👋 Hello, I’m Rhys.
Innovative and creative marketing professional with 15 years of experience. Skilled in developing successful strategies and initiatives that deliver growth for brands. I am data-savvy, commercially astute, and customer-centric.
→ Skills → Experience → Campaigns → References
Campaigns
A selection of recent campaigns where I’ve led the strategy, development and execution
Honest Eggs Co. - ‘FitChix’
The egg category is a minefield of naming conventions, all designed to sound like the chickens are getting a pretty good deal. The reality is often otherwise. Honest Egg Co.’s regenerative farmed eggs are some of the most ethical (only 30 hens per hectare compared to the free-range industry average of 10,000). This campaign set out to prove their farming methods are better because their chickens are always on the move.
Campaign performance: 40%↑ Egg orders, 33%↑ Egg sales, 222%↑ New stockist inquiries, 493%↑ Online conversations, 50M+ media impressions.
Awards: 2024: Cannes Lions (Silver: Creative Strategy, Bronze: Creative Effectiveness, Health & Wellness, Brand Experience & Activation). Australian Effies (Silver: Original Thinking, Small Budget, and Innovative Channel Thinking). Winner of over 80+ major awards in 2023 including Cannes Gold, D&AD, AWARD, Clio, Spikes Asia, and LIA.
ADF Careers - ‘Unlike Any Other Job’
The ADF Careers campaign united the Navy, Army, and Air Force under a single recruitment brand. Research showed that many young adults today seek careers that foster personal growth while allowing them to make a positive impact. Our goal was to position the ADF as the top choice for those seeking meaningful work, highlighting how an ADF career supports both personal development and contribution to a higher purpose. The creative platform, ‘More than just a job,’ contrasts an ADF career with typical jobs, showcasing the unique opportunities, experiences, and strong sense of purpose the ADF offers.
Campaign Performance: In the first six months after the campaign and new website launched, we saw a 50% increase in application conversions and over 10,000 applications per month, the highest in 20 years.
Yes Equality - ‘Every bachelor and bachelorette’
Noticing The Batchelor finale coincided with the arrival of postal votes for the Marriage Equality plebiscite, we created a tactical 60-second TVC for the Yes campaign. This was made possible thanks to the generosity of an existing sponsor we persuaded to donate their ad space in the finale.
Campaign Performance: 51% of the voting public reached; 21.5 million media impressions (and Australia voted ‘Yes’).
Experience:
VML
Group Business Director
March 2022 – Present
Senior Account Director
March 2019 – March 2022
Key Clients:
Honest Eggs Co.
Defence Force Recruiting
Australia Post
Australian Unity
As a Client Engagement Lead I oversee the agency’s smallest and largest clients, representing 60% of revenue. I lead a team of 10 across brand and performance marketing, social media, digital experience, PR, and events, driving impactful initiatives. I lead different teams to achieve successful results.
Key Achievements:
Account growth: Revenue 16%↑ on BUD ‘23; 9.8↑ YOY (2023)
Honest Eggs: FitChix campaign boosted sales by 33% and stockist inquiries by 222%. FitChix has received several awards for its effectiveness and was among the most creatively awarded campaigns worldwide in 2023.
Defence Force: Led the development of the brand strategy and creative for the ADF Careers Masterbrand, achieving over 10,000 applications per month—the highest in 20 years—and increasing propensity for an ADF career by 4%.
Championed the adoption of a unified Masterbrand approach within the organisation to enhance marketing impact, media effectiveness, and budget efficiency.
Oversaw the redesign of the Career Discovery platform on adfcareers.gov.au, implementing a new UX and UI that boosted application conversions by 50%.
Key Responsibilities:
Leading the strategic planning for Defence.
Planning and execution of integrated campaigns.
Social media strategy and content development.
Collaborating with clients and agency partners, including media, publishers such as TikTok and Snapchat, as well as PR teams.
Establishing, monitoring and reporting campaign performance metrics.
Monitoring website performance to gain insights that drive optimisations.
Overall financial delivery (revenue planning, forecasting, profitability tracking, resource cost management).
Led integrated communications planning and campaign development for Mars Petcare, managing a portfolio of 15 clients. Directed a team of four in crafting market-specific strategies for the Australian audience.
Key achievements:
The Lion’s Share initiative. Played a key role in developing the globally recognised campaign featuring David Attenborough, which urged advertisers using animals in their ads to contribute a percentage of media spend to the Lion’s Share Fund. This initiative, in partnership with the UN, channels funds to protect animals and their habitats worldwide.
Leo Burnett
Account Director
2016 – 2018
Clients:
Marriage Equality Australia
Spirit of Tasmania
Victoria University
Managed the end-to-end strategic and creative development process for clients, with a focus on relationship management, revenue growth, and new business development. Provided guidance and structure to a team of account managers and executives, ensuring efficient workload management.
Key achievements:
Marriage Equality campaign aired in Bachelor finale and reach 51% of voters. See more in Campaigns.
Developed a new brand strategy and creative platform for Spirit of Tasmania, including social media and content campaigns, resulting in a 4% year-on-year increase in passengers and an uplift in passengers per booking from 2.9 to 3.4.
Ensemble
Account Director
2015 – 2016
Clients:
Australian Grand Prix Corporation
HESTA Superannuation
Qatar Airways
As the business lead for the Australian Grand Prix I led the strategy and creative development of marketing campaigns promoting the F1 & Moto Grand Prix. I also delivered organic growth, expanding our client remit to include projects for HESTA Superannuation & Qatar Airways.
Key Achievements:
Led the team that created a new strategic direction and creative platform for the Australian Moto GP including two fully integrated campaigns for the 2015 & 2016 events. This campaign delivered a 10% lift in attendance, 19% revenue increase, and 26% increase in sponsorship post-event.
BMF / Naked Communications
Account Executive
Account Manager
Snr Account Manager
2009 – 2015
Key Clients:
Schweppes
Monash University
Origin Energy
RYOBI
Lion
At BMF / Naked, I managed and executed marketing solutions for clients, spanning traditional media, consumer promotions, trade incentives, events, PR, and sponsorship. Collaborating closely with senior management on both client and agency sides, I developed strong business acumen. These experiences built a solid foundation in brand strategy, campaign development, production processes, project management, and brand activations.
Key Achievements
Contributed to the development of a new brand campaign and promotions for RYOBI , which helped RYOBI become the #1 selling power tool brand at Bunnings.
Successfully launched two new product lines for Cool Ridge, expanding the brand’s market presence.
Skills
→ Leadership:
Displayed strong leadership skills to guide and mentor teams, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment.
→ Data Analysis:
Analysed quantitative market research and qualitative metrics to identify opportunities, inform strategic directions, and optimise the ADF Careers website.
→ Strategic Planning:
Developed and executed comprehensive strategies and integrated communications plans for clients.
→ Content Marketing:
Created engaging content targeting 18-25 y.o. demographic, as demonstrated with ADF Careers.
→ Budget Management:
Effectively managed marketing budgets - both large and small to maximise ROI, and improve agency revenue and margin.
→ Communication:
Excellent communication skills were required to convey marketing strategies and results clearly to internal stakeholders and client partners.
→ Relationships:
Built and maintained trusted relationships as evidenced by client relationship surveys at VML. Experienced working with cross-functional teams to get the best results.
→ Campaign Management:
Led the development, planning, and execution of integrated campaigns with cross-functional teams.
Education
BA Arts (Media & Communications / Marketing)
Swinburne University of Technology
Certifications
Google Analytics: GA4
AWARD School