Mark Funston Email & Phone Number

Surrey, Bc, Ca

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Vancouver, Canada Area

Driving core business performance by building and leading a multi-disciplinary team responsible for RHEI's centralized marketing functions across its global organization, spanning Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Branding, Design, Social Media, Events, Brand Operations and PR. Also a member of the company’s executive leadership team.- Foundational Leadership: Own vision, OKR development, KPI tracking and operations for centralized marketing department that leads and enables across 10 languages and 24 international markets.- Interdepartmental Collaboration: Central lynchpin of brand, positioning, communications, and marketing operation across four primary B2C and B2B business units: Creator Network, Advertising Sales, Content Management and Interactive (Mobile Games Division).- Transformative Results: Upon promotion to ownership of entire Marketing division in 2021, implemented key transformative initiatives that had significant impact on the business’ top and bottom lines.- Automation: Implemented marketing automation tools and CRM integration.- Brand Leadership: Led and executed RHEI's comprehensive rebrand, from strategic development to creative execution and tactical implementation, solving key strategic challenges for the business across a diverse clientele.- Public Company Experience: Successfully co-positioned company alongside CEO and CFO for its $172M IPO in October of 2020 on the TSX, including in-depth prospectus, ongoing internal and external comms, and robust PR program.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Led team responsible for acquiring and managing RHEI's marquee media clients, developing uniquely positioned content strategies combining owned and operated destinations with the creator economy on YouTube and social media.- Key stakeholder for marquee NBA Playmakers network, adding significant viewership to the league through creator channels.- Led content development and distribution team for RHEI's NBA Playmakers channel, growing from 0 to 140k subscribers in 18 months of operation.- Led editorial team for RHEI's "Outspeak" partnership with HuffPost, driving unique viewership from 0 to over 240k monthly in 8 months of operation.- Executed successful brand launches in key media verticals of Music (in partnership with BMG), Journalism (in partnership with HuffPost), and Sports (in partnership with the NBA).

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Led research, positioning, materials development, modelling, and pitching to RHEI's new and existing strategic partners in new markets and verticals, collaborating as an individual contributor across Marketing, Finance, and Corporate Development.- Key stakeholder and enabler in RHEI's multi-vertical expansion strategy, expanding from Entertainment and Gaming to include Kids & Family, Music, and Sports.- Enabled implementation of RHEI's multi-language expansion strategy spanning Marketing and Business Development, growing from 3 to 10 languages during tenure.- Played key supporting role in RHEI's acquisition of YoBoHo, a Mumbai-based content production and distribution company in the Kids & Family vertical. Since being part of RHEI's umbrella, the acquired unit became a significant contributor to the company’s overall portfolio.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Joined the RHEI team at an inflection point of growth following $36M investment from RTL Group, with the aggressive mandate to expand the company’s position at the forefront of the burgeoning creator economy. This was a two-part mandate of increasing the company’s network of creators, and positioning partnership opportunities with global media companies to tap into the space. - Developed, implemented, and led marketing operations for the model that drove inbound creator network marketing efforts to propel RHEI from 1 billion monthly views in 2013 to over 30 billion monthly views, contributing to a revenue CAGR of 55%.- Researched and developed successful pitches for a number of RHEI's most tenured clients.

Vancouver, Canada Area

Full-service Content Development firm, with services including content marketing strategy, editing, copywriting, and ghostwriting.- Full ownership and responsibility for growth to 50+ clients annually, employing a small team of content marketers, writers, and editors as the business expanded.- Provided transformative marketing content strategies to small and medium sized companies. Enabled for business clients 63% average YoY revenue increase for organic marketing efforts, 18% average YoY revenue increase for paid marketing efforts spanning SEM and Social Media, and 23% average YoY revenue increase in marketing-driven sales.- Expanded work to include publishing consultancy, helping writers, bloggers, and influencers in various genres cater their work for publication and success in an evolving digital market.- Managed company P&L, forecasting, financial modelling, and funding prior to sale in 2014.- Notable works include more than 250 successful publications via Penguin Random House, Hachette, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, VICE, HuffPost, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Maclean's, and Business Insider.

Responsible for strategy and execution of all copy for the company including advertisements, web copy, blogging, email marketing, newsletters, pitch decks, catalogues, pamphlets, and trade show materials.Gained valuable experience as one quarter of a talented and specialized marketing team that serviced some of the largest hospitality, retail, travel, and service brands in the world such as Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood Hotels.

Multidisciplinary responsibility as part of a small team operating two successful business units in the Luxury Scuba Travel industry, as well as in the Scuba equipment space. With an initial focus on operations (purchasing, logistics, and communications) for the travel side of the business, the role expanded to include marketing and customer experience responsibilities for the burgeoning Scuba equipment business unit.This was a rapid growth experience in a fast-paced, multiple-hats environment that expanded my skills as a marketer, my knowledge in business, and my perspective as an entrepreneur.