Rachel Marks is based in Leeds and is Head of Quant at Spark Market Research.
The market research and insights agency, founded in Dublin in 2007, is part of the Audience Collective group and has additional offices in Leeds and London.
Marks has over 10 years of agency industry experience, formerly working at the likes M&C Saatchi, Hall & Partners and Firefish with household brands such as Calvin Klein, British Airways and Heathrow Airport.
Here, she shares her top three influences…
The person that has inspired my working career the most, and why
I’ve been inspired by so many fantastic people everywhere I’ve worked, colleagues and clients alike, but to name one person it would have to be my sister, Katie. She was working at Hall & Partners in my last year of uni and sorted me out with some work experience one summer – to say I completely fell in love with the idea of working there is an understatement.
It’s funny because you can ask anyone in the industry and I could guarantee that most people didn’t know what market research even was before they started – beyond The Apprentice and the clipboard questioning of course! It really is the type of industry you tend to fall into but I knew if Katie was happy doing it, then I would be too – you have that sort of safety and security when your big sister approves of something, don’t you? I then had the pleasure of working with her and was dubbed ‘Mini Marks’ (being the younger and much smaller sister) until I crafted my own rebrand to ‘Big Rach’. I went by Big Rach for a good few years and anyone from that time in my life still call’s me it to this day!
The place that has inspired my working career the most, and why
It would have to be London, for sure. I spent my first 18 years of life abroad so didn’t know much about the UK until I went to uni in Newcastle (don’t ask me why I chose one of the coldest UK cities coming from the sunshine of the Middle East!). When I did the stint of work experience down in London I knew I just had to be there and, as my parents hadn’t relocated back yet, I just had to get a job somewhere and go, there was no other choice!
So, 10 days after my graduation I hopped on the train to London and there I was! The city is captivating and I feel so lucky to have worked near some iconic London locations; starting off in offices around London Bridge and Bermondsey Street and then finishing off my career in Soho, with an office looking out over Carnaby Street. I think London is the type of place where even if you’re having a long day, tough week or terrible month, you can be walking over the river or by Tower Bridge and you just look up and can’t help but feel so lucky to live there.
It was hard to leave but it never felt the same after Covid, and now I have the pleasure of visiting London fairly frequently to see clients or at marketing events. Leeds is an absolutely fantastic city too – who knew there was this amazing hub up here of brilliant agencies and clients! I definitely have the best of both worlds now.
The thing that has inspired my working career the most, and why
The first chemistry meeting I had with Spark. I’ve always felt like I was fighting hard to get somewhere but I was just never quite sure where. I saw the job post for Spark somewhere in the depths of my searching and thought it sounded fantastic but wasn’t sure if I was quite who they were looking for. It turns out I was connected with Spark’s CEO Justin on LinkedIn so I saw it as a sign from the universe and dropped him a message to see if they’d be interested in chatting.
After that first chemistry chat, I’ve never been so sure of wanting to work somewhere. From then I’ve been challenged and inspired on a daily basis – I get to work with some amazing people within Spark and the wider group of Audience Collective and for the first time in all of my career I really feel like I’m part of something truly great and I don’t have that feeling anymore of needing to get somewhere else.
