Amanda Burns
Amanda is a skilled, insightful digital and brand marketing professional driving engagement, sales and growth for organisations across the travel, retail, leisure, radio, professional services, B2B aftersales and manufacturing sectors. Time and again, Amanda’s digital transformations and campaign strategies deliver year-on-year results, maximising ROI for clients. Graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University in Fashion Marketing in 2013, Amanda has proved her formidable force over a significant number of years with multi-campaign management, always keeping her eye on the strategic goals and data (always the data) to return impressive results. Highlights of her career? Being shortlisted for the Marketing Society Rising Star Award, delivering a guest lectures at Glasgow Caledonian University and presenting at the annual Argyll & Islands Tourism Summit.
As our Head of Business Development, Amanda is key to our increased sales and profitability, identifying new business opportunities and leading the strategic direction of our marketing in line with our strengths and service offering. As well as proactively identifying and promoting opportunities for growth and identifying emerging markets, Amanda also leads on business development best practice across our account management team.
Get to know us…
Tell us about the part of your job which makes your soul happy – that you enjoy more than anything else?
This is a no brainer for me. There are two aspects to my job which I could say feel therapeutic, I enjoy them so much, which are planning and reporting. Planning because I just love organising and seeing things from a holistic point of view where we can identify the best most effective approach and giving me the chance to ask one of my favourite questions – why? Reporting because I really enjoy the opportunity to work through the data, finding areas where activity is doing better than expected, or perhaps is not going to plan, and again giving me the chance to ask why and come up with a solution.
If you weren’t in the career you are and could choose to be doing anything you like, what would your dream job be?
A florist, so it is kind of poetic that I work for Flourish Marketing. Can I also caveat this answer? It would have to be in a warm country otherwise I just couldn’t cope with the cold hands in winter.
On the rainiest of days when you want to click your fingers and be somewhere else, where is the destination you’d head to?
I’d be happy anywhere on the European continent. My most peaceful moments are when I’m in a new place, wandering with no time constraints or having to be anywhere in particular, just enjoying everything going on around me. Perhaps stopping for a dark chocolate ice-cream cone or a large glass of wine to people watch. There is a part of Italy called Portofino that I would like to travel to sometime soon.
If we met you in real life, or we end up chatting on LinkedIn, and we run out of work-related conversation, what should we chat to you about…
Talk to me about what you’re currently reading, although the conversation will flow particular better if what you happen to be reading is a female-led scandalous piece of fiction. If that fails, I love my road bike so we can chat for a while about that how I hate hills. Failing all else, I am trying to learn Spanish for a trip to Cuba later this year so just feel free to test me and we will both at least likely get a good laugh.
Tell me your ideal Saturday – from morning to evening?
Easy peasy: breakfast is a large cup of coffee in bed whilst I gently ease myself into the day.
Once the coffee has taken effect, I head out on my road bike (taking care to avoid routes with hills). After a few hours of cycling, head home to get changed and take my book for an early dinner with wine and hope that a friend joins me in the evening for a good old blether.
If your life could have a soundtrack what would be your song?
Fleetwood Mac, Don’t Stop always gees me up if I need it. The opening alone is awesome;
If you wake up and don’t want to smile
If it takes just a little while
Open your eyes and look at the day
You’ll see things in a different way
