The Publicis Groupe Connected Careers program gives its employees across its agency businesses job opportunities and career paths across Australia and overseas.
Cassie Coyle, account director at Starcom, has taken part in the offering. She spoke to Mediaweek about why she took up the opportunity, work and life in London and using her experience abroad with her Sydney team.
Coyle on her family’s influence on her start in the industry
Coyle shared that she has always had an interest in the advertising industry that was influenced, in a way, by her family. Her grandfather was a creative director, and she and her cousins would create jingles and taglines for fun.
“But I wanted to find my way in communications, so I studied Communication Management at UTS. And after a brief stint in PR and affiliate marketing, I fell in love with the media industry when I moved to London and started a job at Starcom,” she said.
“Life and work were both fast-paced and exciting! I spent five years there, making my way through the ranks to an account director role,” Coyle added.
Rising through the ranks of Starcom
From 2017 to 2022, Coyle worked at Starcom London, rising through the ranks, starting as a global digital media manager, then senior global account manager and an account director.
Now based at Starcom Sydney, Coyle continues her duties as an account director, where she is the day-to-day client lead for an Australian retail brand.
“I need to live and breathe my client’s brands, as well as Starcom’s, to deliver sustainable profitability and revenue growth for everyone,” she said.
“I am also responsible for the output of my team, whose happiness and career development I take very seriously – managing people is one of my favourite parts of the job!”
Life in London and the career lessons learned
Like many Australians, Coyle’s decision to relocate to London was partly to enable travel around Europe.
“It’s funny thinking about it now, as when I arrived in London, I initially only thought about work as a means to my travel fund. But in the five years I was there at Starcom, my work experience was much more profound than that.”
The experience has given her lifelong friends and memories of countless amazing times. But Coyle highlighted that her time in London has provided her “incredible career experiences.”
“I worked across global, regional and local accounts; I worked on brand, performance and through-the-line campaigns; I pitched on new businesses; and I was able to lead internal company initiatives,” she said.
For those looking to take up the same London experience, Coyle shared: “My biggest advice is to throw yourself into the experience. You can get so much out of it!”
Coyle, on implementing her learnings from London in Sydney
Coyle returned home to Australia in 2022 and took up the account director role. While the transition between the different work cultures may be a potential hurdle, for Coyle, it was “much easier” than expected.
“Moving houses in the same state is hard enough; moving to another country adds another layer of complexity. You are up to your ears in all the life administration and paperwork, which would stress anyone out! Throw in starting a new job on top of all that, and it can be daunting,” she said.
“But staying with Starcom meant that I knew all the tools, terminology and processes already, which meant that I could focus on learning about my client’s business and my team’s needs,” Coyle added.
Coyle on her career outlook ahead
Looking ahead, Coyle shared that she hopes to continue rising through the ranks and gain career development opportunities with Starcom.
“One way I have started to do this is to take my experience from my work abroad and use it to fuel positive change across our Sydney team.
“London is one of the world’s media epicentres, so I have tapped into some of their best-in-class agency initiatives, such as agile working, team workshops and cross-function brainstorming within my new role,” Coyle shared.
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Top image: Cassie Coyle