Chris Martin didn’t need a corporate title to understand the value of culture; he was already living it. Now President of 14th and Market, a “multi-platform storytelling brand,” Martin has built his entire career around one philosophy: connect the block to the boardroom, and everything else will follow.
“We like to say multi-platform storytelling brand,” Martin said during our recent interview. “Because it allows us to have flexibility in what the output is… it also just prioritizes how we think and see the world.”
That worldview doesn’t come from textbooks; it’s lived. Growing up in the Bronx, Martin didn’t learn about culture from a classroom; he was born into it, surrounded by music, various languages, and styles that shaped his lens before he even had the words for it.
“I actually figured that out before I even got into the business,” he said. “Coming up in the inner city… being a guy that’s really into culture, really into sports, really into music, you see all of those things.”
His “aha” moment came in the early 2000s when he saw a Reebok commercial featuring Allen Iverson and Jadakiss. “That blew my mind. I was like, ‘Yo, I don’t know what this is or how it got on TV, but I feel like this is my life… Whatever that is, that’s what I want to do.’”
Martin’s instincts led him through roles at agencies like Cornerstone and Translation, working with brands like Nike and McDonald’s.
Along the way, he discovered that “culture could be a professional pathway,” especially after diving into Steve Stoute’s The Tanning of America. The book “talks about how culture spans across a bunch of different ways,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Oh… these are connecting those dots that I’ve been longing for.’”
But it wasn’t just theory—Martin started applying those lessons in real time. “Everything is starting to click,” he shared. “Like you meet the right people, you’re in the right place at the right time. You put in the work, so you’re prepared, and then things just kind of happen around that space.”
That work ethic and cultural fluency would go on to inform what the company now calls the Block to Boardroom method.
“It’s how you make culture and commerce connect,” he explained. “Brands come to people with opportunities. They have something that they really want to do. It’s not going to move without the people who we call the block. The people who are really outside.”
“So I’m naturally bringing that block to any place that I go to. I just happen to be fortunate enough to be in these boardrooms as well.” Martin added.
For Martin, authenticity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the foundation. “People know where authenticity is and is not,” he said. “If we do that the right way, then it’s going to be a great partnership, not only for us and the clients, but also for the consumer, because there’s truth there.”
That mindset proved crucial during his time working on the Famous Orders campaign for McDonald’s. “We would get calls all the time from publicists saying like, ‘Let’s do a deal.’ We had no interest… If you were not an actual fan of the brand, there was nothing really to discuss.”
Instead, they focused on real fans doing real things. “There was an artist who went on live all the time… and one day we saw the brand show up in an authentic way. And it was like, ‘This is a fan.’”
That philosophy, leading with truth and cultural fluency, drives everything at 14th and Market. “We’re consumers first,” Martin said. “We can speak to you from a professional lens, but we can also speak to you from a consumer lens.”
But convincing brands to trust that approach isn’t always easy. “A lot of times we have to convince people about people,” he explained. “They’ll say, ‘How many followers do they have?’ That’s the total wrong conversation. It’s not about followers, it’s about, is there an honest, believable, true story?”
As the leader of a new but ambitious brand, Martin knows building something meaningful takes more than great campaigns; it takes great people. “Build slow,” he advises. “Put the ego to the side and make sure that you have the best people around you… who happen to be excellent at their job.”
Even in this age of digital visibility, Martin says the priority is to show up with substance, not just style. “If we’re not telling our story… that actually helps you be erased,” he said. “You have to do amazing work, but you also got to speak about it at a higher volume.”
Still, he hasn’t lost his humility. “I’ve always wanted to be a behind-the-scenes guy,” he said. “Now we also have to be our own PR people.”
For Martin, that’s a worthy trade-off if it means opening doors for the next generation. “Hopefully we’re inspiring people who are little versions of ourselves,” he said. “To know that this work is possible.”
And the work is just getting started. “We launched a network recently,” Martin shared. “There’s some things that are in progress that I can’t wait for the world to experience.”
Chris Martin isn’t just connecting the block to the boardroom; he’s building a bridge for the culture to walk across and own the table.
Check out the full interview below. Make sure to follow 14th and Market on Instagram.
