Leaning into a community first approach to brand, acquisition, and retention at Duolingo | Manu Orssaud (Duolingo, Spotify, Play Station)

Manu Orssaud is the Chief Marketing Officer of Duolingo, where he is responsible for building the brand and driving user growth globally. Prior to Duolingo, Manu led Global Marketing Strategy at Spotify and one of the things he was was responsible for was leading the award-winning Wrapped annual campaign. Manu was also at Sony PlayStation and developed the digital marketing function across EMEA for the global entertainment brand.

---

We cover: 

• How Duolingo moved from a paid advertising to a social first approach 
• This approach which has led to a much more significant impact to acquisition, retention, and driving the brand globally 
• Focusing on developing locally relevant content 
• Building a team that is nimble, resourceful, and understands the brand extremely well

---

Where to find Manu: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eorssaud/

---

Where to find Patrick: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pcmoran/

---

(02:16) An intro to Duolingo and its business model 

(02:57) Duolingo's mission and the problem it's trying to solve

(05:58) Science backed language proficiency framework that Duolingo uses 

(07:44) Main audiences around the world 

(09:19) The alternatives to Duolingo and what is specific to the experience 

(13:12) Building a global brand and Duolingo's approach to this 

(16:52) Learning from the community and the magic that came out of those interactions 

(22:08) Driving new user growth and retention rates through social media 

(24:05) The marketing mix 

(26:57) Expanding the brand globally and being locally relevant 

(29:39) Doing social media locally really well 

(31:00) Developing specific story lines and how fast content travels 

(32:59) Approach to team structure, a focus on being nimble, resourceful and understands the brand extremely well

(35:32) Where to find Manu!