Thomson, First Choice and CruiseDeals
Amanda started her career at a full service recruitment advertising agency called aia digital as an account executive on their graduate scheme. This role exposed her to media planning, buying and the creative process from start to finish for a range of big clients. She then moved into travel and worked at Travelbag in their small marketing team, delivering integrated campaigns in a highly tactical environment.
Since then Amanda has worked at BA Holidays and TUI UK & Ireland, where she is now. At both companies she managed partnership promotional activity, but more recently moved into retail and local marketing at TUI UK & Ireland. Her previous GM position focused on the 700-strong shop network and a key project in 2013 was the launch of their first Holiday Design Store at Bluewater in Kent. At the end of 2013 Amanda’s remit extended to include national campaign creation and delivery for Thomson and First Choice.
Amanda Lakin: Marketing is so fast paced and deadline driven, but it’s what makes me tick. I love the adrenaline of delivering complex projects or campaigns into market and the excitement of seeing the results is fantastic. I also enjoy the creative process and there’s nothing like receiving a response to brief that ticks all the boxes and gives you something special that you know will create an impact.
Amanda Lakin: I think you have to be a fantastic multi-tasker, you have to be super organised and you have to be an effective communicator. It’s all about influencing and relationship building, so it goes without saying that you have to be a people person with the drive and commitment to deliver in the most challenging of situations. You also have to embrace change as nothing stands still!
Amanda Lakin: Any Marketing Director at the top of a big business, like TUI. I find it extraordinary how my manager (Jeremy Ellis) continues to drive our multi-faceted team of over 160 marketers forward within a complex, ever changing business where marketing investment is regularly challenged.
Amanda Lakin: The main challenge is keeping up with innovation and changing media consumption habits. The proliferation of channels over the last decade has been staggering and having a detailed understanding of the vast range of disciplines within marketing feels unrealistic today.
Amanda Lakin: I ensure I am an active consumer of media and advertising! I try to integrate it into my everyday life so it’s a natural thing, but really it’s about putting the effort in to ensure you’re exposed to all the noise out there.
Amanda Lakin: We need our agencies to share their knowledge, to download to us and keep a constant stream of dialogue running about innovation and new ideas. It’s hard when BAU is so consuming, but we rely on their expertise and really enjoy debating new initiatives or hearing case studies from elsewhere.
Amanda Lakin: A good relationship is important to create a feeling of collaboration. I love working side by side with the agency and delivering a campaign together, sharing the highs and the lows. I consider proactivity to be a real defining factor and this contributes to the ideal for me. Even if a brief isn’t out there at the time, it’s great to receive ideas and plans that show the agency are always thinking about our brand, even when we’re not asking them to.
Amanda Lakin: I am really proud of the recent First Choice ‘All You Can’ campaign that launched in December 2013. I delivered my first TV ad, which was exciting, but more importantly we’ve been taking risks and trying new activity including gaming and brand partnerships, with positive results and learnings to help deliver our 2015 strategy.
Amanda Lakin: This requires a lot of effort, but pushing to present at wider business team meetings, hosting lunch and learns or workshop sessions are real profile boosters. This sort of activity also helps establish your expertise, which is vital considering marketing is so subjective. It also helps build relationships, which leads to easier influencing and more collaboration.
Amanda Lakin: I am a GM and by definition that makes me a generalist. My remit is quite broad as it includes national and local on and offline marketing, retail display, events and POS, partnerships and sponsorships. I’ve realised that I can’t be an expert in all areas. As long as your strategic objectives are set and your team are well briefed and bought in, you can lead them to deliver success.
creativebrief partner the Marketing Academy is a non-profit organisation which provides a unique forum for industry leaders, marketing gurus, entrepreneurs and inspirational people volunteer their time to inspire, develop and coach the next generation of future leaders. The Marketing Academy gift a maximum of 30 ‘Scholarships’ each year to the fastest rising stars in the marketing, advertising and communications industries. A team of high profile mentors and coaches develop these stars through a process of mentoring, coaching, networking and personalised learning. 86 mentors, 30 Coaches, 20 Judges, 36 companies and an owl called Merlin all provide their time, resources and knowledge to assist in shaping the minds of our future leaders. Furthermore as a vital part of their curriculum all Scholars volunteer at least one day per year through our Donate28 initiative to work with charities who need bright young marketing minds. For a full list of the individuals involved, see the Sherilyn Shackell interview.
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