Ryan Maloney is a powerhouse in sales and marketing, with a rich background in gaming, sports, media, and entertainment. Ryan has spent time driving growth at Hard Rock Digital, Facebook Gaming, and PlayStation showcasing his expertise in brand management and performance marketing. His leadership has directed over $1B in marketing investments, driving innovation and substantial user growth.   In this episode, Ryan and I discuss: Relationship between brand and performance marketing in driving growth integrating customer-first  branding with marketing communications Building a sustainable company philosophy that aligns with your marketing strategy How a strong brand can shape customer experience and boosts retention    Chapters: (0:00:01) Ryan Maloney - Guest introduction (0:03:12) Key areas for developing a go-to-market strategy (0:04:50) Importance of a strong brand operating system (0:08:46) The role of customer insights in understanding the target audience (0:10:13) The value of talking to customers and conducting surveys (0:11:41) Building brand and product strategy in the early stages of a business (0:11:41) Building and validating the brand positioning (0:12:28) Understanding the product offer (0:13:41) The need for consistency and delivery on brand promise (0:14:49) Brand positioning as a foundation for long-term growth (0:15:56) Brand's impact on product, hiring, and outbound marketing (0:18:17) Brand as a company-wide responsibility, not just marketing's (0:18:54) Brand operating system as a toolkit for consistency (0:20:31) Brand architecture for scaling and adding new products (0:22:41) Importance of deliberate brand building and defending (0:23:33) Examples of Apple and Supercell's brand strategies (0:23:57) Consistency and positioning in branding (0:24:54) Different views on the same person in brand perception (0:26:13) Defending brand efforts and the frustration with brand constraints (0:27:43) The business benefit of brand consistency and trust (0:29:30) The balance between brand and performance marketing (0:31:00) Marketing as a unified approach, separating brand and performance (0:32:07) The impact of user privacy enhancements on performance measurement (0:33:10) Overcoming friction and aligning brand and performance marketing (0:34:17) Collaboration between brand and performance teams (0:35:05) The importance of brand recognition and awareness (0:35:28) Strategy and execution across different marketing channels (0:36:10) Capturing demand and generating preference and awareness (0:37:18) Bringing in new customers and owning the relationship (0:38:02) Lessons learned from incentivized referral in mobile gaming (0:39:32) The importance of differentiating between valuable and low-return traffic (0:40:50) The challenge of incentivized referrals and fraud (0:41:49) Applying mobile gaming retention strategies to other industries (0:42:41) Growth as a philosophy that requires alignment across the organization (0:45:22) Maintaining an aligned organizational philosophy for sustainable growth (0:47:32) Advice on aligning on a North Star across your organization (0:49:00) Importance of alignment and incentives within your team (0:50:28) Importance of clarity in your company's vision and goals (0:51:41) The need for a business operating system for structure and accountability (0:54:00) Your North Star should remain consistent while allowing for flexibility (0:55:25) Prioritizing feedback and communication between leadership & ground teams (0:57:30) The consequences of not having a clear North Star and alignment (0:58:01) Clear communication and alignment are essential for leadership (0:59:27) Internal and external alignment is crucial for consistent brand representation (1:00:37) Conclusion and wrap-up Link to Transcript