Who killed Duo? How Duolingo built a brand on entertainment

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.Download the Entertain or Die report here.Timestamps00:00 - Start00:47 - Part 1: James Kuczynski from Duolingo01:22 - James’ background in marketing03:23 - How James joined Duolingo04:18 - What is Duolingo06:34 - How Duolingo has used gamification to help people learn languages09:47 - How is AI enhancing Duolingo?11:20 - Is AI a threat to Duolingo?12:13 - Why Duolingo created “Duo”, their mascot15:47 - How the Duolingo owl evolved17:56 - Duolingo’s April fools plans20:00 - Why Duolingo killed off their mascot23:57 - The results of Duo killing their mascot25:08 - How partnerships have played a role in the success of Duolingo28:02 - How Duo is bigger than A-list celebrities29:26 - How Duolingo built such a huge social media following32:08 - The importance of being in-house for growing Duolingo33:17 - How Duolingo hires social media talent34:34 - The thing that makes Duolingo stand out36:32 - Part 2: Dan Salkey from Small World37:15 - Why Small World created the Entertain or Die report38:57 - How they identified the most entertaining brands on the planet39:30 - What brands are the most entertaining?40:41 - Why the most boring categories have most space to innovate42:35 - The entertainment gap44:07 - How can brands be more entertaining?49:54 - Final advice on how brands can be more entertaining