Amanda Brinkman

Amanda Brinkman has built a reputation as a revolutionary brand marketer who has the ability to foster creativity from the inside out. Building on her years in the creative world at advertising and marketing agencies, she now cultivates that same level of passion within her marketing and creative departments in the corporate world. She has built marketing departments from scratch, turned struggling departments into award-winning teams, created marketing services as external products and turned around a 100-year-old brand via a ground-breaking content marketing campaign. She believes that all companies need to find their purpose and lead with heart, putting “good” into the world and brand loyalty will follow. She is actively involved in the community through board service and volunteerism and is regarded as a brand and marketing expert in the media.

In January 2014, Amanda was recruited to Deluxe to transform a 100-year-old brand previously known as a check-industry giant, but had evolved to be a provider of marketing services to small businesses. Amanda was responsible for creating the “Small Business Revolution,” a documentary series celebrating small businesses. This modern content marketing approach has yielded Deluxe more brand awareness through social and earned media than what its paid media strategy could have achieved – over two billion impressions and more than 700 news stories to date. Credited for creating a “movement” and new brand positioning for Deluxe, Amanda is proud to be the champion of this remarkable and purposeful work (more at smallbusinessrevolution.org).

Amanda started her own consultancy in 2013. Utilizing her career history on both the agency and corporate sides, she focused on helping companies build out internal agencies or develop their marketing services teams and capabilities. Clients included: General Mills, Digital River, Atterro and MSP Communications.

In 2009, Amanda was recruited to Allianz as the Vice President of Brand and Creative Services to lead Brand, Advertising, Sponsorships, Media, Creative Services, Events and Digital teams for North America. Her changes and influence were so effective in the first year that her team was awarded “Department of the Year” by Allianz in 2010.

In the spring of 2007, she joined UnitedHealth Group as the Vice President of Creative Services and built their extremely successful internal marketing agency, Carrot. She developed it into the fastest-growing health and wellness creative agency in the country specializing in consumer engagement programs. Amanda grew Carrot into a seven-office global operation with over 150 employees.

Amanda experienced success early in her career at agencies such as Cohn & Wolfe London, McCann and Fallon. During her time on the agency side she worked with brands such as BMW, Reebok, H&R Block, Toro and Virgin Mobile. Actively involved in the community, Amanda serves on the Children’s Cancer Research Fund Board of Directors (served as chair 2014-2015), the Make-A-Wish Foundation Board, the Jeremiah Program’s Circle of Influence and is a member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable. She has also served on the Salvation Army Board, as the President of the award-winning Advertising Federation of Minnesota Board, as a National Student Advertising Competition judge, and founded Ad2 Minneapolis, growing it into the largest Ad2 chapter in the nation.