Clan of the Caveman

Hughes points to the agency's work for GEICO to illustrate how powerful that combination can be. "It may look like a branding campaign, but it's really direct-response TV," he says. "GEICO was not about to wait a couple of years for a brand campaign to take hold," Bassett adds. "We're measured on inquiries. And they check inquiries over there, well, every minute."

The results have been astonishing: "Of the four significant players in our industry, State Farm, Allstate, and Progressive, we're the only one that's growing double digits," says Ward, the GEICO marketing VP. "We've quadrupled the size of the company in nine years. Outside of our being technologically efficient, advertising is the most significant contributor to our growth."

"Direct response" are words a Wal-Mart CEO can relate to. And it seems a safe bet that it was numbers like GEICO's--not the misunderstood cavemen or lovelorn lizard--that made the Bentonville brigade take notice. After all, its initial agency choice, DraftFCB, made its reputation in direct mail. So when l'affaire Roehm blew up in its faces, Martin, with a similar granular discipline, became the natural replacement.

The question now is whether Martin's special vibe can survive the onslaught of a juggernaut like Wal-Mart. With the agency hiring some four-dozen new people, rejiggering offices, and ramping up creative teams, even Wal-Mart had to wonder. Before it awarded the account, the retailer called CEO Adams with one question: "Are you afraid of what we might do to you?"

"Its biggest challenge with a behemoth like Wal-Mart will be to do work that doesn't suck," says Greg Stern, CEO of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners in Sausalito, California, who knows what it's like to win high-profile accounts including Mini, Priceline, and Greyhound Lines. He predicts Martin can meet the challenge, but warns that the nature of the category (retail), the client, and the high visibility of the product will combine to create enormous pressure.

"I hope Martin can manage the account in a way that lets them grow and retain what's special about the place," says Rob Walker, the former president of Fallon, "without turning them into another big, faceless agency."

Of course, Hughes and company know how to avoid that trap: Just make like a Neanderthal--and keep evolving. 

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