Alex

Alex Falko, ​
Head of Brand | CMO
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IG ​
Kyiv, Ukraine​

SUMMARY​
Tech-savvy & science-minded marketing leader with 13 years of
experience driving results in categories ranging from tech to FMCG. Worked with corporations &
startups, different GEOs (Ukraine, US, UK, global), different budgets, and all possible marketing
channels.

I ground my work in evidence-based theories, marketing effectiveness principles
(Ehrenberg-Bass, IPA, Binet & Field, System1, etc), and behavioral science. The foundation of
my expertise is 360 marketing/brand/comms/creative strategy. My other competencies include
P&L management, performance marketing, unit economics, marketing ROI & attribution, SEO,
PR, digital transformation, AI implementation. ​
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I use team building & leadership principles I learned from 23 years of competitive team sports to
create healthy team chemistry, in which people are driven by passion, not fear.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Comms, PR & social strategy for UnderDefense: reframed Ukraine's wartime context from
perceived risk into proof of real-world security expertise. Secured tier-1 coverage (WSJ,
TechCrunch, etc) and grew organic LinkedIn reach 8x.​
​
Gold Effie Award for Oleina: Found an insight around gender cooking roles and repositioned
the brand to champion family cooking together. Developed media and comms strategy that
reversed sales decline to 30% YoY growth, and received a gold Effie.

Brand platform for UARM: Positioned the brand against US competition as battle-proven gear
through 'Battle-hardened' platform. Influencer & PPC campaign delivered 17% YoY revenue
growth.​
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Deep dive research and brand platform for Taimi: Found demographic insight that Gen Z
LGBTQ+ growth was driven primarily by lesbians - the app's largest user segment. Validated
through A/B testing and developed a data-informed brand platform.​
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Strategy that doubled HONOR’s market share in Ukraine: Working with basic HQ creative
materials, identified distinctive brand assets and optimized media strategy to reach all category
buyers through cost-effective digital channels. Integrated retailer co-promo with brand
advertising for consistent market presence. Grew prompted awareness from 48% to 68% and
market share from 3% to 8%.​
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Consumer Marketing Lead at Orisil-Pharm (Market leader in enterosorbents, Ukraine) |
Mar–Jun 2025

●​ Transformed Atoxil's media approach from TV-dependent to full-funnel digital strategy -
2x reach at lower CPM, sophisticated targeting & brandformance approach
●​ Set up Kantar partnership establishing company's first brand health tracking and creative
pretesting - validated creative hypotheses with 100% accuracy
●​ Led Poland market entry strategy that became operational blueprint
●​ Ran agency pitches and restructured vendor relationships with strategic briefing
processes for all company brands
●​ Built influencer strategy combining heavyweight creators and micro-influencers for all
company brands

Head of Fanteam, Scout Gaming Group (i-gaming technology, UK market) | Feb–Jul 2024

●​ Revitalized brand bringing product back to market through redesigned identity, tone of
voice (using many-shot prompting technique), influencer partnerships, and email
campaigns - 23% MAU growth YoY
●​ Mapped customer journey identifying critical UX friction points and built case for product
redesign - catalyzed C-level changes (new CTO, refreshed dev team)
●​ Managed 2-person marketing team coaching on brand implementation, digital, and email
marketing

Marketing Communications Manager, UnderDefense (B2B cybersecurity, US & EU market) |
Nov 2022–Sep 2023

●​ Built comms and PR strategy for Ukrainian cybersecurity startup targeting US/EU
enterprise markets - reframed Ukraine's wartime context from perceived risk into proof of
real-world security expertise
●​ Secured tier-1 media coverage (WSJ, TechCrunch, Dark Reading) through strategic
storytelling & writing
●​ Grew LinkedIn organic reach 8x by shifting from technical feature content to human
stories
●​ Developed partnership strategy mapping industry events, organizations, and thought
leaders to reach CISO decision-makers
●​ Co-developed positioning for SECaaS platform differentiating technical simplicity and
affordability
Brand Lead, UARM (body armor & tactical gear, US market) | Nov 2021–Sep 2022

●​ Built 'Battle-hardened' brand platform, repositioned Ukrainian manufacturing from liability
to competitive advantage against American competitors, most of whom had never seen
a real battle
●​ Launched platform through influencer marketing and PPC campaigns targeting 2nd
Amendment audience - 17% YoY revenue growth
●​ Led e-commerce redesign coordinating agency partnership to optimize conversion
funnel and simplify checkout flow

Senior Brand Communications Manager, Taimi (LGBTQ+ dating app) | May–Oct 2021

●​ Found demographic insight through academic research - Gen Z LGBTQ+ growth driven
primarily by lesbians, matching the app's largest user segment. Validated hypothesis
through A/B testing
●​ Led research program (user interviews, app analytics, surveys) and developed
data-informed brand platform based on findings
●​ Negotiated with 20+ top-tier US agencies (The GUT, Known LA, GfK US, etc)
establishing strategic partnerships for North American market expansion
●​ Managed and mentored a 6-person brand and communications team, implementing
structured workflows that improved cross-functional collaboration and lowered influencer
marketing CPM

Licensed Brands Manager, First Private Brewery (Heineken, Krusovice, Amstel) | May
2020–May 2021

●​ Led GTM strategy for energy drink launch in crowded market coordinating
cross-functional cooperation across 3 countries
●​ Identified P&L crisis - uncontrolled discounting made licensed brands unprofitable;
negotiated with Heineken HQ to pivot to draft beer shops as the only sustainable
channel that year

Marketing Manager, Huawei Ukraine (Global technology company) | May 2019–May 2020

●​ Grew prompted awareness from 48% to 68% and market share from 3% to 8%
●​ Working with limited HQ creative materials, identified distinctive brand assets, optimized
media strategy to reach all category buyers through cost-effective digital channels, and
integrated retailer co-promo with brand advertising, achieving the highest market share
for HONOR in Ukraine
●​ Led product launch strategies including fitness tracker category entry
Brand & Digital Manager, Bunge Oleina (#1 cooking oil brand in Ukraine) | Mar 2016–May
2019

●​ Found insight around gender cooking roles and repositioned the brand to champion
family cooking together, developed media and comms strategy that reversed sales
decline to 30% YoY growth, gold Effie Award
●​ Led digital transformation for TV-dependent brand, launched mobile-friendly websites,
introduced YouTube/GDN advertising, social listening, and digital PR
●​ Created communication and media strategies for new product launches across company
portfolio
●​ Identified black PR attack through social listening and neutralized it with an unbranded
digital PR campaign proving the entire oil category was safe

Earlier Experience:​
Global Spirits | Junior Brand Manager | Sep 2014–Sep 2015

●​ Led 360° relaunch campaign for Shustov brandy securing #2 position in category under
dark-market advertising restrictions
●​ Managed website relaunch and launched brand's first e-commerce shop

Carlsberg Ukraine | Brand Specialist | Sep 2012–Jul 2014

●​ Contributed to campaigns (redesign, Rizdvyane launch, Okean Elzy tour sponsorship,
etc) that elevated Lvivske to #1 beer brand in Ukraine
●​ Built marketing fundamentals across brand management, media planning, and analytics
at major multinational FMCG corporation

STRATEGIC SKILLS
Comfortable with all frameworks: Get/To/By, 4Cs, 6Cs, brand keys & wheels, JTBD, CEPs,
STP, 4P, 4-point, for/only/because, SWOTs, 5 whys, brand on a page, Censydiam, strategy
stories, archetypes, brand purpose, whatever helps creatives & clients better imagine next
brand’s campaigns​
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Experience with all types of marketing research: deep-dive desk research, qualitative
(interviews, focus groups), quantitative (surveys, brand health tracking in the US & Ukraine
market), full-funnel competitive analysis, social listening, observational/ethnographic research,
customer journey mapping, keyword research, share of search, synthetic data, etc​
​
Soft Skills: critical thinking & problem solving, lateral thinking & creativity, clarity in writing and
speaking, emotional intelligence, team building & healthy leadership, learning, cross-functional
collaboration, relationship-building, "artist eye" (ability to speak the language of designers, art
directors, directors, dops, etc) ​

TECHNOLOGY & AI FLUENCY
Digital tools: Google Trends (Share of Search) | Ahrefs | Semrush | Similarweb | Social
Listening (Brand24, YouScan) | GA4 | Hotjar | Google & Meta Ad Cabinets | Miro & Figma
(Visualization) | Facebook Ads Library | Google Ads Transparency Center ​
​
GenAI Expertise: RAG-Based Generation | No-Code Agentic Workflows | Multi-Modal
Integration | Ethical AI | Advanced Prompting: Chain-of-Thought (CoT) | Skeleton-of-Thought
(SoT) | Chain of Verification (CoVe) | Few/Many-Shot | Persona Prompting​
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AI Tools: Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, Notebook LM, Veo, Runway, Gamma,
Zapier, n8n​
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EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
Master's in International Economics | Kyiv National University of Trade & Economics, grad.
2013​
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AI & Career Empowerment by University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business ​
AI workspace proficiency by Superhuman​
Sweathead strategy course ​
Google Analytics Certification​
AI-Powered Performance Ads Certification​
Google Ads Creative Certification ​
Google Marketing Platform workshop by Google&OMD ​
Digital Marketing Strategy at Coursera ​
Contextual advertising at Coursera ​
Google Digital Workshop ​
Youtube Creative Essentials​
Apple Search Ads ​
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Languages: Ukrainian (native), English (fluent, creative writing)