RYAN BERNAL

Synopsis

 

With over 25 years of diverse experience leading global brands, founding and scaling my own FMCG startup, and holding senior leadership roles in brand and marketing, I believe my unique combination of strategic leadership, creativity, and hands-on operational experience can contribute to your success.

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Throughout my career, I’ve consistently demonstrated an ability to build brands and organisations from the ground up by focusing on strategic problem-solving. My background in business school has ingrained in me the core principles of diagnosing business challenges, setting clear strategic visions, and executing with precision. This methodology has been the key to my success in driving impactful outcomes for every business and brand I've worked with.

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As a leader, I see my role as that of a high-performance coach. I don’t just set the vision - I build and nurture the right teams to bring that vision to life. I’m passionate about empowering individuals, helping them unlock their potential, and guiding them to achieve exceptional results. My leadership style is hands-on, and I take great pride in fostering environments where creativity, collaboration, and excellence thrive. Over the years, this approach has led to recognition in creative and business-building awards, including Cannes, D&AD, Webby, One Show, and Effies.

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I firmly believe in the power of creativity to drive business results at every stage of the marketing funnel. I’ve led bold, ambitious campaigns for high-profile brands, across large portfolios, ensuring that every consumer interaction reinforces the brand’s core platform. From analytics to channel planning, budget management, and portfolio oversight, I bring a comprehensive skill set that can contribute to organisation growth.

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What I do best is use creativity to move brands forward. Whether it’s leading the global Tiger Beer account helping turn it into a billion dollar brand, making Google feel like an Aussie, getting a startup off the ground or helping an engineering company accelerate its success against a Goliath of competition.

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An excellent communicator and public speaker, I am comfortable in front of groups big and small which helps bring people together, make decisions and drive them forward. A rare talent that mixes strategy, leadership, creativity, marketing savvy, big ideas and operations in one brain.

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Sincerely,

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Ryan Bernal

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Atlas Engineering Group

Consultant: Head of Brand & Marketing

Nov 2023-Present

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Project Description

The Engineering industry is a sea of same. Atlas Engineering Group work on $2b worth of infrastructure projects and are a nimble innovator who have been competing against global counterparts for over 12 years. Given their desire to step change their business outcomes, they needed a full brand repositioning to make them stand out in market, focus the business, direct culture and hiring policies and increase their tender success rate. 

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• Repositioned the Atlas brand including strategy, brand identity and marketing materials

  • Deep dive into the Atlas culture, capabilities and view of the future of the industry and vision

  • Competitive analysis of 41 utilities, partners, contractors and maintainers whom they interact with as a client, partner or contractor

  • Vision, Mission and Values setting and documentation

  • EVP development and HR processes alignment

  • Creation of Brand Book & Guidelines, Capability Statements, and updating web/case study content

• Marketing planning & execution (internal, direct to client and organic/paid)

• Bid management: tender communication strategy, writing and design including the creation of a Master Tender Template which has cut tender response workloads by 50% 

  • First full tender though second gate (South East Water)

• Introduction of client planning and process for all major clients

• Advisory on new business planning, client reporting, process mapping and corporate strategy

 

Launched Q1 2024, the program has met with early success with employees embracing the vision and clients delivering positive feedback including new tender and proposal opportunities.​

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​No Ugly

Director

Oct 2020-Dec 2023

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Key Achievements

• After spending a career in the advertising business I stepped out on my own to launch a line of health drinks in Australia, No Ugly wellness tonics. With a passion for health and fitness and the ability to step client side, I backed myself and took a leap.

• From finance, logistics, pricing, sales presenters, sales, packaging design, copywriting and designing all POS, e-commerce, socials and comms to marketing and broader business management, I've done it all. The true start-up experience as a team of one.

• The brand launched in Australia in January of 2021, by April I had signed a distribution deal with the premiere health foods distributor in Australia.

• I achieved listings in 550 Woolies in their Premium Health Aisle and more recently, Costco, WHSmiths and soon, a Cafe & Food distributor (to be announced).

• I've led multiple award winning campaigns and managed agency partnerships, influencers and managed analytics.

• After almost 3 years of being the janitor to CEO, getting into Woolies was a big achievement. But given the margin requirement (not much room for a middle man) and the immediate need to support the brand at scale (cue large investment), I sold the business back to NZ HQ where it's now rolled into ANZ operations.

• Still a Director and shareholder in the business, I’m now winding down my day-to-day responsibilities after planning a major campaign push in January 2024 across Radio, OOH, Digital/Social, partnerships and in-store activations.

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72andSunny Sydney

General Manager, Head of Brand

Nov 2021-Nov 2023

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Key Achievements

• Stepping back into Agency, I've consulted a first-time CEO on agency operations, process, team structure and finance to get the agency on the right trajectory.

• I’ve consulted on the agency model and financial challenges leading to a significant improvement in profitability while pitching and winning 7 of 9 accounts including BCF, MLC, Taco Bell, Edith Cowan University and 4 Pines Brewery.

• Helped the agency win Campaign Brief's Agency of the Year 2022 for the first time in their history.

• Led multiple accounts and teams for their biggest clients including Google (+20% Brand Advocacy); delivering the first 6 weeks of consecutive sales growth for Taco Bell; launching Who Gives A Crap's first global campaign (UK, USA & AUS); delivering an entirely new brand platform, campaign and design system for Edith Cowan University (their best performing campaign of all time) and creating the theme and keynote videos for the annual APAC Google Marketing Live conference (B2B).

• Structured, mentored and supported the account team.

• With the agency on the right track, it was time for the CEO to fully take the reins.

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Marcel Sydney

Managing Director & Head of Strategy

Apr 2013-Sept 2020

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Key Achievements

• When I first arrived at this agency, it was called Publicis Mojo before we went through a restructure and name change in 2016 to Marcel Sydney. A signal that we re-shaped the agency with a renewed focus on creativity that would be recognised at the global level.

• Since then, Marcel Sydney has been ranked every year as a 'hot' shop in the Campaign Brief Agency Ranking, we've won over 50 awards locally and internationally and has been the Agency Of Record for global and local brands.

• Relaunched the Cerebral Palsy Alliance's key fundraising event, STEPtember with a total brand overhaul and a $8m fundraising goal, +12.5% VYA.  We achieved 150% of our goal by campaign’s end.

• Launched Rio Tinto's first ever brand campaign resulting in double digit gains in trust, favourability and familiarity for only 1/4 of the spend of their largest competitor, BHP.

• I led the global Tiger Beer account (Singapore based client) resulting in over 140% growth globally over 3 years helping it become a 1B dollar brand. During that time, Tiger beer experienced its fastest growth (volume & value) and its most creatively awarded work in its history.

• As Head of Strategy, I also ensured our roster of brands delivered distinctive positioning, human insight and breakthrough communications across all aspects of their brand, internal and external. I also helped brand leaders craft their marketing plans and ensured the brand idea flowed through all touch points from media to internal comms.

• I fostered an agency culture that believed its product should not be limited to Australia, but had the ability to exported across the globe. This resulted in Marcel Australia having more global clients and projects than any other Australian agency.

• Throughout my tenure at Marcel, I've helped secure global new business wins including Tiger Beer, Tinder, [yellow tail] wine, Cerebral Palsy Alliance and OPSM, AirAsia, Powershop and Huawei locally to name a few.

• Successful management of full P&L responsibilities.

• A trusted partner for our clients.

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Sound Alliance

Managing Director 

Jun 2012 - Feb 2013 

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Key Achievements

• Created a start-up youth agency within this youth media publisher. However, with the introduction of a new board, they chose to focus on their core offering (media) and ceased agency operations. Sound Alliance has since gone on to become the highly successful Junkee Media, so I can't have too many hard feelings. 

• In my short time there, I increased the revenue of our founding client, Rekorderlig Cider by over 400%; in partnership with Pollinate, I created a Youth Research Report which was presented at Vivid 2013; instituted strategic & creative focus elevating the level of creative output and instigated formal Account Service training, KPI appraisal & evaluation.

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US Sydney

General Manager (Maternity Leave Cover)

Dec 2010 - Mar 2012 

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Key Achievements

• Coming on board to cover a maternity leave assignment, I was asked to help this young agency step up into a more 'grown up’ agency model.

• Instigated formal Account Service training, KPI appraisal & evaluation across US Sydney (32 Staff), and restructured the business from a traditional shop into a more digital centric enterprise with key hires.

• Elevated the US Sydney brand via a consistent PR plan showcasing our best work and new business wins.

• Helped drive new business wins including 1300 Homeloan, Suncorp Insurance and Kopparberg.

• Achieved a top 5 creative ranking in the 2011/2012 Campaign Brief Creative Agency Review.

• Launched the She Runs platform for Nike, elevating the project from a sponsorship to a Nike owned event and brand. The She Runs platform has since been exported globally (Cannes Bronze).

• Led the SBS account including the globally recognised 7 Billion Stories and counting campaign.

• Managed the digitally led and fast paced Luxbet wagering account improving returns year on year through an optimisation led analytics approach.

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TBWA Sydney

Group Head

Jan 2008 - Dec 2010 

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Key Achievements

• Won the PlayStation digital business resulting in substantial revenue and creative opportunities including a Bronze at the London International Advertising Awards and ADMA.

• Led strategic & creative development for a new e-commerce system, payclick by Visa, along with one of Visa’s most successful campaigns to date transitioning people from Eftpos to Visa.

• Launched the 'Little Wins' Nicabate campaign which saw sales surpass targets and spawned the launch of the awarded Pledge to Quit campaign launched on World No Tobacco Day.

• Launched Rheem’s most successful advertising campaign ever exceeding all KPIs.

• Managed the largest portfolio of accounts and account team.

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Leo Burnett Toronto & Sydney

Senior Account Director

Jan 2002 - Dec 2007 

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Key Achievements

• In Sydney, I spearheaded the first global launch of Earth Hour including the strategic and production development of the first global Earth Hour website and created the Earth Hour Advertising Partnership - how brands could participate in the event and use creativity to show their support.  Earth Hour has since become a global fixture with a plethora of brands showing their support around the world.

• In Canada, I led the Moosehead Breweries Account (Canada's largest independent brewery) across its roster of brands. 

  • Increased Moose Light sales to their largest in history via a new campaign strategy “See The Light” and creating a Distinctive Brand Asset for the sub-brand.

  • I identified the inactive James Ready beer brand as a creative opportunity within the portfolio over a dinner. I proactively pitched a brand strategy and creative resulting in support for the brand for the first time and the James Ready becoming the brewer’s second largest brand along with a string of campaigns that received international award recognition. A great example of finding a diamond in the rough and bringing it to market.

• In Canada, I led the Kellogg's account and its roster of brands. Highlights included:

  • Guided the Canadian All-Bran franchise doubling its share after 4 consecutive years of decline. It become Kellogg’s largest and fastest growing brand since acquiring the brand in my portfolio in 2003 including a Silver Cassie (Canadian Effies 2005) and a WK Kellogg award for business success (2005).

  • Lead the fight for original Canadian Eggo creative (vs. US adaptation) resulting in a 5.2 share in under a year, top-quartile ad in ad-tracking and the reclassification of Eggo as a star brand within Kellogg. The campaign won Silver at the international W.K. Kellogg awards for business building success and a Silver Cassie.  

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FCB Toronto

Account Supervisor

Jun 1998 - May 2002 

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Key Achievements

• Worked across the agencies major clients: SC Johnson, Nabisco and Kraft.

• Lead the fight for original Canadian Kraft Delissio creative resulting in the best Delissio ad ever in pre-testing and post-tracking and helping the brand become number one in the category after a three year head start by the competition. The ad was so successful, it ran for four years after the initial launch.

• Launched a new campaign for Burnbrae Farms Break-Free eggs from strategic development to execution. The creative tripled sales during the advertised period and doubled sales for the year VYA. The case was a Cassie Finalist (Canadian equivalent of Effies).

• Developed award-winning Nabisco Peek Freans (biscuits) creative that halted a multi-year sales decline.  

• Successfully refreshed the Nabisco Planet Snack (the snacking portfolio) campaign by convincing the client to move to a new version of long-standing distinctive brand assets. The new campaign drove Planet Snack sales 23% above forecast.

• Appointed to the Agency New Business development team. Key member in two agency pitches one of which resulted in a win for the Government of Ontario account.

• Completed the Rogen New Business Course.

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Certificates & Proficiencies

SEO I Certificate, SEO II Certificate, Digital Marketing Certificate, Content Marketing Certificate

Google Docs & programs, Microsoft 365, Keynote, Canva, Klaviyo, Cin 7 

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Education

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Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario

Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Honours Business Administration

Dean’s Honour List, 1996

 

CEGEP John Abbott, Montreal Quebec

D.E.C. Commerce

Dean’s Honour List, 1995

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Hobbies

Surfing, fitness, travel