Meet The A Team
StartsWithA (SWA) is lead by integrated marketing expert, Amy Faulkner, and award winning creative strategist, Alex Marshall.
Originating from London and now based in Sydney, SWA was formed in 2016 after we left the in-house agency life to work directly with selected clients, business owners and partners on a predominantly consultative basis.
Our clients refer to us as “The A Team” as we are the team they call to work on their most important communication challenges. We manage every project personally which means our clients get 100% accountability at all times.
Amy Faulkner
Managing Director
Hi, I’m Amy.
My story begins in the north of the UK as a teenager with an interest in english language and advertising. I had no idea that marketing agencies were even a “thing” back then but I knew I needed to know more and this lead me into a marketing degree (that I passed with a first, woop).
My first taste of the real world was in PR: cutting my teeth at fashion icon, Hugo Boss London, before moving to a role at Lexis PR. I was put on the Barclays Premier League account which felt like a dream come true for a football fan from the North East of England. An early highlight was being responsible for taking the Barclays Premier league trophy up Primrose hill for a photoshoot. The pictures were all over the morning papers and the coverage was priceless.
While PR was exciting, I was mindful that (at the time) PR was a single discipline – predominantly focused on getting coverage in print or online magazines (this was before social media). With this in mind I looked to broaden my knowledge by moving into more classic advertising, with a role at Ogilvy. As a leading agency, Ogilvy exposed me to a broad range of clients and I learnt the ropes on big marketing projects and agency life.
In the years that passed from there, I have worked in accounts roles across countless agencies (large and small) across PR, Advertising, Creative and Experiential and I’ve been responsible for projects for brands of all sizes across Europe and Australia.
I’ve seen the best of agency life….and the worst.
I recall in one of my appraisals at a large ad agency that I won’t name, my manager saying I was “bullish” and when I asked for examples he struggled to find any examples, just saying he didn’t like that I “answered back”. I have always worked to the philosophy that “if you ask me a question I’ll give you an answer” and that straight talking is more important than sugar coating. As the only girl on the team, my style ruffled some of the feathers of the old guard. I guess I was always destined to launch my own business.
With StartsWithA, I didn’t want to create just another agency just like the ones I had left. I wanted to create something a bit different, taking all the best parts and removing the rubbish.
That means no pointless meetings, no bloated budgets, no egos, no internal politics, no oldskool structures, no projects that aren’t right for us, no gender divide, no doing it this way because that’s how we’ve always done it, no silos, no bullsh*t.
Creating my own business allows me to bring the best of marketing and advertising to clients who really want to do brilliant work.
but for god’s sake, don’t call me a suit.
Something you may not know about Amy
I’m an avid stand up paddle boarder. You can find me most mornings out on the water in Sydney harbour at sunrise!
Alex Marshall
Director - Creative & Strategy
Hi, I’m Alex.
As with many of my generation, I grew up during the dawn of the modern internet, first getting a computer when I was about ten years old. Suddenly empowered by unlimited access to the collective knowledge of the world, I set about learning everything I was interested in: design, animation, music production and game development.
Coding and design went hand in hand for me so it wasn’t long before I was creating my own websites, music videos, computer games and apps in my bedroom that were being used/seen by millions of people across the world. This became my first job as I started working with businesses to set up their brand identity, websites and online marketing strategies. Over 8 years, my clients and reputation got bigger until I was producing creative work for the likes of MTV, Atlantic Records and Warner Music.
Around 2007, I was invited to come in-house and take on the role of Head of Creative & Production at Warner Music International, London. My blended skills in strategy, creative and development made me a natural fit to manage cross-functional creative and production teams. I was lucky enough to work on all sorts of fun projects early in my career for prominent music brands such as Phil Collins, Deftones, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jason Derulo, Ed Sheeran, Jay-Z and Wiz Khalifa. I then spent a number of years moving around other Creative Lead roles in London where I worked on campaigns for global brands such as BMW, Heineken, Playstation, Google, Apple, Activision, Bacardi, Microsoft, Xbox, Audi, Bose, Bang & Olufsen.
In 2013, like many burnt out Londoners before me, I headed to Australia in search of sunshine and better work life balance. I took on a Head of Creative & Strategy role at an independent creative agency in Sydney where I worked on campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the region: Japan National Tourism Organisation, Tourism Fiji, Keystone, Changi Airport Singapore, ANZ Stadium, Amnesty International, Cancer Council.
I joined forces with Amy to become the second part of The A Team in 2017.
I’m passionate about branding without the bullsh*t and I do regular talks on the subject for the business communities in Sydney.
Highlights
- Multi award winning creative (3 x Webbys, 2 x W3 awards, 4 x Davy Awards, iAB Creative Showcase, Communicator Award, Transform Award)
- Public speaker (on brand strategy) @ iab, VIVID, Fishburners, WeWork, Hub
- Ex Head of Creative/Strategy at WMI, Advertising.com, GoViral, Circul8, BeOn & AOL Networks
Something you may not know about Alex
In my spare time I make fishing lures and customised sneakers which I sell to customers all over the globe. I also have a pet wild parrot called Eddie!
Our thoughts on branding
What's your no.1 branding tip for businesses?
Amy:
Always start with your target audience. If you don't know who you are trying to reach, how can you know what to say or where to say it? Many businesses will make brand decisions solely based on what the founder likes when the main opinion you should really care about is your audience.
Alex:
Consistency, Consistency, Consistency. It's one of the simplest things to remember. Being consistent creates reputation, trust and credibility, it's as simple as that: strong brands are consistent brands.
What's the biggest mistake people make in branding?
Alex:
Missing the basics: clearly communicating who you are, what you sell and why people should choose you. I saw this issue a lot in my creative agency days, a tendency towards high concept clever sounding concepts that are ultimately meaningless to the average person. Keep it simple!
Amy:
Not bringing the staff on the journey! To change something as integral as the brand without allowing the team to take part is a missed opportunity. The branding process is a rare chance to bring your staff into a deeper conversation with your company.
What's a common branding misnomer?
Amy:
I think there is a misconception that doing work on your brand has to be a long drawn out (and expensive) process. This sometimes stops business owners from dipping their toes in. The reality is that even the smallest amount of investment in your brand is better than none and there are many ways to approach brand work.
Alex:
That you need awesome design to have an awesome brand. Design is just one of many tools you have available to create a brand perception. Often when people talk about brand, they gravitate towards the parts you can see, but your brand is the sum of many more elements working in unison.
What's your favourite brand and why?
Alex:
I'm a big Nike fan. I love the story of the company and how "shoot from the hip" they were in the early days. I admire how they have carved out such a strong position in a very competitive sector, they have become part of global culture.
Amy:
Virgin, Richard Branson is an inspiration for entrepreneurs everywhere.
The right specialists when needed
We work with a range of specialists across multiple disciplines, all over the world.
If you want to work with the best people, it's unlikely they are all in the same place. The best people we have worked with over the past 20 years across agencies in London and Sydney are now scattered all over the world (most are now freelancers). Thankfully, the world we live in means that physical distance doesn't matter anymore.
We create project teams from our network on a project by project basis, built to each clients needs. What this means for our clients is that only the best people work on their project and they only pay for the time they are used, maximum quality without the usual bloated agency price tag.
Creative
Design
Development
Technical
Brands we have worked with
