Robert P. Burke
Robert P. Burke

Strategic brand and marketing partner for leaders building enduring companies.

25+ years helping leaders build brands, grow markets, and lead through change.

Philosophy

Clarity first.
Everything else follows.

The best brands — like the best companies — carry a point of view. They make people feel something. They earn loyalty through genuine quality rather than habit. And they are built not for the next quarter, but for the next decade.

I've spent 25 years helping leaders build brands, grow markets, and lead through change: rebrands, acquisitions, digital adoption, culture shifts, and the teams that carry them. What I've learned is that clarity comes first.

Who are you? What do you believe? Why should anyone care?

Everything downstream — go-to-market, communications, organizational alignment — either flows from those answers or quietly fights against them. Most marketing problems are really positioning problems wearing a disguise.

Approach

Where I'm useful

Brand strategy and positioning

Sharpening what a company stands for, who it's for, and why it wins — then making that story consistent across every place a buyer encounters it.

Go-to-market and demand

Connecting brand to revenue: search and answer-engine visibility, paid media, web as a conversion asset, and attribution that ties spend to pipeline rather than vanity metrics.

AI-fluent marketing operations

Building teams and workflows that actually run on AI — content systems, research, reporting, audience intelligence — with standards and proficiency frameworks, not one-off experiments.

Transformation and change communications

Guiding leaders through rebrands, M&A integration, and operating-model shifts, with internal and external narrative aligned so people understand the why.

Teams and leadership

Recruiting, coaching, and scaling marketing and communications organizations — including employer brand and recruitment marketing when the constraint is talent, not demand.

How I think

Four commitments

Long-term by conviction

Strategy compounds. Brands built slowly, with care, outlast the ones optimized for the current quarter.

Craft over volume

One sharp position beats ten adequate campaigns. Fewer things, done exceptionally well.

Change with purpose

Transformation works when people understand the why. Communications and alignment aren't the afterthought — they're the mechanism.

Design-led thinking

Design isn't decoration. It's the decision to care about the person in the room, holding the product, clicking the link.

Background

Twenty-five years, one through-line

Global technology, engineering services, BPO, staffing, and financial services — enterprise brands in the middle of something hard. Rebrands, billion-dollar acquisitions, private equity transitions, IPOs, and turnarounds. The work changes shape; the problem rarely does.

Download CV (PDF) ↓
2023 — Present

VP, Global Head of Digital Marketing

Akkodis

Recruited to lead global digital marketing transformation, building a digital-first, AI-fluent performance culture across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific at the Adecco Group's global digital engineering and technology consulting business.

  • Generated $89M+ in influenced pipeline through integrated demand generation across web, social, paid, ABM, and content
  • Grew social following by 1.1M+ net new followers against larger, better-funded competitors; launched the Tomorrow Engineered LinkedIn newsletter for executive thought leadership
  • Drove 77.8% YoY growth in search impressions (21.26M) and 19.9% growth in organic traffic; led the GEO/AIO initiative positioning the brand for AI-driven search
  • Built out the marketing technology stack — Salesforce Astro CRM across France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia; ZoomInfo EMEA; Qualified.com AI SDR
  • Directed marketing for the F1 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS sponsorship, contributing to $402.9M in cumulative media value and 471M+ brand exposures
2022 — 2023

VP, Head of Marketing, North America

Akkodis

Led North America marketing through the billion-dollar acquisition of AKKA Technologies and the rebrand from Modis to Akkodis.

  • Built marketing operations, lead generation, and ABM strategy from the ground up, growing influenced pipeline from $0 to $10M+ in under 12 months
2021 — 2022

SVP, Marketing

GlobalStep

Led global marketing for the gaming, interactive entertainment, and digital products verticals at a technology services provider for games and interactive digital products.

  • Grew YoY digital pipeline opportunity 305% within six months, building a new outbound channel from scratch
2020 — 2021

Vice President, Marketing, Americas

Sitel Group

Built a client-centric marketing organization for the Americas with defined processes for campaign management, ROI measurement, and optimization — growing marketing-generated pipeline from $0 to $53M+.

  • Directed full-funnel demand generation across paid, digital, nurture, events, and sales enablement; influenced more than 35% of total sales pipeline revenue
  • Led the company's first employee value proposition and recruitment marketing platform — recognized as 2021 Most Admired Employer Brand by HRO Today
  • Rebuilt the go-to-market process, including lead scoring models and ROI reporting dashboards
  • Launched the "Learn, Lead & Grow" employer brand campaign to support recruitment for critical client launches
2018 — 2020

SVP, Group Marketing

QualiTest Group

Led branding, messaging, thought leadership, recruitment marketing, and demand generation at the world's largest independent quality assurance firm during a private equity transition.

  • 32% increase in web traffic, 29% increase in qualified leads, inbound inquiries nearly doubled
  • Tripled TCV pipeline with a process ensuring 95% of leads were handled within a day
  • Recruitment marketing that supported hiring 1,000+ technologists in a single year
  • Positioned AI intellectual property under the Qualisense brand and launched the Qualitools suite
2006 — 2018

Vice President, Marketing

iQor

Provided strategic marketing and communications leadership over twelve years at a 40,000-employee global BPO and call center solutions provider, through a private equity turnaround and sustained M&A activity.

  • Led a multi-year corporate rebrand and culture change initiative spanning brand strategy, digital and print communications, and events
  • Consolidated CRM systems and launched a marketing automation platform for lead generation, content marketing, and SEO/SEM
  • Supported billions in M&A activity, including the acquisition of Jabil Aftermarket Services
  • Served as media spokesperson, securing coverage in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Investor's Business Daily, CNET, and ComputerWorld; named "iQor Champion" by the CEO
2006 — 2008

Director, Corporate Communications

iQor

Led global corporate communications during the private equity turnaround, before being promoted to lead marketing.

2004 — 2005

Director, Global Branding

Monster Worldwide

Protected and built the company's reputation during a pivotal growth period — publishing the monthly Monster Employment Index as a leading indicator of online job demand, with coverage in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and CNBC Europe.

2003 — 2004

Manager, Corporate Communications & PR

Monster Worldwide

Ran corporate PR and executive communications, including acquisition and financial communications, before stepping into the global branding role.

2002 — 2003

Communications Manager

Prudential, UK & Europe

Implemented communication strategies as part of an enterprise-wide change management program in London.

1998 — 2002

Manager, Corporate Communications

Prudential Financial

Supported one of the largest demutualizations and IPOs in U.S. history, building pre- and post-IPO business and financial literacy programs reaching 12,000 employees — and managing award-winning intranet content that delivered $1.1M in cost savings.

1996 — 1998

Public Affairs Coordinator

New York State Senate

Coordinated all aspects of marketing for one of New York's leading State Senators, including direct mail, media relations, polling, special events, and management of local political campaigns.

Robert P. Burke
Connect

Let's talk

I take on a small number of engagements at a time, and I'm always glad to talk with founders and leaders building something they intend to keep.

Elsewhere

Find me

Professional on LinkedIn. Everywhere else is reading, music, photographs, and the long project of getting better at things.