Forty Under 40: Andy Murray

Andy Murray, 37, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Ohio Tech in 1983.

He worked for Procter and Gamble for a decade, with the last two years being a stint on P&G’s Wal-Mart team in the Fayetteville office.

Murray then served for three years as director of marketing and product development for DaySpring Cards Inc. of Siloam Springs.

He left DaySpring to start his own company, BrandWorks Consulting in Fayetteville. His wife, Mary, served as the accountant for the business.

After the first year, the business had grown to a staff of 10, and Murray then struck a deal to do consulting work for Procter and Gamble.

Because of the rapid growth, Murray and Mike Thompson, who ran a Fayetteville advertising agency merged their businesses in June 1999. Since then, Thompson Murray has grown from 18 employees to 50. The company has picked up other major clients, such as General Electric and Nestle.

Murray said the agency is different from other brand consulting firms because of the advertising expertise brought by Thompson. As a result, the company can design product packaging and see it through to the store shelves, he said.