Growing brands in the Philippines
Hey there! I'm James Fernando, Brand Manager at a fast-growing brand aggregator in the Asia Pacific region.
Background: 9 years as an ecommerce practicioner - specializing on full-stack marketing, web store development, channel management and campaigns. 12 years as an entrepreneur - with experience on traditional and web 2.0 retail.
I am passionate about helping Direct-to-consumer brands grow through strategies and tactics deployed by DTC practicioners worldwide.
Strengthsfinder 2.0 Assessment - Activator, Maximizer, Futuristic, Learner, Individualization.
Experience
Brand Manager
first brand aggregator in the Philippines; invests in and builds direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands across Asia Pacific and offers a complete platform for growth, including growth capital, operations, tech-enabled backend, and more; backed by prominent investors in the region
Leads the growth of portfolio brands (brand A - 1,000% / 10x in 6mo; brand B - 200% / 2x in 4mo; brand C - 200% / 2x in 6mo) by overseeing performance marketing, marketplaces (Lazada, Shopee, Zalora & TikTok Shop), brand building, multimedia design, ux / ui design, and static / video content creation
Leads and builds a high-performing commercial team to achieve brand targets
Builds and runs the commercial playbook and strategy for all brands
Responsible for topline growth, bottomline growth and overall brand P&L
Contributes to M&A of new brands in APAC
Conceptualizes and leads the execution of high-performing paid social ad formats unique to each brand e.g. candy ad, sandbox ad, blog post ad, what's inside ad, collage ad, and more
Founder / Managing Partner
ecommerce platform that helped content creators and online entrepreneurs sell merchandise without any capital nor operational requirements needed
led strategy, performance marketing, lifecycle marketing, CRM, content, merchant acquisition & success, sales programs, customer service, product development & CRO
led an ecommerce team of 22 with an in-house logistics fleet
grew GMV by 7x from $60k to $420k in a year
developed a Shopify-built marketplace from scratch with 200+ merchants
achieved a Return on and spend of 7x EBITDA while scaling media spending
raised funding from a venture capital fund based in Sydney, Australia
worked with COO on warehousing, production & delivery supply chain
led the ecommerce business unit in achieving sales KPIs (DTC, Lazada & Shopee)
led all product development efforts from website enhancements to Magento revamp
directly contributed to project management, performance marketing, CRM, campaigns, sales programs, order fulfilment, customer service & CRO
created ad hoc campaigns; launched the first double digit campaign of the DTC channel
developed people in associate, specialist and supervisory roles
Campaign Manager
an e-commerce platform designed to simplify decision-making and bring joy in parenting.
provided support in the ideation, planning and execution of sitewide campaigns
Side-projects
classic bakery products and online channel of a bakery chain in Manila
generated 4,071 orders on Shopify in 8 months - from launch to exit
executed branding and webstore assets from ideation to Go Live
launched prospecting and retargeting fb/ig ads for shopify sales
monitored performance with bi-weekly optimizations
provided CRM and retention & lifecycle marketing services
executed single digit and ad hoc online campaigns
introduced third-party personnel and service providers
official university apparel brand of De La Salle University
As a college student, grew a t-shirt project to the accredited university apparel brand of De La Salle University generating approximately 5,000+ orders in a span of 4 years
Ran micro retail operations that catered to a network of La Salle alumni stores and UAAP events
Exited and sold shares to my co-owner
fresh and grown-up take on classic doughnuts by Chef Meg
launched prospecting and retargeting fb/ig ads for shopify sales
launched engagement fb/ig ads for live chat sales
provided email marketing services
monitored performance with bi-weekly optimizations
remittance platform that allows OFWs to send products and services in PH
provided overall ecommerce and digital marketing consultancy
explored and opened business development opportunities
provided support on fb/ig audience targeting
provided support on customer reactivation campaigns
nonseasonal, runway-to-rack designer label by Abimer Atelier
managed webstore development project
introduced and worked with third-party vendors
provided web master services
provided IG growth services
thoughtfully-made skincare solutions crafted with nature
launched prospecting and retargeting fb/ig ads for shopify sales
executed single digit and ad hoc online campaigns
monitored performance with bi-weekly optimizations
provided support on audience targeting
Features
Maximizing E-commerce in your Sales Strategy (2020) - talk about ecommerce in the time of COVID
The Hustle of a Shirtpreneur (2019) - podcast episode about my 10-year journey of selling shirts
2020 Complete Merch Guide for Youtubers in PH (2020) - write up about merch selling for local content creators
Reflecting on my 7 years of Building Shirt.ly (2021) - write up about my 7-year startup journey and joining the corporate world