People often ask about the name of our company. What does MK3 mean?  What do the letters and number stand for?  What it means is easy to answer.  What it stands for is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, now that our Executive Creative Director Jonathan Markella retired.

Let’s take care of the easy part first. I’m the K in MK3, and my former partner, Adam Marx was the M.  We started the company with three employees, hence the number. An M and a K and 3 more. Cute, right? Two of the three founding team members were younger and quickly moved on. Eventually, my partner did too. But Jonathan stayed. And stayed. And stayed.

MK3 has existed, in one form or another, for nearly 20 years, and Jonathan’s been here for all of them. He’s helped shape who we are, what we do and most importantly, what we stand for. And it’s got me thinking.

We’ve built a strong team over the years, accomplished a lot of what we set out to do, and a few things we never thought we could.  We’re on speed dial with some of the largest brands in the world, we came out of COVID stronger than ever, and we’re succeeding in an innovation industry that changes the rules on a regular basis.  

What did Jonathan bring to the table? You could say he brought the table itself, a foundation of talent that we could build on and around. Creatively, he’s always known what works, has a great eye for design and, most importantly, a skill for writing. Jonathan was also an enthusiastic teacher and mentor, and is leaving a great legacy.

So what does MK3 stand for?  Thanks in no small part to Jonathan, we stand for our clients and the pursuit of creative work.  We work hard and believe in transparency, collaboration, efficiency and communication. We know most people think creative work is fun, but we take our jobs (not ourselves) very seriously.

Nothing in life stays the same,  but it’s times like these that clarify where we’ve been.  MK3 will continue to grow, adapt, and flourish as we always have, but we will miss Jonathan. My father taught me a valuable lesson when I was young, and that is: “everyone is replaceable and will be replaced at some point.” So MK3 will be a little different, but we’re excited about what lies ahead and embracing the ever-changing advertising world.

But “different” at MK3 has always turned out better. Jonathan – we wish you everything you want in retirement, and I know we will talk early and often.

What MK3 stands for by Joel Kaplan