Duolingo CMO on why playing it safe could be killing your brand

Duolingo has built one of the most distinctive brands in modern marketing, not by playing it safe, but by creating the conditions for its team to move quickly, take risks and occasionally embrace a little chaos. Manu Orssaud, Duolingo’s Chief Marketing Officer, joins Jon Evans to unpack the strategy behind the brand’s biggest moments: from the apparent death of Duo and its rapid-response iPhone content to a Bad Bunny campaign built at the speed of culture. But this is not simply a conversation about being funny on social media. Manu explains the culture of trust required to take creative risks, how to sell bolder work into the business, and how Duolingo measures whether marketing is actually working. They also discuss behavioural science, the limits of brand safety, handling the AI backlash, and why the next phase of Duolingo marketing may involve a little less chaos. A masterclass in building a culturally relevant brand without losing commercial discipline. Timestamps 00:00 - Trailer 01:03 - How do you pronounce Hermes? 02:55 - Duolingo’s iPhone Duo response 04:42 - The culture of trust that enables Duolingo to move fast 05:56 - Has Duolingo ever crossed the line with their social content? 07:55 - The benefits of taking risks 10:31 - The impact of the death of Duo 14:11 - Duolingo’s Bad Bunny campaign - moving at the speed of culture 16:28 - The origin story of the Duo brand mascot 23:05 - How Duolingo uses humour 24:12 - Emigre Sponsor 24:50 - How Duolingo tracks marketing performance 26:15 - Selling risky campaigns into the business 27:06 - The next phase of Duolingo marketing - less chaos 30:37 - How Duolingo is managing this transition 32:56 - Behavioural science insights that have grown Duolingo 34:37 - Duolingo’s AI backlash 38:09 - Going against what your shareholders want 43:46 - What makes Manu a successful CMO 47:47 - The power of constraint 48:46 - Duolingo’s 5 second Super Bowl ad 50:27 - The best advice Manu has ever been given Thanks to Émigré for being our official black t-shirt partner. Find your travel wear and accessories at: https://emigre.travel/ Thank you to System1 for sponsoring Uncensored CMO. Find out more about Test Your Ad Screen here: https://system1group.com/