For a snack and 5 questions about... Marketing & Growth with Guy from Kitchen Stories

Which marketing buzzwords have their right to exist? And what advice would you give all marketers in 2023? The answers to these questions (and many more) are available once a month in our snack interview, the Kitchen Stories business questionnaire.

• This time Guy Fitzpatrick from Kitchen Stories answers.
• As Director of Marketing and Growth, he is responsible for brand building and user growth.
• By the way, his favorite snack is Mezze plate

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What is the best piece of advice you would give marketers in 2023?

Double down on what works, test your messaging, and fix any leaky buckets in the customer journey. With advertising budgets cut across most of the industry, it's essential to focus on channels that provide the best ROI and optimize conversion rates at key points in the customer journey so as to capture the most value.

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When we talk about current marketing trends, it's easy to fall into cliché. Which buzzwords do you think are still justified — and why?

• Customer centricity: Clearly defining who your target users are, what they care about, and how you help them solve their problems is a constant principle of impactful marketing.

• Marketing vs Growth: These two terms have been used interchangeably in recent years, however, I believe it's important to differentiate as they focus on two key areas. The role of marketing is to develop the brand, build awareness and focus on storytelling that resonates with users. Whilst the role of growth is to consider the full funnel user experience by collaborating across teams (i.e. product, UX, creative, etc...) and constantly experimenting with impactful improvements to the user journey.

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In your LinkedIn profile, you can see the quote “The best way to complain is to make things better” by Seth Godin... a positive approach to questioning things over and over again. Are there platforms or podcasts that help and motivate you to continue on this path?

It's important to regularly challenge how things are done and to approach challenges from different angles. Here are three resources that I follow to learn and generate new marketing ideas:

• Seth's blog: daily marketing blog by thought leader and author Seth Godin.
• Lenny's podcast: regular interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts.
• Marketing Examples: Examples from successful campaigns around the world.

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You have already taken part in the German AeroPress Championship twice. Which qualities help you make excellent coffee — and achieve your professional goals at the same time?

Patience, Experimentation and Understanding of the Different Levers at Your Disposal Are Key to Great Coffee (and Achieving Your Goals!)

As each bag of coffee is different, you need to adapt your recipe slightly to get the best out of the coffee, particularly when competing at the AeroPress Championships. It comes down to finding the right balance between the water temperature, grind size, brewing time, and extraction time.

Knowing your levers helps you adapt and make great-tasting coffee.

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Who gave you the best cooking tip of all time? And for which dish do you use it most often?

Probably from my mom:

”Always use an oven glove when baking something in the oven”.

Particularly useful whenever I make pizza or lasagna. I've picked up a few scars over the years when I didn't follow this tip.

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