Marissa Candy, the dynamic force behind The Marketing Factory, has dedicated over 20 years to the media and marketing industry, navigating its complexities and helping businesses thrive.
The Marketing Factory specialises in providing key insights and strategies to drive growth and sustainability in the face of constantly evolving customer needs and an overwhelming economy.
They are particularly adept at handling franchise marketing with multiple location outlets.
Marissa's journey began with a curious start at Stockland Shopping Centres, where she initially didn't even know what marketing was. Under the mentorship of incredible women, she quickly embraced the field, pursuing formal education in the late 90s and 2000s, before the digital revolution. This traditional grounding gave her a deep understanding of foundational marketing principles, which she feels is often lost in today's digital-first, low-barrier-to-entry environment.
The core issue The Marketing Factory aims to solve is a lack of strategic clarity. In the modern business world, it's too easy for businesses, particularly small ones, to create marketing content without first asking: "Why am I doing it? Who is it for? And what outcome do we actually want from this?". Many business owners don't fully understand marketing, often assigning marketing roles to undertrained staff, such as a graphic designer, just because they are good at social media, which results in efforts not being attached to a strategic outcome.
Marissa and her team at The Marketing Factory address this by deliberately focusing on the unsexy side of marketing: strategy, and by looking at a business holistically. They assess every element, from signage and sales team operations to the front-of-house experience, knowing that every part impacts the marketing result.
Marissa's goal and aspiration is to elevate the standard of marketing knowledge and awareness. She is passionate about helping people and finding solutions to problems at the core of marketing. Her forthcoming initiative, the Rebel Marketing Club, launching in 2026, is a testament to this, aiming to provide low-cost, high-value monthly lessons and Q&A sessions to uplift the entire industry.
Global Recognition and Immediate Business Impact
The decision to seek external validation for their strategic, yet often behind-the-scenes, work was a pivotal moment for The Marketing Factory. By leveraging the power of business awards, Marissa achieved a career-defining highlight: winning an International Gold Stevie Award for the "unsexy side" of marketing and strategy. This recognition proved that their commitment to foundational knowledge and holistic strategy delivers superior results.
The award-winning campaign, developed for a long-term client, Abano Healthcare, demonstrated a strategic solution that was first successfully rolled out for a single practice portfolio and then expanded across the Trans-Tasman region. This win provided tangible proof of the efficacy of their foundational, strategic approach, proving that you can't win categories like Achievement in Marketing without actually achieving something.
The impact of winning was immediate and profound:
Winning the award also shifted Marissa’s perspective and ambition. While previously feeling like the little old North Queenslander competing against national giants, the Stevie Award wins propelled Marissa to a new level of confidence and global aspiration.
For The Marketing Factory, the sky is now the limit as they seek to expand their impact globally and have an impact on a global scale.
Awards Won
Lessons in Execution and Belief
Marissa Candy's purpose is grounded in results-driven passion, peppered with powerful lessons for business owners:
"If you do enough of the right things consistently, success isn't possible. It's inevitable."
"We don't get paid for what we know or the great ideas we have. We get paid for what we execute and we implement."
"Just do it... perfection really is a big barrier to launch... what's on the other side of that when you do it could far exceed any dream, any previous goal you've ever had."
"People don't necessarily buy into what you sell, they buy into why you sell it, why you do it."
"Once you've climbed to that mountaintop and you look and you see the view from up there, my god, your goals change. Your perspectives change, everything becomes greater."
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