Fractional CMO & Marketing Consultant · Melbourne

Senior marketing, without the full‑time hire.

Twelve Point North gives founder-led and growing businesses access to senior marketing strategy and hands-on execution. One experienced practitioner. No account manager. No junior team.

Serving retail, franchise, professional services, and trades businesses across Australia.

Work with me See how it works →
20+
Years in market
40%+
Lead uplift delivered
$8M+
Budgets managed
30%
Organic growth achieved
47
Store network led
Sound familiar?

If any of these keep you up at night, we should talk.

“My ads are running but I have no idea if they’re actually working.”
Budget going out, results unclear. No one is giving you a straight answer on why.
“Leads come in but most of them go nowhere.”
Your CRM is a mess or you don’t have one. Follow-up is inconsistent. Conversion is low.
“Our website looks outdated and doesn’t bring in enquiries.”
Traffic exists but it doesn’t convert. The site doesn’t reflect what the business actually does.
“I know AI is important but I don’t know where to start.”
Everyone is talking about it. You don’t want to waste money on tools that don’t deliver.
“We don’t have a clear marketing strategy. We just react.”
Marketing feels like a series of one-off tasks with no thread connecting them to growth.
“I need senior marketing help but can’t justify a full-time salary.”
A Head of Marketing costs $160K+. You need the thinking without the permanent overhead.
How we work together

Three ways to engage.

Depending on where you are and what you need. All three start with a conversation.

01 Most popular
Fractional CMO
Embedded senior marketing leadership, part-time. Own the strategy, manage the execution, report to you directly. Everything a Head of Marketing does, without the full-time cost.
  • Marketing strategy and annual planning
  • Agency and supplier management
  • CRM, digital, and campaign oversight
  • Board and leadership reporting
  • Team building and capability uplift
From $4,500 / month · Minimum 3 months
Learn more →
02 Fixed scope
Project Work
A specific problem, a defined deliverable, a fixed price. No retainer required. Ideal when you know what needs to be built or fixed.
  • CRM setup and automation (HubSpot, GHL)
  • Google Ads and Meta campaign build
  • SEO foundation and content strategy
  • Website replatform or rebuild
  • AI readiness and implementation
From $2,500 · Scoped per project
See services →
03 Start here
Marketing Diagnostic
Not sure where to start? A focused review of your marketing, CRM, digital channels, and spend. You get a clear priority list and a recommended path forward.
  • Channel and spend performance review
  • CRM and lead flow audit
  • Website and SEO health check
  • AI and automation readiness
  • Prioritised 90-day action plan
$1,800 AUD · 5 to 7 day turnaround
Request a Diagnostic →
Capability

The full marketing stack. In one person.

Most businesses need three or four specialists to cover this ground, or they hire an agency and lose control. TPN brings senior experience across all of it, with the commercial literacy to connect it back to your numbers.

Brand Strategy
Positioning, architecture, tone of voice, and identity systems built to hold up at scale.
CRM & Automation
HubSpot and GoHighLevel. Lead lifecycle, attribution, nurture workflows, and platform migration.
Performance Marketing
Google Ads, Meta, SEO. Built around qualified leads and measurable return, not vanity metrics.
AI-Enabled Marketing
Practical AI across diagnosis, content, CRM, and reporting. Applied depth, not theory or hype.
Website & Digital
CMS replatforms, UX-led rebuilds, and conversion-focused digital foundations.
Campaign & Content
Integrated campaign development and content strategy tied to measurable outcomes.
AI & Technology

Built, not just advised.

Most consultants talk about AI. TPN builds with it. Custom tools, automated workflows, and live dashboards that save time, surface insights, and remove the manual work holding your business back.

01
Marketing Performance Dashboards
A live view of your ads, CRM, SEO, and website performance in one place. Updated automatically. No spreadsheets. No chasing agencies for numbers.
  • Google Ads, Meta, and SEO data unified
  • Lead volume, cost, and conversion tracking
  • CRM pipeline visibility in real time
  • Built for non-technical business owners
  • Custom to your metrics and reporting cadence
02
AI Workflow Automation
Repetitive marketing tasks automated and running in the background. Lead follow-up, reporting, content scheduling, CRM data entry. Built once, runs continuously.
  • Automated lead nurture and follow-up sequences
  • AI-assisted content and copy generation workflows
  • Weekly performance reports delivered automatically
  • CRM data enrichment and hygiene automation
  • Built on Make, Zapier, GoHighLevel, and HubSpot
03
Custom Apps & PWAs
Lightweight web apps built for a specific business need. Event tools, internal dashboards, booking systems, or customer-facing portals. Scoped, built, and handed over ready to use.
  • Progressive web apps (PWA) for mobile and desktop
  • Event and conference delegate apps
  • Internal marketing ops and reporting tools
  • Customer portals and booking systems
  • Built with Next.js, React, and modern web stack
Demonstrated
Built a conference delegate app for 150 attendees at the Floorworld International Conference, Malaysia 2026. Next.js PWA, built and deployed end to end.
Demonstrated
Diagnosed a 97% lead drop using AI-assisted performance analysis across CRM, ads, and web data. Root cause identified and resolved within days.
Demonstrated
Designed and implemented an AI governance framework across Marketing, Operations, and Finance. Approved use cases, human-in-the-loop controls, and brand safeguards.
The practitioner

20 years of doing this work. Now available to your business.

Twelve Point North is led by Surani Sahabandu, a Melbourne-based senior marketing practitioner with a track record across national retail, FMCG, and franchise businesses in Australia and Asia.

Most recently Brand and Marketing Manager at Floorworld, a 47-store national flooring franchise, leading national strategy, a $644K budget, CRM migration, brand refresh, and AI governance. Before that, General Manager of Marketing at Ceylon Biscuits, managing an $8M budget and a team of 12 across 24 brands.

Trained at Unilever. MBA qualified. CIMA UK. Commercially literate beyond marketing.

Full background →
Brand & Marketing Manager
AU
Floorworld Pty Ltd · 47-store national franchise · $644K budget
General Manager, Marketing
Asia
Ceylon Biscuits Ltd (Munchee) · $8M budget · Team of 12
Head of Sales & Marketing
Asia
Elephant House Ice Cream · John Keells Holdings
Head of Sales & Marketing
Asia
JAT Holdings · Pre-IPO growth phase
Brand Manager
Asia
Unilever Sri Lanka · Knorr & Marmite
MBA CIMA UK BSc First Class HubSpot · 5 yrs GoHighLevel · 2 yrs
Research

Thinking on growth, CRM, and AI in modern business.

Practical frameworks for founders and operators. Not content marketing. Actual thinking.

CRM
What Boards Should Know Before Approving a CRM Rebuild
Most CRM projects fail before they start. Here is what to diagnose first and what questions to ask.
 AI Readiness
Why Most Businesses Are Automating Chaos
AI layered onto weak foundations makes bad processes faster. The fix starts before the tools.
 Performance
Why Your Ads Are Running and Nothing Is Working
The most common reasons marketing spend produces activity but not results, and what to do about it.
Browse all research →

Not sure which option is right for you?

Start with a 30-minute conversation. No pitch. No obligation. Just a clear view of where your marketing is and what would make the biggest difference first.

Book a free call Start with a Diagnostic