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.
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 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.
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.
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 contributes to organisational growth.
What I do best is use creativity to move brands forward, whether leading agencies and organisations to elevate their brands, help turn Tiger Beer 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.
An excellent communicator and public speaker and adept at stakeholder management enabling teams to make decisions and drive them forward. A rare talent that mixes strategy, leadership, creativity, marketing savvy, big ideas, and operations in one brain.
Sincerely,
Ryan Bernal
Advisory - Infrastructure & Built Environment
Consultant & Head of Marketing
Nov 2023 - Present
Atlas Engineering Group helps deliver over $2B in water infrastructure projects competing with global players for 15+ years across ANZ. To support their ambition for growth, I led a brand repositioning that sharpened market differentiation, focused business goals and aligned culture and hiring and brought marketing foundations to the organisation for the first time. Supported by a GTM strategy, the repositioning has augmented how the brand delivers internally and externally contributing to ~20% YOY growth in a long sales cycle industry.
Key Achievements
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Repositioned the brand, including positioning, identity, EVP and GTM strategy.
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Crafted sales materials including organisational and service line capability statements and sales presenters.
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Instituted and co-developed key client and relationship plans, key client reporting and case study templates.
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Collaborated with executive leadership to overhaul bid delivery with a Master Tender Template cutting tender workload by 40% and elevating design.
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Delivered a foundational marketing ecosystem across social (+44% monthly follower growth rate (organic) vs industry avg. and 26% avg. engagement rate), thought leadership, events, PR, phase 1 web update and planned website rebuild.
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Review analytics and implement optimisations along with the introduction of marketing AI tools (Canva, Claude, Midjourney, ChatGPT).
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Upon notification of a buyer, I delivered strategic guidance for the founder, crafted sales documentation, advised on transition workshops and brand integration options.
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I continue to drive marketing leadership for Atlas and consult with their new owner, Seqauna Group, on both marketing and business strategy.
72andSunny Sydney
General Manager, Head of Brand
Nov 2021-Nov 2023
Key Achievements
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Brought in to help advise a first-time CEO on ANZ operations, process, team structure and finance, I helped reshaped the agency model, drive consistent 12% revenue growth, and won 7 of 9 pitches including BCF, MLC, Taco Bell, Edith Cowan University and 4 Pines Brewery.
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Contributed to the agency’s first Campaign Brief Agency of the Year award (2022) and led major accounts. Key account accomplishments include:
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Strategic delivery across Google’s portfolio: Brand (+20% brand advocacy), Product (+80% YOY growth), Search (download and DAU goals achieved) and Google APAC’s premier B2B conference Google Marketing Live (guest satisfaction and pipeline support delivered).
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Launched Who Gives A Crap’s first global campaign to support its retail entry (+19% YOY growth).
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For Edith Cowan University, I led the repositioning from a “super-TAFE” to a destination for creative thinkers. The platform was embedded across communications, student recruitment, partnerships and internal culture, resulting in their strongest intake results and a measurable uplift in brand consideration.
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Structured, led and mentored the Account Management team and P&L reporting and advisory.
Marcel Sydney
Managing Director & Head of Strategy, Jul 2017-Sept 2020
Director of Client Services, May 2013 - Jun 2017
Key Achievements
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When I first arrived at this agency, it was called Publicis Mojo and was need in need of a turnaround having lost major clients and 80% of staff. Through client focus, a restructure and a name change in 2016 to Marcel Sydney, we re-shaped the agency in a boutique agency recognised at the global level.
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Increasing revenue ~15% every year and winning 50+ local and international awards, the agency was ranked a Campaign Brief “hot” shop every year and increase staff by 125%.
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I led and secured major global and local wins including Tiger Beer, Tinder, [yellow tail], Cerebral Palsy Alliance, OPSM, AirAsia, Powershop and Huawei.
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I managed full P&L responsibilities, led Account Management, was a trusted client partner and I ensured every brand had a distinctive positioning, strong human insight and integrated communications across all touch-points, while supporting marketing planning and internal alignment. I cultivated a culture that aimed beyond Australia, resulting in more global clients and projects than any other Australian agency.
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Key account accomplishments:
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Led the global Tiger Beer account driving 150% account revenue growth over three years and helping Tiger grow 140% to reach $1B in revenue; its fastest growth and most awarded period in history.
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I led Tinder’s award-winning global #representlove campaign, which drove worldwide earned media and ultimately resulted in Unicode adopting interracial couple emoji.
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I led the positioning, strategy and relaunch of STEPtember for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance delivering $10.7M in fundraising; 150% of their goal.
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I led positioning, strategy and launch for Rio Tinto’s first brand campaign, delivering +11% familiarity, +9% NPS and +36% campaign recognition at a quarter of BHP’s spend.
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Certificates & Proficiencies
Certificates: SEO I Certificate, SEO II Certificate, Digital Marketing Certificate, Content Marketing Certificate, Technical SEO and AI Search Essentials Certificate.
Proficiencies: Google Docs & programs, Microsoft 365, Keynote, Canva, Klaviyo, Cin 7
Education
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
Hobbies
Surfing, fitness, travel
