Podcast Summary
DoorDash's customer obsession and expansion: DoorDash's success comes from understanding and catering to diverse customer needs, identified through data insights, and their willingness to explore new categories.
DoorDash's success is rooted in their customer obsession and innovative product offerings. Their CMO, Kofi Amu Gottfried, shared how they expanded from a food delivery business to meeting various customer needs, including self-love bouquets and even sex toys, by identifying unique insights in their data. Kofi's career journey, from Ghana to the US and various roles in advertising, showcases the importance of access to opportunities and being open to new experiences. The creative process, from identifying insights to executing innovative campaigns, was a common thread throughout his career. DoorDash's focus on understanding and catering to their customers' needs, combined with their willingness to explore new categories, has been instrumental in their growth and success.
Creative industry success: Success in the creative industry requires a unique blend of discipline, transformation, and adaptability. Building trust, acquiring talent, and adapting to cultural sensitivities are crucial for overcoming challenges and building successful businesses.
Success in the creative industry requires a unique blend of discipline, transformation, and adaptability. The speaker's experience at Wieden+Kennedy honed his skills in creating innovative and impactful campaigns, while his time at LeBron James and Kobe Bryant's agency taught him the importance of consistency and exceeding expectations. However, the most significant learning experience came when he started an advertising agency from scratch in Ghana for Nestle, where he faced numerous challenges but ultimately succeeded in building a successful business. This journey showcased the importance of trust-building, talent acquisition, cultural sensitivity, and operational resilience. The speaker's career progression, from working with the best creatives in the world to managing brand strategies and building agencies, demonstrates how each new experience brought a unique set of challenges and learnings that contributed to his professional growth.
Industry Experience and Diversity: Having diverse industry experiences can lead to unique opportunities and impactful contributions. Passion and financial outcomes drove the speaker to DoorDash from Facebook, where her understanding of underserved communities and connectivity projects were valuable.
Having a diverse background and experience in various aspects of the industry can lead to unique opportunities and impactful contributions. The speaker, who has worked on the brand side at Bacardi, the media side at Footcom, and at Facebook leading internet access projects, brings a unique perspective to her current role at DoorDash. Her experiences have given her a deep understanding of underserved communities and the importance of connectivity, which she was able to apply at Facebook through projects like Free Basics. Her passion for commercial roles and desire to be held to financial outcomes led her to DoorDash, where she could contribute to the company's growth. The story of DoorDash's founding, started by Tony Xu who grew up working in a restaurant and saw the need for a delivery solution for small businesses, is an intuitive bet that defied the prevailing wisdom of the time. DoorDash's success, with a current valuation of $40 billion in just 10 years, is a testament to the power of taking risks and challenging assumptions.
DoorDash's three-sided marketplace: DoorDash's success comes from creating a beneficial marketplace for restaurants, drivers, and customers, expanding neighborhood by neighborhood, and prioritizing quality, affordability, and customer service.
DoorDash's success lies in its focus on building a three-sided marketplace that benefits all parties involved - restaurants, delivery drivers, and customers. Starting from a suburban area and prioritizing the success of restaurants, DoorDash has managed to expand neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city, despite intense competition. The company's commitment to quality, affordability, and excellent customer service has been crucial in retaining customers and attracting new ones. When faced with challenges, such as unexpected demand surges or technological issues, DoorDash has shown generosity and a customer-centric approach, understanding that keeping customers satisfied is essential for long-term growth. The COVID-19 pandemic presented both challenges and opportunities for DoorDash, requiring the entire company to adapt and pivot quickly to meet the changing needs of consumers and businesses.
DoorDash IPO: DoorDash reduced commissions for local restaurants during COVID-19, pivoted to contactless delivery, and underwent significant internal changes while maintaining focus on growth and values during their IPO process.
During the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, DoorDash, a food delivery company, demonstrated generosity and agility by reducing commissions for local restaurants by 50% and quickly pivoting their business model to contactless delivery. They also created a new marketing campaign encouraging customers to support restaurants through delivery services. Internally, DoorDash underwent significant changes, including building contactless delivery, instant pay, and figuring out compliance as a public company. The experience was fascinating for employees, who were involved in writing the S1 and navigating the IPO process. Despite these accomplishments, DoorDash continued to focus on improvement and preparing for future growth. Even on the day of their IPO, they held their weekly business review and remained committed to their mission of empowering local economies. Through it all, DoorDash maintained their values and operating philosophy, treating the IPO as a milestone, but not the end.
DoorDash innovation: DoorDash's success is rooted in its ability to innovate and adapt to customer needs while staying true to its mission. This has led to the creation of products like DoubleDash and DashPass, and the evolution of its business model to include retail media and sponsored listings.
DoorDash's success is rooted in its ability to innovate and adapt to customer needs while staying true to its mission of empowering businesses and local economies. The company's journey began with a vision of a multi-category, multi-vertical business and has since come to life in ways that even the founders could not have imagined. From the early days of submitting a business plan to Y Combinator to the present day, DoorDash has scaled to generate billions in sales and economic activity. The company's innovation engine is driven by a deep understanding of customer behavior and feedback, which has led to products like DoubleDash and DashPass. DoorDash's business model has also evolved to include retail media, allowing small businesses to act big and compete online. The company's sponsored listings product, which charges on a conversion basis, is a game-changer for small businesses looking to confidently invest in marketing. DoorDash's success is a testament to its ability to balance innovation with its mission and values, and its continued focus on understanding and delivering value to its customers and partners.
DoorDash Super Bowl marketing strategy: DoorDash effectively uses the Super Bowl to drive business growth and brand recognition through storytelling, humor, partnerships, and creating anticipation
DoorDash's successful Super Bowl marketing strategy involves delivering both short-term promotion and long-term brand building. Five years ago, DoorDash held only 67% of the restaurant delivery market, but through effective communication and advertising, they've grown significantly. Their first Super Bowl appearance in 2021 with a Sesame Street ad showcased the importance of storytelling, humor, and soul in advertising. When considering a Super Bowl ad, DoorDash asks if they have something important to say or demonstrate that requires that level of scale. In 2021, they signaled to the market that they've gone beyond what people think of them for by partnering with Sesame Street. Their 2023 strategy aimed to deliver everything from the Super Bowl to one lucky winner, creating a three-week journey of excitement and engagement. By partnering with various brands and influencers, they generated a groundswell of anticipation, making their ad the first one viewers saw after the two-minute warning. This approach allows DoorDash to drive business growth and brand recognition simultaneously.
DoorDash culture: DoorDash's success is rooted in their culture of ownership, bias for action, and focus on the lowest level of detail, enabling them to collaborate effectively, experiment with new ideas, and meet customer needs.
DoorDash, a valued 40 billion dollar company, operates with a culture of ownership, bias for action, and a focus on the lowest level of detail. This was evident in their unique and unprecedented Super Bowl campaign, which required radical collaboration between internal and external teams, and a willingness to experiment with unfamiliar ideas. Despite the uncertainty and potential challenges, DoorDash embraced the project and saw it through, ultimately receiving 8 million entries and generating significant buzz. This success can be attributed to their operational excellence, real-time decision making, and customer-centric approach. By breaking down complex problems into atomic units and focusing on meeting customer needs, DoorDash continues to innovate and grow.
Controlling marketing outcomes: Marketers can only control their inputs and processes, outcomes are beyond their control. Trust the process and let the results take care of themselves.
As marketers, we can only control the inputs and put in the work. The outcomes or success, much like in football as discussed with Bill Walsh and the 49ers dynasty, are beyond our control. We should focus on our processes and trust that the results will follow, a concept referred to as "the score takes care of itself." It's essential to maintain this mindset and remember that we cannot control every aspect of our marketing efforts. Instead, we must put in the work, trust the process, and let the results unfold. Additionally, if you enjoyed this episode of Uncensored CMO, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, and connecting with John Evans on LinkedIn or his website. Your support helps spread the word about the show. Thank you for listening and have a great day!
