Michon Martin has been named CEO of independent agency R&R Partners as longtime leader Billy Vasillidis steps into a chairman role.
Vasillidis had been president, CEO, and majority owner of the Las Vegas-based agency since 1994, when he teamed up with Salt Lake City political consultant Bob Henrie to acquire it.
Martin, meanwhile, joined R&R as president in May 2016 after a brief stint as senior vice president of public affairs and deputy general counsel at Resorts World Las Vegas.
Prior, Martin served as chief counsel to the office of Nevada’s governor and chief deputy attorney general for Nevada, working closely with former Vice President Kamala Harris in the latter role, as well as during her recent presidential campaign.
“It makes no sense at all and all the sense in the world,” Martin told ADWEEK, speaking about her career shift. “As a prosecutor, my job was to establish the facts, understand everything about the situation, choose the right audience—the jury—to listen to those facts and convince them. It’s a very good base to use that skill set for exactly what we do. I dig in and figure out the entirety of whatever the client’s problem is. Understanding what consumers are dealing with is the way to solve problems uniquely.”
During her time at R&R, Martin has helped woo Formula 1, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the Women’s National Basketball Association to Las Vegas.
“About 10 years ago, we were starting to see the next iteration of Vegas,” Martin said. “Vegas has reinvented itself so many times. We had to be unique and do something that no one thought we would ever do,” which is where courting the sports leagues came in.
In her new role, she will continue overseeing creative, digital, and government affairs work and serving clients such as Allegiant Air, Boeing, Brand USA, Discover Puerto Rico, F1, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, and United Parks and Resorts.
“Michon is R&R—she’s remarkable and resilient, and resourceful and relentless,” Vasillidis said. “She embraces the future with unbounded enthusiasm and vision. She fiercely fights for our clients’ success, and with equal ferocity protects all of us she works with and leads. I’m so fortunate to be here with her and for her, as I get to witness the ascension of our industry’s next superstar. Look out world, here comes Michon.”
New era, new look
R&R Partners is marking the transition and its 50th anniversary with the rollout of a new brand identity, including a refreshed logo, as well as updates to its color palette, merchandise, stylebook, and website that incorporates bold colors and fonts.
