035 David Byrne
Head of Brand Marketing, Wealthify
David Byrne led brand marketing at Aviva for over five years, where he launched AvivaPlus and then Wealthify. He spent 18 months as Head of Brand Marketing at Wealthify. He has since moved out of fintech, and amongst other things is a consultant at greyhairworks! covering brand strategy, brand management, and media strategy.
“It’s mostly joyful and if it’s not, it’s time to move on.”
The interview
What’s your coffee ritual?
At home it’s the South African place on the high street. Depending on who serves me I either get rugby chat or spiritual advice… in town it’s usually a flat white from Black Sheep Coffee.
What was your first marketing job?
Various undergrad internships: an ad agency in Soho, Green Flag, and a janitorial supplier in Liverpool called Willy Wiper.
What’s an underrated growth channel in fintech?
Word of mouth and WhatsApp.
What keeps you up at night?
The coffee from Black Sheep. Training too late on Zwift.
What are the most useful measurement tools you use in your work?
I used to love the Power BI dashboards at Wealthify.
What’s one fintech brand (other than your own) that’s getting marketing right?
Not really a fintech but I love Richard Curtis’ Make My Money Matter.
Why is marketing so hard?
Nothing worthwhile is ever easy! I never think of it as hard. It’s mostly joyful and if it’s not, it’s time to move on.
Whose answers to the above questions would you most like to read?
Nick Cave’s. Wisest person on the planet.