In the dynamic realm of growth marketing, maintaining a competitive edge isn’t just an ambition – it’s a necessity. As the landscape undergoes constant metamorphosis, shaped by technological strides and evolving consumer trends, one must possess an insatiable curiosity and an unyielding dedication to data-driven strategies.
Today, we have the privilege of delving into the insights of Emre Tok – the Chief Growth Officer at PureSquare. Boasting over two decades, or precisely 26 years, of experience in Product, Digital, and Growth Marketing, Emre has seamlessly navigated transformative roles within renowned multinational companies and startups alike.
His illustrious career stands as a testament to his enduring passion for driving innovation and guiding teams toward unprecedented success. We aim to gain valuable insights into Emre’s journey, leadership philosophy, and transformative strategies.
Join us as we unravel his thought process for an exploration into the dynamic world of growth marketing and leadership excellence.
Q1. Why did you choose Growth Marketing as a career?
Emre: I have worked in Product Marketing and general marketing since 2002. However, after April 2017, when I started working as a Growth Marketing leader at Careem, I started focusing more on customer life cycle management and experimenting with how to manage the whole funnel with a large team focusing on all of its steps.
I like it for a few reasons:
- It is not dull. Every day and every second is very active.
- Since it is a huge responsibility, trying to manage this also helps you become a better human being.
- You need to lead and orchestrate a large team, which I like to build and grow.
- It is very broad and fuels growth via curiosity. You experiment and work with multiple channels, ranging from Programmatic SEO to onboarding, paid channels to referral programs, and data-driven marketing.
Q2. How is AI impacting growth marketing?
Emre: I think there are three ways that AI is changing growth marketing.
One of the leading ones is automation. Growth marketing consists of experimenting and then building events, triggers, and automation for digital and content marketing. These automations are now way easier to develop with the power of AI.
The second part is getting quicker and measurable insights by using the power of AI. Deep, actionable insights allow growth marketers to make stronger and more strategic decisions, improve key metrics, and optimize resources and budgets for their marketing efforts.
Personalization is the other part where it will be super critical to understand the data and suggest hyper-personalization via AI. AI can customize content, digital ads, email content, and the overall experience for each customer. Personalized experiences build trust, keep customers deeply engaged with your brand, increase retention, and make you a trusted brand to be referred to all the time.
Q3. What have you unlearned about growth marketing?
Emre: I think growth marketing topics are evolving every day. It is very dynamic. I just started another Reforge course on Subscription Marketing, so I can share what I learn from it with my colleagues. (Btw, almost all PureSquare Product and Growth Team members are entitled to Reforge training throughout the year, which is a rare perk in Pakistan).
Here is an article I wrote on how to build growth teams back in Careem Days.
I also need to improve my thinking methodologies on Growth Strategy more and more, as it involves incremental changes applicable to any sector you work with.
Q4. What advice would you give to the ones considering Growth Marketing as a career?
Emre: You need to develop your curiosity. If you lose this, it will be difficult to do deep learning experimentation.
Continuous learning is supercritical. You can do that by following experts on LinkedIn, Substack, and X (formerly Twitter) in the fields of Product Marketing, Growth Marketing, and Digital Marketing.
Additionally, they need to focus on stress management and develop resilience. The first part is something I learned significantly after experiencing in highly stressful situations. Essentially, dedicating at least 20 minutes, preferably during the morning or midday, for inner listening and motivation, can be helpful.
Growth Marketing places a substantial load on one’s shoulders, with high expectations from upper management. That’s why, the ability to manage this pressure and persevere should be a strong attribute.
Q5. How do you inspire your team during headwinds?
Emre: I always try to tell stories that have analogies or similarities that happened in my past career. Also, I ask them to never give up and focus on the bigger picture but also find the root causes of the problems.
Q6. Who is your mentor?
Emre: I don’t have a mentor at the moment, though I had one about three years ago. However, I can say that I have a personal board of directors. This is a term I learned recently from one of the influencers I follow on LinkedIn.
Here’s what I mean by a personal board of directors:
- I have a person who I trust with my restoration of cars.
- I usually get loads of feedback and suggestions from our Founder/CEO Uzair Gadit about my work.
- My wife is my nutrition and wellness coach.
- I am part of many WhatsApp groups with colleagues from my previous companies where I can ask anything about growth.
- And finally, I have many books to read and take notes from to become better myself.
So, I don’t have one mentor but many, I guess. 🙂
Q7. What is the one thing you want to learn from a colleague?
Emre: I would like to know what they honestly think of me as a leader without them explicitly stating it – I would love to read their thoughts in real time. Apart from that, I’m also keen to learn some technical skills that the younger generation possesses and I don’t, such as coding.
Q8. What is the one code you live by?
Emre: Never lose your energy, always try to learn and read. I try to teach this to my colleagues, friends, and family members – consistently inspiring everyone with this.
Q9. On a lighter note, when was the last time you did something for the first time?
Emre: Two years ago when I visited a new country – Hungary. Since then, I have only revisited countries that I have already been to.
Q10. Tell us about a famous personality that you’ve met and describe the experience.
Emre: I met Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in person during an All Hands meeting with Careem co-founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha back in 2019. Their aura, calmness, excitement, and presentation styles are both unique and inspiring.
Q11. Tell us about your hidden talent.
Emre: I think I can identify strong talent, convince, hire right and fast, and establish structures and operational cadences that execute incredibly well and on time. This is what all my leaders told me.
Q12. What was the last gift you gave?
Emre: I regularly buy flowers for our home, because as a family, we like seeing multiple colors at home. Also, I regularly buy some small products such as puzzles, legos, and crafts to enrich my daughter’s creativity and enable her to create her own projects. My wife and I buy a lot of books for each other, contributing to our extensive library containing 1500 books that we have collected over 2.5 decades of work.
To conclude, a heartfelt thank you to Emre Tok for generously sharing his valuable insights into growth marketing and leadership. His wealth of experience and dedication to innovation serve as an inspiration for all aspiring professionals in the field.
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