April 22, 2025

Ep.

187

53:06

MIN

Who killed Duo? How Duolingo built a brand on entertainment

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Today, I’m joined by James Kuczynski, Creative Director at Duolingo, and Dan Salkey, Founding Partner at Small World, for a conversation on how to build truly entertaining brands.Fresh off their SXSW panel titled "Entertain or Die", named after a report by Small World, we explore how Duolingo has built such a standout brand, particularly through the rise (and death...) of their iconic mascot, Duo.In the first half of the episode, I chat with James about Duolingo’s brand success, why they decided to "kill off" their beloved mascot, and how giving creative autonomy to their team has been key to their growth. In the second half, I speak with Dan about the most entertaining brands in the world today—and the specific traits you can apply to make your own brand more entertaining.

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Creators and guests

Jon Evans

Host

Jon Evans

Host of Uncensored CMO

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Timestamps

Start

Part 1: James Kuczynski from Duolingo

James’ background in marketing

How James joined Duolingo

What is Duolingo

How Duolingo has used gamification to help people learn languages

How is AI enhancing Duolingo?

Is AI a threat to Duolingo?

Why Duolingo created “Duo”, their mascot

How the Duolingo owl evolved

Duolingo’s April fools plans

Why Duolingo killed off their mascot

The results of Duo killing their mascot

How partnerships have played a role in the success of Duolingo

How Duo is bigger than A-list celebrities

How Duolingo built such a huge social media following

The importance of being in-house for growing Duolingo

How Duolingo hires social media talent

The thing that makes Duolingo stand out

Part 2: Dan Salkey from Small World

Why Small World created the Entertain or Die report

How they identified the most entertaining brands on the planet

What brands are the most entertaining?

Why the most boring categories have most space to innovate

The entertainment gap

How can brands be more entertaining?

Final advice on how brands can be more entertaining

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