The Marketing Architects Confessions of a Reformed Performance Marketer with Ryan Sullivan, GoodRx CMO
Dec 9, 2025
Ryan Sullivan, CMO of GoodRx and former performance marketing maven, shares his journey toward challenging traditional marketing paradigms. He discusses the misleading nature of brand search attribution and the hidden costs of programmatic advertising. Ryan highlights how GoodRx's unique ads, like the Savings Wrangler, break the mold in a crowded market. With a focus on 'triangulated measurement,' he emphasizes a balance between broad reach and precise targeting, advocating for a more curious and less controlled approach to marketing.
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From Tech Marketer To Reformed Skeptic
- Ryan Sullivan describes his shift from technical, programmatic marketing to skepticism after seeing measurement and programmatic costs not add up.
- He now apologizes for early overconfidence and calls himself a 'reformed performance marketer'.
Avoid Binary Labels For Marketing
- Labels like "performance marketing" or "brand marketing" are reductive and create false binaries.
- Ryan argues marketers need measurement AND customer-centered creativity, not label battles.
Advertising For An Out-Of-Market Moment
- Ryan explains GoodRx's unique challenge: most viewers of ads are out-of-market for prescriptions and can't act immediately.
- The brand focuses on priming future need so people remember to check GoodRx at the pharmacy.
