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PORTFOLIO CASE
KARUNA
GLOBAL BRAND &
CREATIVE STRATEGY
Selected work across research-led positioning, market strategy, brand launches, product branding and integrated creative systems.
Mikhail Shal · Creative Lead / Strategist · 2021–2024 · FinTech
Selected internal work · product and brand names anonymized where required
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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01 · SCOPE
FROM CREATIVE EXECUTION
TO BRAND OWNERSHIP
Across three years at Karuna, my role expanded from hands-on creative work to team leadership and then to research-led brand and communication strategy.
2021–22
Senior Creative
Copywriter
2022–23
Creative Team Lead
/ Product Owner
2023–24
Creative Lead
/ Strategist
SCALE OF THE STRATEGIST ROLE
10+
MULTI-CHANNEL CAMPAIGNS
Market-level brand and creative strategies
7
COUNTRIES
Türkiye · India · LATAM · Brazil + more
50+
PROJECTS CREATIVE-DIRECTED
Brand · performance · video · gamification
300+
ASSETS IN ONE GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Earlier team-lead chapter
RESEARCH · SEGMENTATION · POSITIONING · MESSAGING · CREATIVE DIRECTION · ANALYTICS
Source: CV + internal project materials
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
02 · STRATEGIC FOUNDATION
BEFORE THE CAMPAIGNS,
WE REBUILT THE FOUNDATION.
The market work came out of a broader positioning project grounded in qualitative and quantitative user research. I worked alongside the lead Brand Strategist as an internal strategy partner — helping turn evidence into insights, language and communication choices.
LISTEN
Interviews
User language
Motivations
Barriers
MEASURE
Quant studies
Brand Health
Segments
Patterns
SYNTHESIZE
Tensions
Insights
Verbatims
Implications
POSITION
Brand role
Promise
Language
Message logic
APPLY
Markets
Campaigns
Features
GTM
MY ROLE IN THE POSITIONING PROJECT
I listened to interviews, helped surface recurring insights, interpreted research outputs, contributed to wording and positioning, and translated the strategy into creative systems. The lead Brand Strategist owned the overall project; I was a direct strategic contributor.
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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03 · APPLICATION MODEL
ONE RESEARCH BASE.
DIFFERENT STRATEGIC ANSWERS.
The work below was not a collection of isolated campaigns. It was a set of market, product and lifecycle applications built downstream of the same research-led positioning foundation.
RESEARCH BASE
Qual + quant
Brand Health
User language
Segment data
MASTER BRAND
Positioning
Brand role
Promise
Message logic
LOCAL / PRODUCT
Türkiye
India
LATAM
VIP app
Trading Signals
CREATIVE SYSTEM
Campaigns
GTM systems
Product comms
Cultural layers
MEASUREMENT
Brand lift
CTR / CPL
Revenue
Funnel movement
ONE FOUNDATION ≠ ONE EXECUTION
Türkiye, India and LATAM translated the same master positioning into different cultural roles. VIP isolated a high-value segment; Brazil used the same product under a separate white-label brand; Trading Signals translated the brand logic into feature adoption.
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 01 · TÜRKIYE
BUILD A MARKET PLATFORM,
NOT A ONE-OFF CAMPAIGN
Türkiye became one of the clearest market-level expressions of the updated master positioning. Local research sharpened the tension: people wanted self-development, recognition and a better future — while practical barriers made “starting” feel difficult.
TRADING SUPERSTAR
People want to become “superstars” — but often do not recognize the potential they already have.
The brand’s role: make that potential visible, reduce the barrier to starting and turn aspiration into action.
Bilal Sonses was part of the platform as an ambassador and cultural proof point — not a separate celebrity activation.
Internal campaign concept · product anonymized
My role: brand strategist · creative director · producer / project manager
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 01 · TÜRKIYE
ONE STRATEGY.
MULTIPLE CAMPAIGN EXPRESSIONS.
The strategic core stayed stable while the market story evolved. Bilal remained embedded in the platform; later work deepened the same territory from “reveal your potential” toward “stop postponing the dream and start moving now.”
WAVE / SYSTEM
Trading Superstar
Market-level creative system across 360° touchpoints
CULTURAL EXTENSION
100 Years of Türkiye
Same platform adapted to a national cultural moment
BRAND STORY
Bilal × Brand
Ambassador narrative tied to dreams, momentum and product
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 01 · TÜRKIYE
STRATEGY THAT MOVED
BRAND + BUSINESS METRICS
After six months, the market strategy was visible not only in creative output but in media efficiency, revenue quality and brand perception.
3×
CHEAPER TARGETED VIEWS
vs planned view cost
RECORD
CTR + CPL PERFORMANCE
best in the geo at the time
2.7×
MONTH-1 REVENUE
vs regions without a creative concept
160%
REVENUE PLAN EXECUTION
benchmarked to a prior similar campaign
+3–7%
RELEVANT BRAND PERCEPTION
after 6 months
70 → 88%
INTENTION → DEPOSIT CONVERSION
+18 points in Türkiye
Brand rejection also decreased by 11%.
Internal campaign report · 6-month period
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 02 · INDIA
THE SAME PRODUCT NEEDED
A DIFFERENT BRAND ROLE
India started from the same master positioning and research base — but local evidence pointed to a very different role for the brand. At work and at home people feel pressure to be “correct”; with friends, they can relax and be themselves.
TRADING BUDDY
A friendly, transparent and responsive trading companion — a brand that makes the experience feel easier, warmer and more enjoyable.
Localization changed the personality of the brand, not just the copy.
My role: brand strategist · creative director · producer / project manager
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 02 · INDIA
FROM POSITIONING TO A
LIVING COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
The “buddy” idea became a practical operating system: character, vocabulary, tone of voice, recurring visual cues, campaign assets and local cultural extensions such as cricket.
RESULTS AFTER 6 MONTHS
+4–20%
RELEVANT BRAND PERCEPTION
Selected characteristics in internal tracking
−4%
BRAND REJECTION
Lower denial / rejection level
MEASUREMENT CAVEAT
Product-side technical issues prevented a full-scale advertising campaign, so performance attribution was less clean than in Türkiye.
Internal campaign summary
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 03 · BRAZIL
NOT A LOCALIZATION.
A SEPARATE BRAND LAUNCH.
Brazil was a go-to-market launch of the same underlying product under a separate white-label brand. The broader research base informed the audience understanding, but the proposition and brand expression were built from scratch for this launch.
THE TENSION
Family is central in Brazilian culture. At the same time, the audience values self-development, freedom and financial progress.
The brand idea resolved the conflict instead of asking people to choose.
TRADING THAT UNITES
My role: brand strategist · creative director · producer / project manager
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 03 · BRAZIL
TURNING POSITIONING INTO
A GO-TO-MARKET SYSTEM
The platform had to survive contact with the real launch: campaign key visuals, modular design, website, app-store assets and acquisition communication — all carrying one recognisable brand logic.
POSITIONING
Research → proposition
WEBSITE
Launch environment
APP STORE
Acquisition touchpoint
Launch result data was still in progress in the source materials
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 04 · PRODUCT BRAND
BUILDING A PRODUCT BRAND
FOR HIGH-VALUE TRADERS
A new Android app for VIP traders needed its own product brand. I used the broader research program as a starting point, isolated the high-value segment, and then built the positioning from scratch: target refinement, naming, slogan, Tone of Voice, identity direction and launch communication.
RESEARCH BASE
Target refinement synthesized findings from 10 studies of high-payer users ($700+ monthly deposit segment).
I interpreted the findings specifically through VIP needs and motivations. Positioning territory: “Energy of superiority” — premium functionality, drive, status and high-touch service without becoming cold or formal.
LAUNCHED
Product successfully released; analytics were still in progress in the original material.
My role: brand strategist · creative director · producer / project manager
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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CASE 05 · PRODUCT MARKETING
BRAND STRATEGY DIDN’T
STOP AT AWARENESS
Trading Signals was a feature-adoption problem built inside the same updated brand logic. The work combined target research, competitor analysis, feature positioning and channel-specific journeys for different user states — not a single “promo campaign.”
POSITIONING LOGIC
Signals were framed as a starting point for learning trading — reducing the knowledge barrier while preserving the user’s sense of agency.
Then the communication was split by job-to-be-done: VIP adoption, non-VIP acquisition, CRM, sales, owned media, influencers, paid search and retargeting.
Internal product communication strategy
My role: brand strategist
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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07 · INTERNATIONAL RANGE
LOCALIZATION WASN’T
TRANSLATION
The foundational positioning travelled across markets, but the answer changed with culture, product maturity and the business task. LATAM, Copa América and the global Big Idea for GTM were all downstream expressions or tests of the same research-led brand logic.
LATAM · CULTURAL PARTNERSHIP
“Your life. Your trading” translated the master positioning into a regional platform and later into Copa América communication.
GLOBAL · STRATEGY EXPLORATION
A global Big Idea explored how the updated positioning could scale cross-market; shown here as strategic development, not as a fully shipped campaign.
My role: brand strategist · creative director
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK
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08 · WHAT THIS EXPERIENCE PROVES
RESEARCH WASN’T A PRELUDE.
IT WAS THE SOURCE CODE.
Karuna taught me to build from evidence: participate in positioning research, translate it into market and product strategy, turn strategy into creative systems, and then measure whether the work moved brand or business.
MARKET STRATEGY
Build a distinct role for one global product across cultures
BRAND LAUNCHES
Create propositions and GTM systems for new brands
PRODUCT BRANDING
Position, name and launch new products / sub-brands
COMMERCIAL THINKING
Connect brand work to funnel, retention and media efficiency
SELECTED IMPACT
10+
MULTI-CHANNEL CAMPAIGNS
7
COUNTRIES
50+
PROJECTS CREATIVE-DIRECTED
+3–20 pp
SELECTED BRAND PERCEPTION
70 → 88%
TÜRKİYE INTENTION → DEPOSIT
Alongside record CTR / CPL performance for the market.
RESEARCH → POSITIONING → MARKET / PRODUCT STRATEGY → CREATIVE SYSTEM → EXECUTION → MEASUREMENT
Mikhail Shal · Brand Strategy / Creative Leadership
KARUNA · SELECTED WORK