Marrying Data & Storytelling in Growth Marketing with Patrick Moran

"The term 'growth hack' insinuates something temporary and one-off. True growth should be predictable and sustainable."

In this episode of Growth Talks, Krystina Rubino interviews Patrick Moran, Head of Growth Marketing at Robinhood. Patrick dives into the distinctions between brand marketing and brand advertising, highlighting the crucial integration of data and storytelling for establishing successful growth strategies. He shares practical insights on optimizing channel performance, identifying diminishing returns, and diversifying spend—and explores when and how you should use sophisticated measurement frameworks like media mix modeling (MMM). 

‍🗝️Key Takeaways:

• Brand marketing involves a holistic approach to shaping the brand's presence and identity. Brand advertising is a tactical application of paid media to communicate the brand to targeted audiences.
• Successful growth strategies must integrate quantitative analysis and compelling brand narratives.
• Using spend curves and adjusting for seasonality in channel performance can help identify when channels hit diminishing returns.
• Employing sophisticated measurement frameworks like media mix modeling (MMM) and match market testing is key in accurately assessing the impact of marketing efforts.
• You can’t just follow a playbook. Instead, apply frameworks to dIfferent companies and stages to develop customized growth strategies. 
• Onboarding and activation serve a critical role in improving LTV and reducing churn.

⏰ Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction: Krystina Rubino introduces Patrick Moran

01:30 - Defining growth marketing vs brand marketing vs brand advertising

06:14 - Role of brand advertising in creating demand

13:04 - Measurement approaches for multimedia campaigns

18:10 - How to know when you need to diversify your channels

23:00 - A/B Test: short form vs long form, coffee vs tea, board games vs video games

27:00 - When companies should invest in brand building

36:41 - Why Patrick focuses on consumer vs B2B

39:46 - Patrick’s growth non-hack and conclusion

🔗 Mentioned in this episode

Robinhood: www.robinhood.com

Netflix: www.netflix.com

Spotify: www.spotify.com

Yik Yak: www.yikyak.com

Reforge: www.reforge.com

Spring Health: www.springhealth.com

Duolingo: www.duolingo.com

Ipsy: www.ipsy.com

Notion: www.notion.co

HubSpot: www.hubspot.com

Wayfair: www.wayfair.com

We’ll be dropping episodes every other week. Want to follow along and listen to new episodes when they’re released? Subscribe to Growth Talks on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.