Scratch: CMO Interviews

David vs Goliath - DuckDuckGo’s Marketing Strategies to Take on Google

Episode Summary

In this week's episode of Scratch, the VP of Marketing at DuckDuckGo - Cristina Stanley, joins us for an enlightening discussion on the strategies that have helped DuckDuckGo take on industry giants like Google Chrome & Safari. DuckDuckGo is an independent alternative to Google that prioritizes online privacy and does not spy on their customers. Cristina’s transition from Coca-Cola to tech offers a unique perspective on marketing's role in driving growth and innovation. Being a challenger brand, DuckDuckgo has had over 71 Billion searches since its inception, and it’s continuing to grow. She delves into DuckDuckGo's creative marketing strategies that use humour to mock their competitors. This episode is a must-listen for marketers and privacy advocates, Tune in! We’re sure you’ll enjoy this one.

Episode Notes

🎙️In this week's episode of Scratch, the VP of Marketing at DuckDuckGo - Cristina Stanley, joins us for an enlightening discussion on the strategies that have helped DuckDuckGo take on industry giants like Google Chrome & Safari. DuckDuckGo is an independent alternative to Google that prioritizes online privacy and does not spy on their customers. Cristina’s transition from CPG to tech offers a unique perspective on marketing's role in driving growth and innovation. Being a challenger brand, DuckDuckgo has had over 71 Billion searches since its inception, and it’s continuing to grow. She walks us through her process of scaling a brand from product-market fit to market dominance. She explains how marketing is not just a cost centre but has the potential to be a significant growth driver, especially in a landscape as dynamic as tech.

🔍 Being completely privacy-focused, she discusses attribution from non-digital channels and the importance of finding innovative methods to test the effectiveness of your campaigns.  This episode is packed with insights for both marketers and privacy advocates. Through her experiences, we gain a deeper understanding of advocating for online privacy, challenging established tech giants, and creatively engaging with audiences while adhering to strict privacy standards. Tune in to get some valuable insights and join the conversation on the evolving landscape of ethical privacy practices in marketing in this brilliant episode. 

Watch the video version of this episode on Youtube ⏯️:

📑Chapters:

(00:04:03) - Favorite challenger brand

(00:14:00) - Why Marketing isn’t an afterthought in tech

(00:21:00) - How did Duck Duck Go approach marketing while keeping privacy at its core?

(00:29:00) - How Duck Duck Go plays on a level playing field

(00:40:00) - The creative side of marketing for Duck Duck Go

(00:42:46) - Lightning Round ⚡

(00:42:50) - First Marketing Job you ever had

(00:43:02) - The Best Piece of career advice

(00:43:56) - Best Brand Campaign - Walmart

(00:45:20) - Best Marketing Tool

🖊️ Mentioned in the show:

Scratch is a production of Rival, a marketing innovation consultancy that develops strategies and capabilities that help businesses grow faster. Scratch is hosted by Eric Fulwiler, and he’s joined by Cristina Stanley of DuckDuckGo in this episode. 

Find Rival online at www.wearerival.com, LinkedIn, Twitter

Watch the video version of this Podcast on YouTube.

Find Cristina on LinkedIn.

Find Eric on LinkedIn and tweet him @efulwiler

Say hi at media@wearerival.com, we’d love to hear from you.