Mayur Gupta, CMO of Kraken: When the S**t Hits the Fan
Jun 14, 2023
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Mayur Gupta, CMO of Kraken, discusses the future of crypto, aligning C-Suite to marketing goals, and the evolution of marketing eras with MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart. Insights on building transparency, leadership lessons, and the need for hiding crypto technology to drive adoption are highlighted.
In the fourth era of marketing, a holistic approach combining brand, performance, data, and storytelling is vital for long-term growth.
Marketing strategies differ for CPG companies, where marketing drives growth, and product-led organizations, where product value fuels initial growth.
Balancing brand and performance marketing is essential, proving the value of branding efforts, enhancing revenue generation, and fostering emotional customer connections.
Deep dives
Marketing in the Fourth Era: Shifting Focus and Challenges
In the fourth era of marketing, the landscape has evolved to emphasize a holistic approach that combines brand, performance, data, and storytelling. Long-term growth now requires a combination of these elements, recognizing that marketing is an engine of ANs (audience needs) rather than just the company's goals. This era demands understanding marketing's role as a driver of growth and addressing challenges in aligning internal and external stakeholders, proving incrementality, and speaking a universal language of data.
Different Approaches for CPG and Product-Led Organizations
Marketing strategies differ for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, where marketing is a growth driver, and product-led organizations, where the product's intrinsic value drives initial growth. Marketers in product-led entities face the challenge of entering after product saturation, needing to create new demand. They must transition from leveraging the product's inherent growth to building brand storytelling and engine optimization for sustained growth.
Balancing Brand and Performance Marketing: The Incrementality Factor
Balancing brand and performance marketing is a critical challenge in the industry. Establishing the incrementality of marketing is essential to prove the value of branding efforts in driving business outcomes. The correlation between brand metrics and revenue, as well as brand enhancement leading to funnel optimization and expanded market capture, underscores the importance of measuring brand impact on revenue generation and customer retention.
The Power of Emotional Connection with Customers
Building a deep emotional and cultural connection with customers goes beyond mere utility and functionality. Cultivating this emotional bond leads to greater forgiveness from customers when mistakes happen. Companies need to focus on measuring lifetime value and retention to understand the impact of emotional connections, even though it can be challenging to quantify. By utilizing creative data measurement techniques and storytelling, marketers can shift focus from short-term campaign launches to long-term brand impact, fostering stronger customer relationships.
Embracing Change and Evolution in Marketing
The future of marketing demands a convergence of creativity, purpose, and business objectives. Marketers must blend empathy and honesty with the ability to drive business results effectively. Irrespective of technological advancements like AI and Web3, marketers must retain the core values of compassion and authenticity while adapting to the evolving landscape. Success lies in transcending traditional marketing roles, encompassing skills like finance, tech, and product knowledge to deliver holistic customer experiences.
Mayur Gupta attributes everything he understands about marketing to his background as an engineer, the safest career path for a young person in India. He pivoted twice: First to Sapient's ad tech product BridgeTrack, and then to his first proper role in marketing, joining Kimberly-Clark in 2012. Today, Mayur is the CMO of the Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, which he describes as a crypto brand with a soul.
"Fundamentally, the way I look at it is the next stage of growth and adoption for crypto will come when the technology underneath crypto becomes hidden and the value becomes more visible," he says.
On this episode of Building Better CMOs, Mayur and MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart talk about crypto non-believers, the four eras of marketing, aligning the C-Suite to marketing objectives, building transparency and accountability, and more. Plus: The book that changed Greg's life, and two leadership lessons from Mayur that will make any organization stronger.
