I'm Maria Fernanda Perez, a bilingual freelance Strategy Director based between Miami and New York, with +10 years of experience leading brand strategy across North and Latin America. I bring a culturally nuanced lens to my work, helping brands navigate complexity and connect meaningfully with diverse audiences. My portfolio spans financial services, retail, consumer goods, insurance, alcoholic beverages, automotive, and pharma. Partnering with brands to build sharp positioning, drive relevance, create long-term impact, and insightful campaigns.…

María Fernanda Pérez

I'm Maria Fernanda Perez, a bilingual freelance Strategy Director based between Miami and New York, with +10 years of experience leading brand strategy across North and Latin America. I bring a culturally nuanced lens to my work, helping brands navigate complexity and connect meaningfully with diverse audiences. My portfolio spans financial services, retail, consumer goods, insurance, alcoholic beverages, automotive, and pharma. Partnering with brands to build sharp positioning, drive relevance, create long-term impact, and insightful campaigns.…

Available to hire

I’m Maria Fernanda Perez, a bilingual freelance Strategy Director based between Miami and New York, with +10 years of experience leading brand strategy across North and Latin America. I bring a culturally nuanced lens to my work, helping brands navigate complexity and connect meaningfully with diverse audiences.

My portfolio spans financial services, retail, consumer goods, insurance, alcoholic beverages, automotive, and pharma. Partnering with brands to build sharp positioning, drive relevance, create long-term impact, and insightful campaigns.

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Skills

Experience Level

Branding
Expert
Pitch Deck
Expert
Perplexity
Intermediate

Language

English
Fluent
Spanish; Castilian
Fluent

Work Experience

Senior Strategist at Leo Burnett Mexico
November 1, 2018 - April 1, 2021
Leading Kellogg’s Latin America, AXA insurance & Sanofi.
Brand Strategist & Consultant at Ogilvy Mexico
June 1, 2016 - November 1, 2018
Jr. Strategist for American Express Mexico that evolved into lead strategist for American Express Latin America, plus consultancy work for Mazda & KFC.
Strategy Director at GUT
April 1, 2021 - September 1, 2025
Leading Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Vital Farms, Kraft Heinz NotCo, Google Pixel & WhatsApp.
Strategy Director Consultant
September 1, 2025 - Present
Based in Miami and New York. Currently collaborating with Miami based financial institutions for brand positioning projects.

Education

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Qualifications

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Industry Experience

Media & Entertainment, Professional Services
    paper NotCo: NotMayo launch (2023)

    Challenge: Launch a plant based mayonnaise that’ll convince people it tastes like OG mayo.
    Insight: There’s no in between feelings when it comes to mayo. Either you love it or hate it.
    Strategy: Transform skepticism into advocacy by dramatizing how people who hate real mayo will hate NotMayo just as much.

    paper Philadelphia Cream Cheese: Tax-free Bagel (2022)

    Challenge: Get Millennials and Gen-Z to choose Philadelphia in an economic context where they had turned to cheaper, grocery store brands.
    Insight: People in NY were charged extra to have bagels with cream cheese, because they were sliced.
    Strategy: The tax-free bagel: A ridiculously good product innovation to evade a ridiculously bad tax.