Amy Grundy – Account Director, Intelligent Marketing

Amy Grundy

Job title: Account director

Company: Intelligent Marketing

B2B audience: Key decision makers in businesses looking to transform their workplace (Morgan Lovell), switch business banking (HSBC), go carbon neutral (CarbonNeutral Company) or improve selection, motivation and performance (Getfeedback).

Education: School, art college, Nottingham University (BA Hons in Art History), life (ongoing).

What was your first job in marketing? Pavement painting for Euro RSCG whilst a student; undercover experiential campaign to launch a new spirit drink. Involved creating huge branded murals in the dead of night! Then (post-graduation) as consultant’s assistant at The Marketing Partnership. The best way to get under the skin of a company is to man reception.You have a better understanding of your colleagues and more empathy for the different battles in each person’s day.

How did you get to where you are now? Drive, determination, perfectionism, passion, competitive spirit and va-va-voom. Poached to be part of founding team of Intelligent Marketing. Many long days, nights, weekends, brainstorms, pitches and presentations. In three and a half years, I’ve worked across 15 accounts and progressed from account executive to board account director. Recent highlights have included winning three awards in a month – B2B Marketing, Construction Marketing and DMA – and launching the first DM campaign for HSBC.

What’s different about B2B? Getting through the barriers to your target audience and making your marketing message stand out.

What’s the best bit about your job? Clients whooping (with excitement!) in presentations, press-passing award-winning creative, a team buzzing with energy, and ultimately, making a difference to so many businesses.

Which B2B brand do you most admire? The ones we work with, naturally. They strike the right balance between challenging and trusting.

Whose job would you like most? (Right now) Mine! I wouldn’t do what I do if I felt differently! (In a few years time) MD of my own company. Watch this space!

What’s the best piece of marketing advice you’ve ever been given? There are three. One, walk the floors of your client’s workplace and get under the skin of their business. Two, trust your instincts. And three, choose your battles.

What was your proudest achievement? Professionally: seeing the staggering ascent of Intelligent Marketing, week-in, week-out, and building a motivated team. Personally: winning the DMA Young Spark Award and being elected a board director in the same week. Physically: running two marathons.

Your lowest ebb? None. I seem to thrive in adversity!

To succeed a B2B marketer must… keep it real. Business people are real people and need to be excited and inspired in the same way. The gap between B2B and B2C is not the great chasm people think it is.

Our jobs would be easier if… clients stuck to their guns, budgets had no limits and there were more hours in the day.

Is B2B marketing getting sexier? Sexier, sassier, smarter… there has never been a greater need for intelligence, insight and impact.

Briefly describe your work station: A colourful and much-coveted corner space in a Camden warehouse – white brick walls, big window, inspiring items everywhere – photos, cards, coffee cups, team plans, marketing plans… and normally a pair of trainers somewhere handy.

What are the most important traits in a B2B marketer? Logic, empathy, creativity, enthusiasm, business-savvy, perseverance and patience.

Who is your most admired person in B2B marketing? Anyone who dares to be different.

What are the traits you most and least admire in yourself? Most is my passion for what I do. Least is my impatience with people who don’t feel the same way.

Which song best sums up your career? ‘She moves in her own way’ by The Kooks. I listen to it at the start of every day.

My biggest extravagance is… Sunny adventures, Soya lattés, Selfridges

The phrase I use most often is… Guess what?

 

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