet seeking answers.
No actors were harmed.
We needed to appeal to women so we flipped the script and told stories where they were the heroes.
We created a giant obstacle course filled with foam (to launch a foam body wash,) where 22 people competed for one crown. Millions of people watched.
We created a “not so distant” future where Gamers are considered peak humanity. This is the first of many in an ongoing campaign.
Perhaps the easiest thing i’ve ever written were these clichés.
Appealing to women with humor? What? No. Women don’t like to laugh. Don’t be dumb.
Why yes. That is Randall Park and Timothy Simons before they were famous.
To launch invisible spray deodorant, we wrote and made a two hour full length (invisible) feature movie. This was a stupid, act of love.
We created giant sticks of deodorant to mop up sweat during time outs.
We created a giant animatronic squid that fans could control on Twitch over the course of three days, culminating in the marriage of a squid and a human on day 3. Millions tuned in.
When it comes to the Skittles brand, I literally wrote the book.
(click the rainbow.)
Deep cuts for anyone who has made it this deep in the cuts.
We made VR rigs to allow some folks with MS to relive their passions once again.
I did lots of Facebook before Facebook was meta.
keep scrolling for a list of people
i’ve called boss
gerry graf, john hunt, dan wieden, jason bagley, eric silver, susan hoffman, greg hahn, tony granger, mark fitzloff, danny robinson, eric baldwin, luke sullivan.
want my bio? well you asked for it so here it is…
Ashley Marshall has been an ECD at The Martin Agency for over two years, where she has lead teams to make some of the most talked about work for brands, including Axe, Old Navy, Carmax and GEICO.
Previously she held the position of creative director at Wieden + Kennedy, where she lead teams to create iconic work for Old Spice, Samsung, Facebook, Herbal Essences and Secret.
Her career began as a copywriter at Chiat Day in 2002, where she helped create the still running Blank the Rainbow campaign for Skittles.
Her work has been recognized by One Show, One Show Interactive, London International, Andy Awards, D&AD, Cannes Lions, Clios, Facebook Studio Awards, Web’s Art Directors Club, Local ADDY and National ADDY Awards and she was a 2022 recipient of Campaign Magazine’s Female Frontier Award.
She graduated from The University of North Texas in 2000 and Creative Circus in 2002 and believes strongly in the power of strategic insights + creativity to solve our biggest business challenges with work that gets talked about.
Read more of my thoughts on PeeWee Herman and creative paralysis here.