MMarketing Against The Grain
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27 May 2023

Previous CMO Of ClassPass & Skyscanner Shares Her Growth & Brand Playbook (#123)

1Frameworks
8Insights

Frameworks in this episode

Strategy5 steps

North Star Input Tree

Connect team inputs to one company-level measure of customer value

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Insights & moments

The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.

Myth Buster· 1

Myth Buster

Why Brand or Growth Is the Wrong Choice

Joanna Lord rejects the premise that a company should become excellent at brand or growth but not both. She argues that both capabilities are necessary, even though a company's stage and resources usually create a stronger predisposition toward one side.

  • Companies need both brand and growth capabilities
  • A current bias toward one capability does not remove the need for the other
  • Stage and resources affect which capability is more developed
#brand#growth#marketing strategy

Hot Take· 1

Hot Take

Brand Must Survive Short-Term Pressure

The conversation contrasts pressure for short-term results with the continuing need to build brand over the long term. Strong marketing leadership has to manage both time horizons rather than allowing immediate demands to eliminate longer-term capability.

  • Short-term and long-term marketing needs coexist
  • Immediate results can crowd out brand investment
  • Leadership must preserve both time horizons
#long-term brand#short-term pressure#leadership

Explainer· 2

Explainer

Company Stage Shapes Its Brand-Growth Bias

The discussion treats a company's brand-versus-growth tendency as contextual rather than permanent. Company stage, available resources, and existing strengths influence where the organization starts, while the missing capability still has to be developed.

  • Marketing strengths develop unevenly
  • Resource constraints force sequencing
  • A predisposition should not become a permanent either-or decision
#company stage#resources#marketing leadership
Explainer

Brand Work Does Not Stop at Awareness

The conversation connects brand with more than top-of-market visibility. Brand can shape how customers understand the product and contribute to activation and retention, linking brand work to behavior beyond first exposure.

  • Brand has effects beyond initial awareness
  • Customer understanding can influence activation
  • The ongoing experience can reinforce retention
#brand awareness#activation#retention

Story· 1

Story

Skyscanner Shows Brand and Growth Can Coexist

Joanna's Skyscanner experience anchors the discussion in a travel company that developed a strong growth team without treating brand as irrelevant. The example supports the episode's central point that the two disciplines can coexist inside one marketing organization.

  • Skyscanner had a strong growth team
  • Growth capability did not make brand unnecessary
  • Leadership experience across both disciplines informs Joanna's view
#skyscanner#travel#growth team

Q&A· 1

Q&A

Should a Founder Hire for Brand or Growth?

The hosts frame a common founder question: whether the next marketing leader should be strongest in messaging and creative work or in building a predictable growth engine. The answer is not to pretend one person is equally deep everywhere, but to understand the company's current gap and ensure leadership can build complementary expertise.

  • Marketing leaders often have a stronger specialty
  • The company's existing capability should inform the hire
  • Team composition can supply depth that one leader lacks
#hiring#cmo#team design

Takeaway· 2

Takeaway

A Founder's Bias Shapes the Marketing Organization

Founders influence whether a company naturally privileges brand, creative work, or a more growth-oriented engine. Recognizing that bias helps leaders identify which complementary capability the organization must deliberately add.

  • Founder preferences affect company marketing strengths
  • Early strengths can shape later hiring and team design
  • Leaders should identify the capability their bias leaves underdeveloped
#founders#organizational design#marketing
Takeaway

Product and Brand Must Reinforce Each Other

Brand positioning cannot remain detached from what the product delivers. The episode links product and brand work, emphasizing that the customer experience has to support the story marketing creates.

  • Positioning should match the product experience
  • Marketing cannot compensate indefinitely for a disconnected product
  • Product and brand teams contribute to the same customer perception
#product#positioning#customer experience