David Martin is taking his name off the shingle.
The chairman and CEO of Martin-Wilbourn Partners is leading the Little Rock communications firm into a new era as Allegiance, determined to expand his reputation management, crisis response and business development specialties for a worldwide market.
Martin didn’t directly address reports that he is buying out firm co-founder Randy Wilbourn, a former Alltel executive, but he said Wilbourn “continues to retain an interest and provides counsel to clients on an ongoing basis.”
Martin confirmed the name change and employment structure changes at the firm last week, telling Arkansas Business that “Allegiance” mirrors the agency’s commitment to clients. “When you go into crisis management with clients, you’ve got to hang in there with them. Stuff is still going to hit the fan, but you’re there with them, working through it to the end.”
The restructuring means that virtually all the staff will now be contract workers as the firm hopes to expand on business in Taiwan with more than 100 “seasoned advisers” in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Several marketing and communications firms in Little Rock reported fielding resumes from Martin-Wilbourn employees recently, but Martin said “really only two employees decided not to make the transition.” He said the firm previously had “about 10 full-time equivalents, including consultants, a few full-time employees and contract workers. That really hasn’t changed much.”
Relying on contractors “reflects the changing nature of the business” of managing and protecting corporate reputations, Martin said. “It’s not every employee, but in this kind of arrangement, most of the people are independent contractors.”
Staying on West Capitol
The firm, founded in 2010 after Martin and several colleagues left CJRW, will remain at 303 W. Capitol Ave. downtown, and it will continue to serve “many local clients,” Martin said. But the growing global focus is based on “a growing recognition that deepening relationships with customers and communities” is the key to enhancing corporate reputations. Wilbourn will stay on as a senior adviser to Allegiance clients.
“We’ve done a lot of work over the years internationally and built some great relationships, and that’s been the foundation” for the three-continent approach, Martin said. The expanded team of consultants includes a “former VP of global investor relations for a Fortune 100 company, a former United States ambassador “attuned to the role of diplomacy that crosses all barriers,” and a former top adviser to the president of a foreign country, Martin said.
The former ambassador is Chuck Larson, a former Iowa lawmaker who was the chief American diplomat in Latvia from 2007 to 2009. Larson was listed as a member of Allegiance’s U.S. team in a promotional booklet Martin produced last year. Familiar Arkansas names on the list included Fitz Hill of Little Rock, Ancil Lea of Conway and Richard McKeown, a former senior vice president and director of public relations at CJRW.
“I’ve got former top cyber security people, former immediate past White House officials, attorneys, leading PR folks and an extremely experienced media research guy. We’ve got economic development people, executive search leaders, and IT experts in emerging technology and data visualization,” Martin said. The slogan on the booklet’s cover is “Worry Less. Achieve More.”
The goal is a research-driven approach that improves clients’ bottom lines by “defining, enhancing, protecting and leveraging” corporate reputations, he said. “The needs of modern business have changed rapidly, and CEOs don’t really know where to turn for this kind of help. It’s not part of their core training in finance, accounting or engineering.”
Martin said that in today’s world, “a single event or incident can severely damage” a company or organization. “Companies that haven’t made reputation management an intentional and ongoing priority… are at risk.”
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