About Martin M. Cooper

About me

Martin Cooper is a marketing professional with extensive experience in marketing, strategic planning, crisis communications, public relations, promotions, crisis management and communications. Since1982, he has represented corporate, governmental, healthcare, and nonprofit clients from entrepreneurial firms to Fortune 500 corporations, including: the Burbank Bob Hope Airport, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, City of Santa Barbara, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Times, Mattel Toys, Merrill Lynch, the Sultan of Brunei, and many more. Prior to establishing Cooper Communications, Cooper was Senior Vice President-Marketing and Communications for Playboy Enterprises, Inc., reporting to Hugh Hefner, responsible for corporate and investor relations, marketing, advertising, merchandising, promotion, and public relations. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of one of the nation’s largest public relations firms, supervising programs for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and its Academy Awards; the Pasadena Tournament of Roses; and Mattel Toys. Prior to that, Cooper was Director of Marketing for Universal Studios’ Recreation Division and previously, Disneyland’s Advertising and Promotion Manager. A frequent speaker before professional, management and civic groups nationally and internationally, Cooper has authored three books: one on the Academy Awards, a second on the San Fernando Valley (North of Mulholland), and a third on crisis management and communications. He is currently working on his fourth book, a history of the San Fernando Valley from 1946-1970. He has also written chapters in several books on marketing and contributed more than 50 articles to various publications. He has supervised numerous programs that have been recognized by his professional peers, and received his profession’s highest award, the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil. In 1996, the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-LA) honored Cooper with its Outstanding Professional Award, bestowed for lifetime achievement in his profession, and in 1997 he was awarded its Community Service Award for his civic and philanthropic activities. Cooper has also been honored by more than 20 other professional organizations for his professional, civic, and philanthropic activities. Among his honors are the Harmon Ballin Community Service Award from the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA); VICA’s Volunteer of the Year Award; and Businessperson of the Year from the Encino Chamber of Commerce. In 2013, Cooper was a finalist for the Fernando Award. Cooper is currently Past President and a current member of the City of Los Angeles Quality and Productivity Commission; Chairman of the Board of Governors of the VICA; Vice Chairman of the Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley; and an Honorary Fellow of the Harry Truman Library Institute. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Valley Economic Alliance, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the California State Senate Valley Advisory Council, and of the Director’s Council of UCLA’s William Andrews Clark Library. Cooper was President of the Encino Chamber of Commerce; President of PRSA-LA; Chairman of the Board of VICA; and Chairman of the Western Region of American Friends of Magen David Adom, Israel’s Red Cross Society. He has been a member of the California State Senate Small Business Advisory Commission, the Board of the San Fernando Valley Unit of the American Cancer Society, the Van Nuys Airport Citizens Advisory Council, and of the City of Los Angeles Business Retention and Attraction Task Force. He teaches marketing, strategic planning, crisis management, and public relations at UCLA Extension and was named the UCLA Extension Distinguished Instructor of the Year for 2010. He lectures on marketing, business development, and crisis management nationally and internationally, including seminars on in New York, Toronto, London, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Caracas, and Bogota. Cooper is a graduate of UCLA, where he was editor of the Daily Bruin. He has also studied at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in the U.K.